38 Bulletin 827, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 
lure was furnished at the rate of one-half acre per head per month 
and the breeding cows made an average daily gain of 1.25 pounds 
a head. 
Stock cattle are sometimes given limited pasture on bean fields 
from which no beans have been picked. By this method the cattle 
are turned on the field for an hour or more each day and then 
taken off. This lengthens the grazing period and is an economical 
way to handle the crop if cattle are not to be fattened. If steers 
are to be fattened for market they are often allowed the run of a 
bean field until the best of the beans are consumed, then removed 
to a new field, and the stock cattle turned on the old field to clean up 
what is left. 
The sandy soils of the Piney Woods region are not injured by 
pasturing cattle while the ground is wet during winter, and where 
velvet beans are utilized in this way considerable labor is saved and 
the fertility contained in the crop is left on the ground, adding 
greatly to the value of the crop as a soil improver. Since the beans 
will keep in the field until consumed and few beans are lost, it would 
appear that the only advantage in harvesting the beans for feed is 
in controlling the quantity of beans consumed. However, there 
are several serious objections to pasturing the beans as now practiced. 
These points are discussed under " Recommendations for winter 
feeding." 
It is worthy of particular note that nearly all the important forage 
crops of the section are legumes. Besides the high feeding value due 
to the protein content, the legumes have a high content of lime, which 
is a very necessary element in the growth of animals. Timothy hay 
has 2.5 pounds of lime per 1,000 pounds, while cowpea hay has 25.4 
pounds. 1 The soils of this region are naturally deficient in lime and 
the increased use of legumes, especially for young growing animals, 
should be highly beneficial. 
CONCENTRATED FEEDS. 
The velvet bean is the principal concentrated feed now used for 
feeding cattle in the Piney Woods and with the increasing acreage 
grown each year it is rapidly replacing all other concentrated feeds 
both for fattening and wintering cattle. Aside from its recognized 
value as a feed it is a home-grown crop which is more readily 
marketed through caftle than in any other way. The increased use 
of velvet beans has permitted the shipment of larger quantities of 
cottonseed meal to other sections of the country, as the meal is a 
more concentrated feed for which there is a well-established market. 
In some localities since 1915 the production has greatly exceeded the 
amount needed for home consumption and mills have' been established 
1 From Henry and Morrison. 
