FIVE ORIENTAL SPECIES OP BEANS. 



29 



The moth bean has grown very satisfactorily at Arlington farm, 

 Va. ; and also at Chillicothe, Tex. Owing to its numerous slender 

 stems it produces a very fine quality of hay, but in unfavorable 

 weather for curing the leaves drop off readily. The decumbent habit 

 of the plant also makes it difficult to harvest with a mower. When 

 planted in 3-foot rows at Chillicothe in 1907 for hay production, Nos. 

 21600 and 8539 averaged 2,680 pounds of hay to the acre, as com- 

 pared with 3,204 pounds for Whippoorwill cowpeas and 2,380 pounds 

 for Iron cowpeas. At Dalhart, Tex., the moth bean produced in 

 1909 a yield of 2,500 pounds of hay per acre. 



Under the conditions where most fully tested, the moth bean has 

 produced but little seed. During several seasons' trial at Arlington 

 farm very few flowers have formed and but few pods have ripened. 

 At Chillicothe, Tex., the results have been similar, except in 1908, 

 when a small yield of seed was obtained from thin plantings. The 

 reasons for this light seed production are obscure. In India the moth 

 bean yields as much seed as the mung. Duthie and Fuller (1882, 

 p. 41) give the average yield per acre as about 11 bushels. 



Even were its seed production higher — and this might be secured 

 by selection — the procumbent habit of the moth bean is such that it 

 is not likely to be grown in preference to the cowpea. At Chillicothe 

 it endured drought better than the cowpea, and this quality of resist- 

 ance to drought is also noted by writers on Indian agriculture. 

 The difference does not seem sufficient, however, to commend the 

 plant to American agriculture under present conditions. 



CHEMICAL ANALYSES. 



The results of chemical analyses made by the Bureau of Chemistry 

 of the hay of four of the five species of beans described in this bulletin 

 and of the cowpea for comparison are shown in Table II. 



Table II. — Chemical analyses of the hay of the mung, urd, adsulci, and rice beans and 



of the cowpea. 



Plant. 



Water. 



Ash. 



Ether 

 extract. 



Protein. 



Crude 

 fiber. 



7.18 



8.40 



1.47 



10.69 



20.57 



7.66 



10.92 



1.31 



12.72 



22.33 



7.68 



9.87 



2.03 



17.66 



23.04 



6.41 

 10.5 



10.15 



8.9 



1.51 

 2.6 



11.16 

 14.2 



32.88 

 21.2 



Nitrogen- 

 free 

 extract. 



Mung bean (No. 17283), cut when pods 



were three-fourths grown 



Urd bean (No. 17308), cut when pods were 



half grown 



Adsuki bean (No. 17324), cut when pods 



were three-fourths grown 



Rice bean (No. 25523) , cut when pods were 



half grown. 



Cowpea 



51.69 



45.06 



39.72 



37.89 

 42.6 



Comparative analyses of the seeds of the five oriental species of 

 beans described in this bulletin, with the same data for the kidney 

 bean for comparison, are presented in Table III. 



