Class S_3:^,o£_ 
 
 Book - v St ^ ^ 
 
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 COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 
 
The Book of Vetch 
 
 History, Varieties and Uses 
 
 Its Value as a Forage, Fertilizer, Cover 
 
 and Green Manuring Crop 
 
 God Made All Things to Man's Delightful Use 
 
 By 
 WILLIAM C. SMITH 
 
 Anthor of "How to Grow One Hundred Bushels of Com 
 Per Acre on Worn Soils" 
 
 Illustrated 
 
 Cepyrlghted 1913 
 Suee««sfui Farming 
 

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 ©CU332847 
 
^^t^ooi 
 
The Birth of Vetch 
 
 Nature one day in cheerful mood. 
 
 Conceived, and bore a plant of wondrous good* 
 
 She gave it slender trailing stems. 
 
 Long noduled roots and pedicel racemes. 
 
 From bluish tints of soft Italian sky. 
 
 She garnered for its bloom, the purple dye. 
 
 With brush of Fairy build and skilled artistic hand. 
 
 She painted its queenly flower — the fairest in the land. 
 
 Into its nature she did impart 
 The alchemic soil restoring art. 
 Upon her work she gazed bewitched. 
 For she had wrought the precious vetch. 
 
It is a strange economy of Nature, that the plants which 
 produce the most food for man and heast, are the ones that 
 feed upon and eventually consume the fertility of the soiL 
 
 It is a stranger economy of Nature, that the plants that 
 produce the smallest amount of food for man and beast, are 
 the ones that feed the soil with the elements it needs to make 
 it fertile. 
 
 The vetch plant, while producing no direct food for man, 
 yet furnishes succulent fat-producing food for beast, and the 
 most precious soil-building materials in the greatest abundance* 
 
 "Give ye ear, and hear my voice; hearken, and hear my speech. 
 
 **Doth the plowman plow all day to sow? Doth he open and 
 break the clods of his ground? 
 
 "When he hath made plain the face thereof, doth he not cast 
 abroad the fitches, (vetch) and scatter the cummin, and cast in the 
 principal wheat and the appointed barley and the rye in their place^ 
 
 "For his God doth instruct him to discretion, and doth teach him 
 
 "For the fitches (vetch) are not threshed with a threshing instm- 
 raent, neither is a cart wheel turned about upon the cummin; but the 
 fitches (vetch) are beaten out with a staff, and the cummin with a rod." 
 
 —Isaiah XXVDI 23 to 27 inu 
 
A SINGLE HAIRY VETCH PLANT, REPRESENTING ONE MONTH'S 
 
 GROWTH IN THE SPRING 
 
 There Are More Than Thirty Stems to This Plant. No Attempt Was Made to Secure all the 
 
 Roots of This Plant, as Vetch Roots Are so Numerous, Lengthy and Fine, 
 
 It is Almost Impossible to Take Them From the Soil. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 In a fall month in the early forties of the nineteenth 
 century, a sturdy young farmer with his ox team and old- 
 fashioned Pennsylvania covered wagon containing his 
 young wife, two children and a few household effects, 
 drove into the thick woods of that portion of the Indian 
 Reserve afterwards known as Howard County, Indiana, 
 staked his claim and began the pioneer task of clearing 
 a farm and building a home. Time progressed, the clear- 
 ing grew in size, the log house and barn were replaced 
 with more pretentious frame buildings, and the family 
 circle had grown to ten in number, the youngest being 
 the author of these lines. 
 
 In the early part of the first year of the war of the 
 rebellion, this pioneer and his family moved from the 
 farm he had carved out of the wilderness of the great 
 forests of that region, to another farm "nearer town," and 
 the old pioneer home became a tenant farm and for forty- 
 five long years was handled by the "whip and spur" 
 method of farming. Its once fertile acres were so wasted 
 of their fertility, that when in the year 1905 the old 
 pioneer farmer passed into his last sleep and the farm 
 went into the possession of the author and his brother, 
 it was a typical worn-out farm, producing corn at the 
 rate of fifteen to twenty bushels to the acre. 
 
 To the author it seemed a disheartening task to re- 
 tain and undertake the rebuilding of this worn-out farm, 
 although it was his birthplace and the tender memories 
 
of father, mother, brothers and sisters were woven in its 
 every fiber. So when his brother offered to buy his in- 
 terest he eagerly grasped the opportunity and sold it at 
 a cheap figure, arguing to himself that he could take the 
 money and buy a better farm nearer to his home. 
 
