LESPEDEZA 7 



alfalfa. Plants at the Arlington Experiment Farm, Kosslyn, Va., 

 which have been cut for seed every year have reached an age of 

 10 years (fig. 2), but it is not known how long plants will live when 

 cut for hajr or grazed. This will doubtless depend on how often the 

 crop is cut and how heavily it is grazed. 



Lespedeza serieea seed as harvested is " hard ", and scarified seed 

 should always be used. For seeding in rows 3 feet apart, as is done 

 for seed production, 2 pounds of seed per acre is enough. When 

 drilled or broadcast on winter grain for the purpose of establishing 

 a meadow or pasture, 15 to 25 pounds of scarified seed is recom- 

 mended, the lesser quantity when seeded for pasture, the greater 

 when seeded for hay. Seeding should be shallow, the seed being left 

 on or barelv under the ground. 



Figure 2. — Lespedeza serieea in broadcast stand at the Arlington Experiment Farm, 



Rosslyn, Va., 1932. 



If a seed crop is wanted, the first-season cultivation should be the 

 same as for corn or cotton. A broadcast or drilled seeding will not 

 make a crop the same season except under unusually favorable 

 conditions. The seedlings of Lespedeza serieea endure shading very 

 well, and a broadcast seeding overrun with weeds should not be 

 abandoned. The plants will probably come on strong the following 

 spring. 



Good hay may be made from Lespedeza serieea, but the first cut- 

 ting must be made before the stems become woody. Probably a 

 height of 15 inches is about right for the first cutting. The stubble 

 should be left -1 or 5 inches high, as the new growth comes from the 

 stubble and not from the crown as in alfalfa. The hay is extremely 

 leafy, the first cutting being about 65 to 69 percent leaves, the sec- 

 ond 69 to 71 percent. Chemical analysis shows the hay to have 

 about the same composition as that of common lespedeza, but no 



