GRASS AND HAY 81 



will spread naturally. A common belief exists in the South that the 

 plant was first introduced during the Civil War. This is erroneous, 

 though it is doubtless true that the spread of the plant was greatly 

 increased during that struggle by the movements of cavalry. Les- 

 pedeza is a summer annual that begins its growth in the middle part 

 of spring but does not reach maturity until September and October. 

 It is sometimes confused with the yellow-flowered hop clovers, but 

 is readily distinguished by its purplish blossoms, which do not appear 

 till August or later, while the hop clovers bloom early. Over most 

 of its area it grows only 4 to 6 inches high, and there has thus arisen 

 the common idea that it is adapted only to grazing. Under favorable 

 conditions, however, especially in the lower Mississippi Valley on 

 certain soils, the plants grow commonly to a height of 12 inches, fre- 

 quently reaching 18 inches, and in exceptional cases 24 to 30 inches. 

 Where the stand is very thin the plants have a prostrate habit, but 

 where it is thick they grow upright, and the yield of hay from such 

 plants is large, often exceeding 2 tons per acre and exceptionally 

 reaching 3 or even 4 tons per acre. Under such conditions lespedeza 

 is a crop of very high value, which has become more and more ap- 

 preciated in late years, so that many farmers now employ it in regu- 

 lar rotations. It is not improbable that a wider knowledge of the 

 merits of the crop will cause it to be more generally cultivated and 

 perhaps over a considerably wider area. Lespedeza grows during 

 practically the same season as certain other leguminous forage crops ; 

 i. e., cowpeas, soy beans, velvet beans, and beggarweed. its desir- 

 ability in any particular place will depend upon its ability to com- 

 pete with the above mentioned crops. (Dept. Agr. F. B. 441.) 



The fruit is a one-seeded pod, which readily becomes separated 

 at the point of attachment to the stem. The seeds are not threshed 

 from the pods. It is not necessary, and it would be a difficult matter 

 to accomplish. Because of these adhering pods, the seed seem light. 

 Well-cleaned seed weigh twenty-five pounds per bushel. They are 

 so small, however, that one bushel will give plenty of plants to 

 make a good crop when properly sown. Soil inoculation by arti- 

 ficial means does not seem to be necessary anywhere. Possibly the 

 crop would be improved by inoculation. It is a good soil-renovating 

 crop. It belongs to the family of plants that take nitrogen from the 

 air. Where it has been tried, there is universal testimony to its great 

 value as a fertilizer. Some advantages of the lespedeza crop need to 

 be especially stressed. 



It perpetuates itself on the land by the annual seed crop. If the 

 crop is harvested quite early, a second growth makes a crop of seed. 

 If harvested late, seed are matured before harvest and shattered on 

 the land in harvesting. 



No hay crop allows such a wide period of time in which harvest- 

 ing may be done. The harvest period may extend from late August 

 to late October, including hay and seed crop. In fact, new lespedeza 

 hay begins to come to the Baton Rouge market in late July. Such 

 early cutting, however, will not yield a large crop, although the qual- 

 ity is excellent, as there are no leafless stems. While, under favor- 



