132 SOUTHERN PORK PRODUCTION 



to make the pasture rougli. This is a highly carbo- 

 naceous feed, having only al)out one and a half pounds of 

 digestible protein per 100 pounds of grass. The carbo- 

 hydrates amount to about 16 pounds and the fat less than 

 a half pound per 100 pounds. The nutritive ratio is 1 : 11 

 or 12, which suggests supplements of mature legume 

 grazing crops, such as peanuts, velvet beans, soy beans 

 or soy bean pasture, and when concentrates are used, 

 linseed or cottonseed meal, meat meal, or wheat by- 

 products made into a slop are valuable. 



This is a permanent grass, and it is generally not 

 difficult to obtain a stand. It is propagated by means of 

 roots, which will readily take hold if given half a chance. 

 This is one of the most persistent grasses and is difficult 

 to eradicate when it once gets a hold. In many parts of 

 the South this grass grows in connection with lespedeza, 

 which makes an excellent maintenance pasture for hogs 

 of all kinds, available from one month after the last frost 

 in spring to heavy frost in the fall. 



Cowpeas pasture. — The great value of this legume to 

 southern agriculture is attested by the fact that it has 

 been grown here for over 150 years. It originally came 

 from India or China. It is an annual summer legume. 

 There are many varieties, and they vary from an upright 

 plant to plants with runners 12 to 16 feet in length. The 

 seeds are of all colors and mixed, and some varieties are 

 early and some late. It is adapted to practically all parts 

 of the South, and it is unequaled as a soil renovator and 

 legume forage crop for swine. The pigs cat the pods and 

 tender leaves and shoots. It is generally not grazed until 

 the first peas begin to mature, the peas not all maturing 

 at the same time, but coming on along for a month or 



