410 



FIELD CROPS 



states it must be sown in late summer or early fall to prevent 

 winter-killing. As cultivation of orchards generally stops 

 about that time, this plant works in well as a cover crop to 

 add nitrogen. For the best growth of the orchard, it should 

 be plowed under early the following spring, for if left to pro- 

 duce seed it will take moisture and plant food from the trees. 



THE VELVET BEAN 



531. The velvet bean, Mucuna utilis, is a semi tropical 

 plant which thrives along the Gulf Coast and in Florida. 



There it is an im- 

 portant forage plant 

 and soil renovator, 

 since it makes a 

 very heavy growth 

 and produces numer- 

 ous nitrogen-gather- 

 ing tubercles. The 

 vines often grow to 

 a length of 30 feet or 

 more. The flowers 

 are in clusters, pur- 

 ple in color, and are 



Fig. 



128. Velvet bean leaves, flowers, and 

 green and mature pods. 



followed by short 

 pods which are covered with black fuzz or down. Each pod 

 contains several mottled white and brown seeds, about 

 the size of a common garden bean. The greatest value of 

 the velvet bean is as a producer of vegetable matter rich 

 in nitrogen. The long, tangled vines make it rather diffi- 

 cult to harvest for forage. It will produce good sized vines 

 as far north as Virginia and Kentucky, but does not pro- 

 duce seed except in the Gulf states. 



