EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETINS. 225 



SOJA BEANS AND COW PEAS. 



Soja beans or soy beans as they are variously called have long been cultivated 

 in the south where they are cut and baled as hay. Although but recently intro- 

 duced, the nature of the stem and leaves strongly indicates that this forage ulant 

 will quickly adapt itself to this region. The acclimation of cow peas will be de- 

 cidedly slower owing to the more glabrous nature of the leaves and the softer 

 structure of the entire plant. Both crops were sown between rows of fruit trees, 

 the seed drilled in by hand. The rows were 18 inches apart for frequent cultiva- 

 tion during the early part of the season as long as the size of the plant would 

 permit. The growth of the Soja beans is slow but even and steady and ^be plants 

 seemed unaffected by the abnormal weather condition although at their best during 

 the hotter and drier portions of July and August The early September frost did 

 not materially damage them, although by the end of the month approximately 

 one-third of the top leaves were browned by the severe frosts. The seed sprouted 

 quickly and the middle of July found the ground well covered. By the first of 

 September the plants had reached the uniform height of 36 inches and the sub- 

 sequent growth was trifling. A few ripened their seeds. The seed of the cow 

 peas sprouted as quickly as that of the Soja beans but the growth was much 

 slower and the plants were far from sheltering the ground by the middle of July. 

 The plot began to suffer from the extreme heat of that month and became aifected 

 by what closely resembled the anthracnose of the bean. Most of the leaves became 

 spotted and dropped off. Cultivation and cooler weather gave the plant a new 

 start and by the middle of Ausrust all were flourishing, even those f'-om which 

 nearly all the leaves had dropped. By the end of August the plants had made a 

 dense mat over the ground and the buds were in an advanced stage of develop- 

 ment. The plants maintained an averaee height of 32 inches, although none had 

 blossomed on September 9th when a slight frost seriously damag«>d the early plot 

 and a second slight frost on September 19th killed the entire plot. 



LENTILS. 



A plot of lentils was tried in 1902. The lentil is a small branching plant, 

 with delicate pea-like leaves. The seed is round, very flat and convex on both 

 sides. The small white blossoms are followed by flat pods each containing two 

 seeds either yellow or reddish according to the variety. They are eaten only when 

 fully ripe, the reddish colored being the smaller, but the better flavored of the two. 

 Like the pea or bean, the lentil is a legume and worthy of cultivation for its 

 nitrogen-gathering power. 



Lentils in this country are seldom seen in cultivation unless perhaps in one 

 or two southern states having a fair pronortion of its population of Spanish or 

 Mexican origin. They are eaten princinally by our foreign pooulation. being more 

 or less extensively grown in many European and Asiatic countries and being per- 

 haps better known in ancient times than any other legume. Since lentils sell 

 for six cents per pound and over, they would seem to be a profitable crop to raise. 

 A plot 1x4 rods was planted April 30th; the seed being broadcasted and harrowed 

 in. The growth was unchecked by the cool June weather and the blossoms ap- 

 peared July 2d. They were harvested September Ifith, the yield being 29 pounds 

 or 1,160 pounds per acre, while the straw yielded 94 pounds or 3,760 pounds per 

 acre. 



JUNE CLOVEB. 



Sown May 1st, 1902. This, as did all other clovers, made a very heavy stand. 

 Nearly all the weeds except smart weed were choked out. It was cut August 

 11th when nearly in full bloom and yielded at the rate of something over two tons 

 of dried hay per acre. 



ALSIKE CLOVER. 



Also planted May 1st and appears to be better adanted to low ground; a higher 

 yield must be ascribed to the low well-drained soil upon which the plot was 

 located. The yield was 3,066 pounds per acre. 



TTMOTHY. 



The soil where the timothy seed was sown was unfavorable for the growth of 

 grasses. The grass grew well, however, and gave us two crops during the season, 



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