BBOAD BEAN 273 



cultivation, which is especially important with 

 this crop for conserving the moisture. Cultiva- 

 tion is discontinued in the latter part of July. 

 If the crop is in early enough, it will stand up 

 well under the snow when used as a winter cover- 

 crop, but will winter-kill. Seeding is done at 

 the rate of six to eight pecks per acre. A good 

 yield of beans is thirty bushels per acre. 



JAPAN CLOVER 



Japan clover {Lespedeza striata) is a native of 

 Japan and China, introduced into the southern 

 part of the United States about 1840, since which 

 time it has spread throughout the southern states, 

 where it has proved of great value as pasture, 

 although it is frequently used also for hay when 

 grown on good land. Japan clover is also a valu- 

 able cover-crop and green-manure crop, as it is 

 well adapted to light and poor lands and withstands 

 drought well, growing and spreading when other 

 plants die for lack of moisture. The plant thrives 

 as far west as Kansas, and as far north as Mary- 

 land, although it does best from Virginia south- 

 ward, where it has spread naturally. Under 

 ordinary conditions of growth, it does not reach 

 a height of more than ten to twelve inches, and on 

 very poor land it simply spreads over the ground. 

 Until recently, it was allowed to seed naturally, or 



