KUDZU, A FORAGE CROP FOR THE SOUTHEAST 5 
before new growth begins; therefore the time for setting will vary with 
the latitude. It is best to set the roots soon after digging them, and 
on no account should they be allowed to dry. In the South the roots 
may be set in February; in the North as early m spring as the ground 
can be made ready. If roots are bought in the extreme South for 
setting in the North they must be kept in cold storage for a time, but 
this isnot desirable. Wherever possible it is best to plant roots as soon 
as they are received and to procure roots as near home as possible, and 
get well-rooted, good-quality stocks. Artificial inoculation is seldom 
if ever needed, as the plants seem to become inoculated naturally 
everywhere. 
Establishing Kudzu From Seed 
Kudzu may be established from seed by planting directly in the 
field, but such procedure is seldom to be recommended. Under 
ordinary field conditions the germination of the seed usually is poor, 
the seedlings are feeble, and poor stands result. If seed is used, it 
should be sown thickly, about 15 pounds to the acre in a seedhed, and 
the seedlings allowed to grow for 2 years and then set out. Cuttings 
with two or three nodes or joints may be treated in the same way, being 
set in good, moist soil, where they will take root and establish plants 
to be moved later. 
Important Points About Planting 
At one extreme is this method of planting: Using cheap, rooted 
cuttings, dropping them 10 feet apart in furrows 10 “feet apart, and 
covering them with a plow. ‘This is the least expensive method and 
the surest to disappoint; failure is almost certain. At the other 
extreme is this method: Using 2- to 3-year-old well-rooted plants, 
setting them carefully as soon as they are received, on moist, well- 
prepared land, 3% by 3% feet apart. This is the most expensive 
method, but if it is followed hardly a plant will die, and the field can be 
used the second year. 
The grower can choose between these two extremes. He should 
remember, however, that (1) the closer the planting and the better 
the roots the quicker the results; (2) widely spaced plants must be 
cultivated 1 or 2 years to give the vines a chance to root at the nodes 
or peg down; (3) roots must not be allowed to dry out; (4) roots must 
be dug and set before growth starts; (5) roots must be set carefully, as 
deep as the length of the root and with crown buds or eyes at or about 
1 inch below the surface. 
Cultivation 
The plants must be cultivated for the first year or two in order that 
weeds may not interfere with the establishment of new plants from the 
first runners. It must be remembered that before a field of kudzu is 
useful for forage there must be many more rooted plants per acre than 
have beenset. The Georgia College of Agriculture places the required 
number of plants at three or four for every square yard of surface. 
This large number of plants must come from the rooted joints, and the 
joints cannot root unless they lie on moist ground. Weeds interfere 
