FOOD FROM CURED FODDERS 1 99 



able to feed vetches to swine in the loose sheaves or bun- 

 dles in which they are usually harvested, except when the 

 straw is wanted for bedding. 



For horses, vetch hay stands much on a par with clo- 

 ver hay as a food. It is richer in nutrients than clover and 

 horses are fond of it, but like clover it is not easily cured so 

 as to be free from dust. When grown in admixture, as 

 with wheat or oats, the combination makes excellent fodder 

 for horses when cut somewhat short of maturity. 



Bean hay. Hay is seldom or never made from the 

 common field bean (Faba vulgaris), but it is sometimes 

 made from the soy bean (Glycine hispida}, the velvet bean 

 (Mucuna utilis), and the horse bean, a variety probably of 

 the species Taba vulgaris. It is more frequently made from 

 the soy bean than from the other plants of the bean family, 

 but soy beans also are more commonly grown to provide 

 grain rather than hay. Soy bean hay which yields on an 

 average about two tons an acre is much relished by stock 

 when cut and cured so as to retain the bulk of the leaves. 

 Owing to the intertwining nature of the vines, the harvest- 

 ing of velvet beans is not easy nor is the crop easily cured, 

 hence it does not stand as high, relatively, in the popular es- 

 timate as it otherwise would. But its hay is said to be 

 much relished by stock and in some instances the cutting 

 may be so regulated as to give two of these crops a year. 



Horse beans are seldom harvested for hay. They are 

 usually grown primarily for the grain and incidentally for 

 the straw. They are slow in curing but may be made into 

 hay should occasion require this. As curing them thus us- 

 ually calls for considerable work, it is oftentimes considered 

 preferable when the facilities are present, to cure them in 

 the silo along with other feed such as corn. 



By 'cattle, hay made from the crops named is much rel- 

 ished, but it is not commonly fed to them in any considerable 

 quantity nor in prolonged feeding, since in nearly all in- 

 stances such fodder may be obtained with less labor from 

 other plants that may be grown in the same locality. It is 



