One of the most significant develop ments from the standpoint of soil erosion control has been the use of lespedeza with grain. In this system, the lespedeza is seeded on grain which is allowed to ripen or is cut for hay. It may also be grazed. Later the lespedeza is grazed until much of the seed has ripened, when it is heavily disked and grain seeded again. The lespedeza volunteers in the next year's grain and the rotation may be continued for as many years as desirable. The ground is constantly covered with vegetation which prevents ero sion and leaching, two crops are produced each year and where barley can be used as the grain crop, the acreage of corn needed for stock feeding on the farm can be reduced materially.
Seed is freely produced by all the lespede zas and is harvested throughout the territory where lespedeza is grown. The statistics of seed production are eloquent of the rise and spread of Korean lespedeza. Seed of this species is mainly produced in North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Missouri.
The chief producing areas of L. striata are Mississippi and Louisiana with a smaller production in Tennessee. Up to 1928, statistics showed production only in the last named three States and the total production in 1928 was about 4,500,000 pounds. Korean lespedeza was distributed in a small way in 1922 and in 1929, North Carolina and Kentucky entered the list of producing States. In 1932, Virginia, and in 1935, Missouri and Illinois were added. Seed production rose rapidly except in Mississippi and Louisiana where only L. striata seed is grown. In those States production declined.
In 1928, seed production was recorded from only three States; in 1938, ten States produced enough seed to warrant inclusion in the crop report. The total production rose from 4,500,000lb. in 1928 to 189,210.000 in 1938. The increased production was almost
wholly due to the spread of the newly introduced varieties.
of L. striata is harvested with a "pan." This is a shallow metal pan attached to the rear of the mower cutter bar and provided with a perforated cover. The lespedeza as cut is raked over the pan, the seed shatters off and falls through the holes. The straw may later be threshed if more seed is wanted.
Seed of L. stipulacea does not shatter readily and the plants are cut, windrowed, and later passed through a thresher. A similar procedure is followed in the case of L. sericea.
In North Carolina and Arkansas, the legal weight of L. striate seed is 251b. per bushel. This weight is generally accepted even where not con firmed by legislation. The actual weight, however, depends upon how well the seed has been cleaned. Clean seed of L. striata weighs 291b. per bushel; that of Kobe lespedeza, 3o1b.; of L. sti pulacea, 451b. ; and that of unhulled L. sericea, 34 pounds. When hulled, all weigh about 6olb. per bushel.
In common lespedeza, there are about 343,000 seeds per pound; in Kobe, 185,000 ; in Korean, 240,000; and in hulled L. sericea, about 350,000 seeds per pound.
All the lespedezas are valuable for wild life, especially birds. Quail are fond of the seeds and many thousands of acres are seeded especially for wild life. In addition, L. sericea forms an ideal cover for birds.
The American species inhabit waste ground, the margins of woodland, and similar places. They never occur in dense stands, but as single plants or small groups of plants. Their only known value is for wild life. Quail and other birds make extensive use of the seed.
For more detailed information, consult U.S. Department of Agricul ture Circulars 534 and 536. (A. J. Pi.)