promise. Lespedeza thunbergiu is a 
little more vigorous than bicolor, but 
its seed yield is notso good. Lespedeza 
crytobotrya was found to be a wonder- 
ful quail food in some areas, but its 
seeds drop early in the fall. 
Shrub lespedezas in 
land management for quail 
The shrub lespedezas at one time 
were widely used for gully control. 
When their value as quail food was dis- 
covered, they came into use as an agri- 
cultural crop for feeding quail. Once 
well established, they control erosion 
and you can keep them vigorous in- 
definitely with good care. 
You can use shrub lespedezas with 
almost any kind of farming where quail 
food is short. Quail eat many differ- 
ent kinds of seeds and insects, most of 
which are available for only part of the 
year. They require only one good 
food, however, if they have an ade- 
quate amount of that. Never forget 
the importance of food. Quail need 
food every day. Most farms and 
ranches have too little at some time of 
the year—winter, spring, or fall. 
As mentioned before, the seeds of 
shrub lespedezas are relished by quail 
but left alone by rodents and nongame 
Range for japonica. 
source of quail food. 
birds. This characteristic permits you 
to feed a covey of quail on a lespedeza 
strip of about ¥ acre. Most other 
quail foods require an acre or so of 
land for each covey. 
Equally important is the fact that 
many shrub lespedeza seeds remain on 
the ground for 12 to 24 months. The 
seeds carried over from the previous 
fall encourage the coveys to locate 
on the strips in August, September, and 
October—before the new crop becomes 
available. This prevents much of the 
“fall shuffle” of quail searching for 
food. Observations show that the 
seeds accumulate from year to year, 
and an actual abundance is maintained 
at all times. 
To use shrub lespedezas effectively, 
you should plan the use of all your 
land at the same time. These lespe- 
dezas can be used on the poorest or the 
best soils, if they are not wet. They 
will not stand grazing; cattle and 
horses like them too well. Deer or 
pocket-gophers, if numerous, may 
damage these lespedezas severely. A 
Soil Conservation Service technician 
can help you decide where to plant 
them and where not to. 
For best economy, plant shrub les- 
5 
