1 Ocr., 1897.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL 289: 
The Velvet Bean as a Fertiliser. 
Ty the August issue of this Journal we drew attention to the reported value 
of the Velvet Bean (Dolichos multiflores) as a fodder plant and as a fertiliser, 
We also stated that the Queensland Department of Agriculture had made 
application to the Texas department for seeds of the bean. The Louisiana 
Sugar Experiment Station is distributing the beans in quantities of one pod to 
each applicant. Time has not yet permitted of the arrival of the bean in 
Queensland, but meanwhile it may be as well to again draw attention to the 
merits attributed to it by our American cousins. 
Mr. I’. H. Boucher, of Orlando, writing to the Florida Farmer and Fruit 
Grower, alludes to its qualities as follows :— 
“T am planting my own orange grove in velvet beans, and would like to 
tell your readers what I have seen that persuaded me to plant. My neighbour 
made a big crop of beans on a small patch that he uses for potatoes, forage 
crops, &c. I went over to see the patch late in the fall, and found all the vines, 
&e., wilted down and lying on the ground. They made a mulch of leaves and 
vines fully 4 inches deep clear over the patch, and the ground underneath was 
very mellow and loamy. 
* Another neighbour planted 8.pecks of beans in his cornfield, about 
25 acres, when he laid by his corn. He gathered 60 bushels of beans.shelled, 
and they were the finest in this neighbourhood. ‘This year, he has the same 
land planted in corn again. The plot where the beans were grown looks like 
river bottom* corn, strong and lusty ; where the beans were not planted, though 
the land is precisely the same in other respects and has the same treatment, 
the corn is not half so good. 
“ These beans certainly seem to be the boss for making humus, and gathering 
the most expensive of fertilisers—ammonia. I would advise everyone to shade 
their land from the hot sun, and provide fertiliser and humus for future use: 
by planting these beans whenever possible. The crop itself is a valuable one, 
making splendid forage for horses, cattle, and hogs. Hogs especially fatten 
and thrive on the beans.’ 
* Corresponding with our rich riverine scrub lands, —Ed. Q.A.J. 
