50 



A very (leep-rootiDg plaut wliicli grows best on a well-drained soil. It makes a 

 heavy yield in early spring, but is so tender that it can not be retouimended except 

 in Florida, as the plants are killed by frosts. 



"When sown in the fall it makes an enormous growth during the winter, which is 

 slightly injured by very severe frosts without being killed. Scarcely hardy enough 

 for a winter crop, and yet not sui cessful as a summer one."' 



Sweet Clover (Melilotus alba). — Biennial; stems erect, widely branched, 3 to 5 

 feet; leaves abundant, tri-foliate; leaflets elliptical; flowers white, in slender spikes. 



Common where the soil is rich in lime. Even on the white, rotten lime-stone 

 hills in the black prairie region, where no other plants can grow, this makes a 

 good yield. Its growth is much like that of a coarse alfalfa, but it will grow well 

 on a much poorer soil and on one which is in poor mechanical condition i)rovided it 

 has an abundance of lime. It may be sown with Johnson grass, when it will make 

 one cutting before the grass has much growth, and the later cuttings are heavier 

 than when either plant is grown alone. It is an excellent pasture plant, beginning 

 its growth in early spring. Cattle not accustomed to it do not always eat it readily 

 at first, but if turned into the pastures before other vegetation furnishes much 

 grazing they soon acquire a taste for it. The roots are very large and deep, and as 

 they decay at the end of the second season they are fine fertilizers. Seed may be 

 sown in either October or February. Usually but one cutting of hay can be made 

 the first year, but the second season it will make three good cuttings. Although a 

 biennial, a few plants will produce seed the first year and a few will live three 

 years, so that land needs to be seeded but once to secure continuous occupancy by 

 melilotus. 



Sw^eet Potato {Convolvulus edulis). — The ranker-growing and coarser varieties 

 of sweet potatoes are used largely for hog pastures, as the crop is one which can be 

 grown with very little expense, and the harvesting is done by the hogs. The yield 

 is often 200 bushels per acre, and the crop is one of the best and the cheapest that 

 can be grown on sandy soil. The vines are sometimes saved for hay, but are hard 

 to cure. 



Velvet Bean (Mucnna uiilis). — Annual ; climbing stems sometimes 50 feet in length ; 

 leaflets 3, large; pods numerous, 2 to 3 inches long, each containing 3 or 4 large oval 

 beans. 



A newly introduced plant which has not been extensively tested, but which has 

 been highly recommended by the experiment stations of Louisiana and Florida. 



Vetches. — Six species of vetch are native to the Gulf States, two or three of 

 whi<h are very widely distributed, being quite common in open woods and along 

 creek banks. All make their growth in late winter and early spring, and often are 

 80 abundant as to make considerable early grazing. None of the native species are 

 Worth cultivating as a field crop, but when seed can be gathered without too much 

 labor it will pay to sow it on pastuie lands. 



DwAKF Vetch (Lathyrua pusillus). — Annual; stem slender, nearly erect, 12 to IH 

 inches; leaves pinnate; peduncles long, 1- or 2-flowered; pods long, 12- to 15-seedeil. 



Common along roadsides and on dry soils. Good earlj' grazing, but too dwarf ibr 

 profitable cultivation. 



IlAinv ViCTCii {Ficia rillosa) (fig. 20). — Annual; stem straggling, much branched, 

 8 to 12 fret; leaves pinnate, very numerous, flowers ])urple, in erect ractnies. 



The best of the winter-growing legumes on a rich loam soil, but usually a failure 

 on sandy lands. Seed should be sown in September or October at the rate of 1 

 bushel per acre. The growth is weak until .January, when it begins to grow vigor- 

 ously, and by March will usually make a mass of forage 2 feet deep. The seed 

 matures in May or June, and the crop should be cut for hay as soon as the first pods 

 ripen. The ground may then be plowed and cultivated for summer crops to be 

 gathered by October, when the vetch seed scattered by the mowing will germinate 



Bui. Xo. 19, Louisiana experiment station. 



