Vol. I-XXX. 
Published Weekly by The Rural Publishing Co., 
’"1 W. 30th St.. New York. Price One Dollar a Year. 
NEW YORK, AUGUST 13. 1921 
Entered as Second-Class Matter. June 26. 1879. at the Post 
Office at New York. N. Y.. under the Act of March 3, 1879. 
No. 4G51 
Kudzu, the New Claimant for Favor 
T HIS article is to be about kudzu—the plant now 
being recommended for trial in the Northern 
States. Before we begin we want it clearly under¬ 
stood that we do not wish to induce any of our 
readers to try this plant except as an experiment. 
We warn you fully beforehand that it is likely to 
become a nuisance and 
a weed in gardens or 
cultivated ground. Ir 
has a speed and power 
for running over land 
which would make a 
fortune for horsemen 
if they could put the 
same power into their 
horses. I>o not intro¬ 
duce kudzu into your 
garden or cornfields 
and then say The It. 
N.-Y. told you to do it. 
We never did and 
never will. 
This kudzu has long 
been grown in the 
North as an ornamen¬ 
tal vine. Where it 
proves at home tie* 
kudzu is a pretty vine, 
and grows well. It is 
a legume, having the 
ability to take nitro¬ 
gen from the air. In 
our experience, unlike 
most of the other le¬ 
gumes. it does not re¬ 
quire lime or an.alka¬ 
line soil in order to 
grow well. Soy beans 
and cow peas will 
make fair growth in a 
soil inclined to he 
acid, but kudzu seems 
to thrive where the soil 
is quite sour. 
It is not. appa rently. 
a light or sandy soil 
plant, like cow peas or 
(to a limited extent) 
vetch. It seems to do 
best on rather heavy 
soil, where there is a 
strong subsoil. The 
soil of many of our 
northern hills, now in 
pasture, seems to suit 
this plant well, and 
that is why we think 
there are possibilities 
for it in the North. We 
have had two reports 
that stock will not eat 
the kudzu, but our own 
stock eat it freely and 
apparently enjoy it. 
We have tried to raise 
it from seed in the 
garden, but a flock of 
little chickens cleaned 
it up as fast, as it grow 
above ground—neglecting everything else to get at. 
the kudzu. We know of cases where the roots have 
lived over Winter in New England. There have 
been some reports of winter-killing, but in most 
cases we think it will live. We planted roots ob¬ 
tained from Florida this 'Spring (in late April). 
They were rather slow to start, but with warm 
weather they began to jump, and by August 1 some 
of the vines were nearly 30 feet long. If this vine 
can be planted in some of our old back pastures and 
make any such growth—as steadily productive as 
asparagus—for 12 years or more we can easily see 
what it would mean 
to the dairy and stock 
farmer. 
Is there any hope 
that such a thing can 
1)0? It is already be¬ 
ing done in Florida, 
and in parts of Geor¬ 
gia and Alabama. We 
do not know yet 
whether it is suited to 
our Northern climate 
or not. That is what 
The R. N.-1L is trying 
to find out. On our 
own farm the roots 
planted in April of 
this year will give far 
more than enough for¬ 
age to pay for the cost, 
even if not one of 
them lived over Win¬ 
ter. As it looks now, 
the kudzu bids fair to 
give us a larger crop 
this first season than 
a crop of oats and 
peas or anything else 
of that nature we 
could have planted 
this year. Remember 
that the pictures and 
statements of crop pro¬ 
duction printed here 
are taken from Flor¬ 
ida. There seems no 
question about the 
value of kudzu on the 
heavier lands of that 
State. 
Mr. Charles F. Leach, 
who lives in Northern 
Florida, sends us the 
pictures here shown. 
He raises kudzu In 
what he calls "perpen¬ 
dicular pastures.” This 
means that the vines 
run upon wire fences, 
and the cattle run in 
and eat these trained 
vines. We should think 
the cattle would pull 
these wire fences 
down — but let Mr. 
Leach tell it in his 
own words: 
You will see that 
neither the fence has 
been torn down nor the 
vines injured by the 
cattle. The stock sim¬ 
ply graze off the branch 
vines and the leaves, 
and do no harm to the 
Conn at Work in Kudzu Pasture on a Florida Farm. Notice the “*Perpendicular Fanfare." Fig. -J.W 
Hubam Clover Grown Between Lines of Kudzu in Florida. Three Months' Growth. Fig. 31 
