214 



BEAN, BROAD 



BEGGARWEED 



After flax oats gave . . . 

 After grain oats gave . . 

 After broad bean oats gave 

 After soybean oats gave . 

 After corn oats gave . . 

 After millet oats gave . . 



Bus. 



.49 

 . 58 

 .69 

 .49 

 . 52 

 .43 



lbs. 



14 

 28 

 14 

 14 

 32 

 18 



Length of 

 straw 

 40 to 45 in. 

 43 to 48 in. 

 46 to 50 in. 

 40 to 45 in. 

 40 to 45 in. 

 36 to 40 in. 



The next year barley was grown on the same 

 plots as the above, with the following results : 



Length of 

 straw 



37 to 39 in. 

 36 to 38 in. 



38 to 40 in. 

 33 to 35 in. 



Bus. lbs. 



.35 

 .39 



After flax, 2 years previous, barley 

 After grain, 2 years previous, barley 

 After broad bean, 2 years previous, 



barley 40 



After soybean, 2 years previous, 



barley 31 32 



BEGGARWEED. Desmodium tortuosum, D. G. 

 LeguminoscB. (The name Meibomia is now often 

 substituted for Desmodium.) Giant Beggarweed, 

 Florida Clover. Figs. 305, 306, 307. 



By H. Harold Hume. 



A strong, upright, branched annual, grown far 

 South for hay, forage and cover-crop, reaching a 

 height of six to eight feet, with broad, trifol- 

 ioliate leaves and small inconspicuous flowers in 

 panicled racemes. The seeds are small, yellow- 

 ish, flattened, and resemble red clover in 

 weight, and in- size, shape and color ; 

 they are borne in hispid, jointed pods, 

 which break apart at maturity and 

 cling to the coats of animals or cloth- 

 ing of persons. It is closely related 

 to the beggar-lice of the North. Beg- 

 garweed is a leguminous plant, in its 

 general value and characteristics re- 

 sembling the clovers. Most plants of 

 this genus are weeds, this particular 

 one being the only species grown as 

 a cultivated crop. It is found as a 

 native plant in the West 

 Indies, and throughout 

 northern Florida and south- /■ 

 ern Georgia, while in culti- / 

 vation it is found all over 

 Florida and elsewhere in 

 the southern states. 



Culture. 



The seed is slow in 

 starting, usually not 

 germinating until 

 June, and unless the 

 land is cultivated early in the sea- 

 son to destroy weeds of different 

 kinds, it may be crowded out. The 

 ■ seeding should not be done till the 

 ground is warm and moist. When 

 seeding is resorted to on new land, 

 seed with the hulls still attached 

 is preferable, as the pods, because 

 of the adhering dust, carry the nec- 

 essary bacterial inoculation with 



% 



them ; otherwise, the clean seed is preferable to 

 the pods, because of the more uniform germina- 

 tion. Ten to twelve pounds of seed, sown broad- 

 cast, are required per acre. When grown for 

 seed, five or six pounds of clean seed per acre 

 is sufficient. When the stand is thick, the plants 

 produce single stems. When growing apart from 

 each other, they are much branched, stout and 

 coarse. Hence, to produce the best quality of hay, 

 a liberal amount of seed should be used. The 

 seed must not be buried deeply, and need not 

 be covered at all if planted at the beginning of 

 the summer rains. 



As a hay crop, it succeeds best on land contain- 

 ing a considerable amount of moisture. On high, 

 dry lands it may also be grown, but the yield is 

 not so heavy as on the lower lands. When once 

 well established, but little care is needed to secure 

 a crop from year to year. It re-seeds itself with- 

 out fail, and will continue to occupy a piece of 

 ground unless destroyed by cultivation, or close 

 cutting, whereby seed development is prevented. 

 When, for any reason, it is desired to remove the 

 crop from a piece of land, this may be easily ac- 

 complished by cutting suificiently late to prevent 

 seed formation, and by cultivating during the time 

 the young plants are coming up. 



Place in the rotation. 



Beggarweed fits well into the rotation with 



farm crops. In corn lands it 



may be allowed to grow after 



the corn is laid by, the early 



cultivation of the corn crop 



interfering in no way with the 



after crop of beggarweed. An 



excellent rotation in 



many sections is : 



First year, corn and 



beggarweed ; second 



year, cotton ; third 



year, beggarweed. 



Harvesting. 



The beggarweed 

 crop may be 

 cut twice 

 '^ during the 

 summer. The 

 cuttings should 

 be made just 

 as the plants 

 begin to bloom, 

 when they 

 should be three 

 or four feet 

 high. The sec- 

 ond crop is 

 produced from 

 buds on the 

 stubble left 

 after the first 

 cutting, and 

 should be cut 

 at the same 



Beggarweed spray at the flowering stage. 



