Cut-Over Pine Lands in the South. 
39 
for drying and grinding the beans into a commercial feed. For home 
consumption the beans are usually fed in the pod, as they are difficult 
to grind, quickly become rancid, and the feeding value is not in- 
creased by grinding. 
That the velvet bean is a very valuable concentrated feed for cat- 
tle has been thoroughly demonstrated. Feeding tests have shown that 
about 2 pounds in the pod are equal to 1 pound of cottonseed meal 
and in addition the roughage required is lessened because of the dry 
matter in the bulky pods. The high feeding value of velvet beans 
in the field is beyond question and it is now a common practice to 
market fat steers directly off the bean fields in February and March. 
Though these steers do not have the high finish of steers fed during 
a longer period they sell for a good price. The practice of fattening 
cattle on velvet-bean pasture is an economical one, because few beans 
are wasted, little labor is required, and the fertilizing value of the 
crop is retained on the land. 
The Bureau of Animal Industry, United States Department of 
Agriculture, with the cooperation of the Mississippi experiment sta- 
tion, conducted an experiment at Collins, Miss., during the early part 
of 1918, to determine the economy of a ration of velvet beans and 
corn silage when fed to fattening steers and also to compare the 
relative feeding value and economy of whole velvet beans in the pod 
and velvet beans crushed with the pods. The experiments are being 
continued, and while no detailed results have as yet been published, 
the following table gives a summary of the data obtained : 
Table 5.— Velvet beans in pod compared with velvet beans and pods crushed. 
[Cattle- feeding experiment at Collins, Miss., Jan. 1 to Apr. 5, 1918 — 94 days.] 
Item. 
Lotl. 
Beans in 
pod and 
corn 
Lot 2, 
Beans 
and pods 
crushed 
and corn 
silage. 
Number steers in lot 
Average daily ration per head (full feed): 
Velvet beans in pod pounds . 
Velvet beans, crushed do. . . 
Corn silage do . . . 
Average initial weight per head do. . . 
Average final weight per head do . . . 
Average total gain per head do . . . 
Average daily gain per head do . . . 
Silage consumed per hundredweight gain do . . . 
Velvet beans consumed per hundredweight gain do . . . 
Feed cost per 100 pounds gain 
Average shrinkage in transit to market pounds. 
Average dressing, market weights per cent . 
Initial cost per 100 pounds 
Selling price per 100 pounds • , 
Average profit per head 
10.9 
22.0 
660 
793 
133 
1.41 
1,710 
621 
$11. 72 
79 
56.1 
$7.50 
$12. 00 
$13. 70 
10.9 
22.0 
660 
790 
130 
1.38 
1,717 
621 
$13. 29 
79 
55.22 
$7.50 
$12. 00 
$11.61 
Twenty-two head of native Mississippi steers from 3 to 5 years 
old, showing no evidence of improved beef blood and averaging 660 
pounds, were used in this test. Preliminary to being placed in the 
