SERICEA AND OTHER PERENNIAL LESPEDEZAS 31 



grazing trials at Beltsville, Md., in 1939 (12). In these tests 

 yearling steers in 1939 and 1942 failed to make satisfactory 

 gains on pure stands of sericea. Although the sericea was uni- 

 formly grazed to a height of 6-8 inches in 1940 and 1941 (fig. 11), 

 the 2- and 3-year old steers produced only 43.2 pounds of beef 

 per acre on sencea, as compared to 103.6 pounds for similar lots 

 on permanent grass pasture. Each year the steers were turned 

 onto the pasture when the new shoots of sericea had reached 

 a height of 4 to 6 inches, usua ly around May 15. These results 

 definitely indicate that on infertile sandy soils of this area, sericea 

 in pure stands is not a satisfactory grazing plant. The absence 

 of grasses, other species, and the lack of adequate fertilization 

 undoubtedly lowered the palatability and nutritive value of seri- 

 cea, thereby lowering animal gains on pasture. 



Highly satisfactory returns are reported in recent grazing 

 trials with sericea in South Carolina (18). At Clemson, a 4.2 

 acre plot was grazed with four large heifers in 1945 and 1946. 

 A 4-acre pasture at the Sandhill station, near Columbia, was 

 grazed at the average rate of 6.9 lightweight Guernsey heifers 

 in 1946. The stand of sericea on 3 acres of the 4.2 acres of 

 pasture at Clemson was excellent. Hop clover, Bermuda grass, 

 crabgrass and nutgrass were prevalent on the remaining 1.2 

 acres. At the Sandhill station, sericea comprised 85 percent of 

 the herbage, with crabgrass making up the balance. Live weight 

 gains per acre were 169 and 100 pounds at Clemson for the 2 

 years 1945-46, and 357 pounds per acre at the Sandhill station 

 for the year 1946. 



Sericea was considered inferior to Kobe lespedeza at the North 

 Carolina Agricultural Experiment Station (25) in a grazing 

 trial at that station in 1944. As pointed out in the report, the 

 sericea was 18 inches tall at the beginning of the grazing period. 

 There was little evidence that the crop was grazed until August 1. 

 After the sericea was mowed on August 1, the cattle kept the 

 second crop grazed to a height of 6 to 10 inches. Since most of 

 the gains on sericea were made after mowing, it was concluded 

 that close grazing is necessary in the successful utilization of 

 the crop. 



In further studies, real differences in palatability due to fer- 

 tilizers were noted in 1946 on this same sericea pasture. Cattle 

 grazed but little on plots receiving no fertilizer. Plots receiving 

 500 pounds of 0-12-12 12 were moderately grazed while those re- 

 ceiving 1,000 pounds of 0-12-12 fertilizer were heavily grazed. 

 Fertilizers were applied in 1945, but palatability differences were 

 not apparent until 1946. 



Workers at the Alabama Agricultural Experiment Station, at 

 Auburn, Ala., have been very successful in the utilization of 

 sericea in a year-round grazing program (9). In this system 

 sericea lespedeza was the main summer grazing plant. Kudzu was 

 pastured during prolonged dry periods in the summer to rest the 

 sericea. Excellent gains have been secured each year of th 3- 



12 Percentages, respectively, of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potash. 



