OTHER HOT-SEASON ANNUAL LEGUMES 545 



to cattle, but hogs also thrive upon it. Owing to the 

 very viny nature of the plants, it is necessary to grow 

 it in conjunction with some supporting crop ; other- 

 wise but a comparatively few pods are produced. 

 Among the supporting crops that can be used are corn, 

 pearl millet, and sorghums. Of these, corn is the best, 

 especially the strong-growing varieties. Various methods 

 of planting are used. When planted alone, the velvet 

 bean should be planted after the ground has been thor- 

 oughly worked, so as to obtain one plant about every five 

 feet each way. This requires about 12 pounds of seed 

 to the acre. When planted with corn or other supporting 

 crops, various plans are used. The beans may be planted 

 in the same row with the corn, but under such conditions 

 practically no corn is secured. Another method is to put 

 the corn in successive rows and plant the velvet beans in 

 the middle. Still another method is to plant two or three 

 rows of corn to each row of velvet bean. The maximum 

 yields of beans is secured where the plants are supported 

 on poles or trellises, but this is not practicable where it is 

 designed to pasture the crop. 



664. Other species of Stizolobium. Recent investiga- 

 tions have disclosed the fact that in the countries sur- 

 rounding the Indian Ocean, there are numerous species 

 of stizolobium closely related to the velvet bean. Most 

 of these have been recently introduced and are being 

 tested in comparison with the Florida velvet bean. 

 Among the most important are the Lyon bean (Stizolobium 

 niveum), differing from the Florida velvet bean in having 

 white flowers and white seeds, and nearly smooth pods 

 which, however, shatter readily when they become mature ; 

 the Chinese velvet bean, differing from the Lyon bean 

 only in being much earlier, maturing its seeds as far north 



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