32 CIRCULAR NO. 110, BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY. 



about one-third of their grain ration, and a large part of their small gain should doubt- 

 less be credited to the cottonseed meal and not to the bean meal. 



The complete failure to secure profitable results from the use of the bean meal was a 

 surprise and disappointment. Various methods of feeding were tried, both coarse and 

 fine meal being used, and during a portion of the time the meal was cooked until it 

 was thoroughly softened. At first very few of the steers would eat any of the meal, 

 but were finally induced to do so by mixing it with salt and cottonseed meal, so that 

 when the trial feedings began all ate it fairly well, though not with much apparent 

 relish. The meal which was eaten appeared to be very indigestible for all the ani- 

 mals, and the same was found to be the case when it was fed to milch cows, as will be 

 shown in another bulletin, soon to be published. 



When tried on the table of one of our station stall', the beans were of fair quality, 

 though rather coarse, and no one of the six persons who ate them experienced any ill 

 effect from them. 



If the different feeds are considered with reference to only single ingredients of the 

 several rations, the average gains per steer were as follows: 



Pounds. 



Shredded corn and silage 35. 1 



Crab-grass hay 51.5 



Pea- vine hay 00. 2 



Pounds. 



Red-clover hay 71.7 



Cottonseed meal 02. 



Bean meal 28. 4 



Seeds of the bean were distributed by Mr. P. Pearson, of Starkville, 

 Miss., from which fact it became known as the Pearson bean. At the 

 Texas Agricultural Experiment Station it produced 35 bushels per 

 acre. 1 At the North Carolina Agricultural Experiment Station it 

 produced an estimated yield of 40 bushels per acre. 2 It was also 

 tested at the Louisiana Experiment Station. 3 None of these sta- 

 tions regarded the bean as promising, but, so far as recorded, no 

 attempt was made to utilize either the herbage or the seeds as forage. 



More recently the plant has been tested in Hawaii, and favorable 

 reports as to its forage value have been published. 4 



While grown to some extent in the Southern States, the plant does not appear to 

 thrive as well there as here, and no extensive feeding experiments are reported. The 

 bean meal is said not to be very palatable or digestible for cattle, but this may be due 

 to a too-limited experience in its use. The early feeding experiments with the green 

 fodder in Hawaii gave similar results to those reported above, but as feeders gained 

 in experience the fodder was found to be both palatable and nutritious for dairy cows 

 as well as swine. As with most new feeds, it is important to use in the beginning 

 only a small proportion of the new feed in the accustomed ration and then increase the 

 proportion gradually. The Dowsett and Pond dairies have fed green jack beans and 

 sorghum in equal proportions to dairy cows with excellent results. 



i Connell, J. H., and Clayton, James. Field experiments at MeKirmey, Wichita Falls, and College sta- 

 tion with wheat, corn, cotton, grasses, and manures. Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, Bulletin 

 34, p. 584, 1895. 



2 McCarthy, Gerald. Some new forage, fiber, and other useful plants. North Carolina Agricultural 

 Experiment Station, Bulletin 133, p. 343, 1896. 



3 Dodson, W. R., and Stubbs, W. C. Grasses, clovers, forage, and economic crops. Louisiana Agri- 

 cultural Experiment Station, Bulletin 53, p. 42, 1898. 



4 Krauss, F. G. Leguminous crops for Hawaii. Hawaii Agricultural Experiment Station, Bulletin 23, 

 p. 19-21, 1911. 



[Cir. 110] 



