130 



MUCUNA UTILIS (BENGAL BEAN) 



seeds are used to feed to live stock, and the stems and leaves 

 are ploughed in between the rows before planting. 



They may also be used as fodder, a capacity in which 

 they are very good on account of their high proportion of 

 proteins. However, preference is usually given to plough- 

 ing in, an operation which enriches the soil, breaks it up, 

 and renders it productive. The reason for their not being 

 more widely used as fodder is that practice has shown them 

 to be less useful in this respect. 



As already mentioned, the seeds of the Bengal bean are 

 used for feeding live stock; owing to their nutritive pro- 

 perties being highly concentrated, they should be mixed 

 with poorer substances, so that the animal may derive the 

 maximum of nutriment from its allowance. 



Water 



Ash 



Cellulose 



Fat 



Non-nitrogenous matter 



Nitrogenous matter ... 



Nitrogen 



1 1 "74 per cent. 



3 '40 



576 



2-64 

 5046 

 26 'OO 



1 00 00 

 4' 16 per cent. 



The dry pods, which contain a 61 per cent, proportion of 

 seeds, have husks practically incapable of being utilized, 

 even when crushed up, as they have no nutritive value, their 

 high content of cellulose rendering both ingestion and diges- 

 tion difficult. 



Their composition is as follows : — 



