UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
DEPARTMENT BULLETIN No. 1333 
Washington, D. C. V JUNE, 1925 
FATTENING STEERS ON VELVET BEANS 
By S. W. Greene, Assistant Animal Husbandman, and Arthur T. Semple, 
Associate Animal Husbandman, Animal Husbandry Division, Bureau of Animal 
Industry. 
CONTENTS 
Page 
O utline of experimental work 1 
The experiment at Collins, Miss.. 5 
The experiments at Belts ville, Md ... 8 
Page 
The experiments at McNeill, Miss 17 
Conclusions based on experimental work 26 
OUTLINE OF EXPERIMENTAL WORK 
Velvet beans were first considered valuable for cattle chiefly 
because they would eat them from vines in the field throughout the 
winter, even picking them off the ground and nosing them out when 
they were trampled in the mud. The fact that they were kept moist 
by rains and lying on the wet ground did not seem to affect their 
palatability or nutritive value. It was soon found that steers could 
be fattened to a considerable degree by pasturing late in the fall and 
early in the winter on good-yielding fields of velvet beans. (Figs. 
1 and 2.) 
That velvet beans are a valuable protein concentrate is indicated 
by the following analysis of thin-podded, speckled beans by the 
Bureau of Chemistry, United States Department of Agriculture: 
Per cent 
Crude protein 18. 
Crude fiber 14. 
Nitrogen-free extract 48. 1 
Ether extract 4. 3 
Moisture 11. 7 
Ash 3. 9 
The thin-podded, speckled beans, similar to the original Florida 
beans, are much higher in feeding value than several varieties which 
have a very thick pod and consequently a low shelling percentage. 
The thick-podded beans also are relatively unpalatable. The popu- 
larity of these varieties, such as Osceola, rests on heavier yields and 
the absence of stinging fuzz. 
33444— 25t 1 
