168 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Mung heans. — The mung bean is coming into prominence through 

 its freedom from attack by the Mexican bean beetle. It is now be- 

 ing extensively advertised throughout the South for forage pur- 

 poses. Tests have been conducted in various Southern States for 

 the purpose of studying its resistance to the attack of the Mexican 

 bean beetle and to get definite information on its yield of forage 

 and seed as compared with other crops. 



Red clover. — Tests have been continued to determine the value of 

 imported red-cloA-er seed. Field tests were carried on cooperatively 

 with the agricultural experiment stations of Wisconsin, Michigan, 

 Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee. Idaho, and Oregon, as well as wnth 

 individual farmers in these States and at the Arlington Experi- 

 ment Farm. The results obtained confirm previous conclusions 

 and establish beyond doubt the fact that red-clover seed imported 

 from Italy is not reliably hardy north of the Ohio Eiver. At 

 Arlington it was also found that while the imported red clovers 

 passed the winter without appreciable mortalit3\ a large percentage 

 of tlie plants died after the first cutting the following season, while 

 plants from domestic-grown seed made a vigorous second growth. 



Silage. — Preliminary feeding tests with a large-number of silages 

 were conducted last year at Beltsville, Md.. and Eedfield. S. Dak., 

 in cooperation with the Bureau of Animal Industry. These tests 

 are being continued this year, and the results indicate that herba- 

 ceous plants very generally make palatable silage if proper methods 

 are used. The tests at Redfield, S. Dak., quite clearly establish the 

 fact that the difficulty generally reported in connection Avith the 

 making of legume silage, particularly from alfalfa and soy beans, 

 is due largely to the fact that the cut material is not sufficiently 

 compacted in the silo. Preliminary tests to determine how various 

 substances added to freshly cut plant material when ensiled modify 

 the character of the silage have been made. These investigations 

 are being continued on a larger scale. 



Molasses grass.— Though introduced from South America by the 

 department some years ago, molasses grass, or gordura grass {Melinis 

 minufiflora) , has only recently commenced to receive the serious 

 attention of stockmen in the southeastern United States. At the 

 present time one firm which owns extensive pastures near the north- 

 ern shore of Lake Okeechobee, Fla.. is planting this forage crop on 

 a large scale, having found it to be highly satisfactory in that region. 



Perennial teosinte. — Considerable interest attaches to the discovery 

 in southern Mexico of a perennial species of teosinte, the native 

 Mexican grass which is the nearest relative of corn. Teosinte has 

 been known previously only as an annual. It is recognized as a valu- 

 able forage plant, but its use has been restricted by its slow growth 

 in the seedling stages and the difficulty of obtaining seed. These 

 difficulties will be overcome if the perennial form proves adapted to 

 conditions in the United States. Living plants and seeds of the 

 perennial species were obtained in Jalisco by agents of the bureau 

 and are now being propagated in southern California and in Wash- 

 ington, D. C. 



Poisonous 'plants in pastures and ranges. — Plant surveys were 

 made on the ranges of Arizona and New Mexico to determine the 

 identity and distribution of poisonous species responsible for heavy 