 Thus the old home farm passed from his possession, 
 and he set about to invest the money received from it in 
 another farm. 
 
 While the author had been near the soil all his life 
 and had farmed a great deal, yet he never had really been 
 "up against" the worn-soil problem until he inherited a 
 portion of the old worn-out home farm, and even then he 
 had not been really initiated, for he had sold his interest 
 in the home farm before he had grown a crop of his own 
 upon it, so that when he cast about to buy another farm, 
 he was not experienced in the worn soil problem. In 
 the purchase of a farm he considered location and cheap- 
 ness, giving worn soil but very little consideration, so 
 without inquiry he purchased in 1906, at a cheap 
 price, a farm two miles from his home town, nicely lo- 
 cated with reference to markets, good roads, etc. 
 
 As soon as it became known that the author had 
 purchased this farm, people who were best acquainted 
 with it wondered what possessed the author to buy such 
 a farm. It was freely said that it could not be under- 
 stood how a man who had been successful in professional 
 life, manufacturing, and who was well posted on farm- 
 ing, would buy a farm which was so well known to be 
 one of the poorest and most unproductive in the county. 
 
 Before the first season's crops were all harvested 
 the author realized that there was foundation for such 
 talk, and that he was really and truly up against the 
 
worn-out soil problem, and he was ready to turn over to 
 an abler man the job of building up the worn-out soil of 
 his newly purchased farm. He was really discouraged 
 and sick at heart. But the fighting blood of revolu- 
 tionary ancestry flowing in his veins must have asserted 
 itself and put fighting vigor into him, for he cast aside 
 his discouragement and heart sickness and said to him- 
 self, "I will conquer this worn soil and show these people 
 what can be done with a worn-out farm." 
 
 But how was he to do it? And in considering how 
 he should conquer he learned that necessity is the best 
 teacher, that she teaches us lessons of the greatest value. 
 
 Realizing that something must be done to save his 
 farm from the doom of the abandoned farm, he was driv- 
 en to sit at Necessity's feet and learn her lessons on the 
 building up of worn-out soils. He entered into the study 
 of the worn-soil problem with an interest intense and ab- 
 sorbing. He learned the old lesson that there are two 
 classes of plants. The one that feeds the soil, the other 
 that feeds upon and consumes the elements of soil fer- 
 tility, and that the latter class furnishes the most food for 
 man and beast, and hence are the plants chiefly grown by 
 the husbandman. 
 
 He also learned the lesson that the chief need of 
 worn-out soils was drainage, nitrogen and organic mat- 
 ter. 
 
 The problem of drainage was a simple one, but the 
 alchemic art of transmuting worn-out soil into "pay dirt" 
 and at the same time make it produce paying crops, be- 
 came with the author the problem of the hour. 
 
 In solving this problem he reasoned that nitrogen, 
 the element soonest farmed out of the soil, is mostly 
 
found in vegetable or organic matter and in the air abore 
 the soil; that when worn soil is abandoned, nature re- 
 stores it to health and vigor by growing upon it those 
 weeds, grasses, plants and trees that furnish large quan- 
 tities of organic matter, and that have the power of draw- 
 ing nitrogen from the air ; that it was impossible to ob- 
 tain sufficient quantities of barnyard manure to restore 
 his soil, and that practical experiments had demonstrated 
 that commercial fertilizers alone would not restore soils. 
 
 So the conclusion was reached that the remedy was 
 the use of some plant that would grow and mature itself 
 between crops, whose root and branch system would 
 produce a large quantity of vegetable or organic matter 
 and which had the power to grow a large number of root 
 nodules, the homes of the nitrogen-gathering bacteria. 
 
 The author by accident found just such a plant. He 
 found it in a simple manner — by the reading of a seed 
 catalogue which described the virtues of the sand, or 
 hairy vetch, and while the description of this plant in this 
 catalogue seemed to be so extravagantly exaggerated, 
 yet the author, spurred on by the necessity of doing some- 
 thing to restore his worn-out farm, was eager to grasp 
 at anything that seemed to have in it any element of re- 
 lief. He concluded that if this plant had only one-tenth 
 of the soil-restoring powers claimed for it, it was the 
 soil panacea needed by the owners of worn-out soil, so he 
 procured seed of the sand, or hairy vetch, and in the fall 
 of 1906 sowed it upon two acres of his poorest land. This 
 was the beginning of his experiments with, and investiga- 
 tions of, the vetch plant, which has led up to the prepara- 
 tion of this volume. 
 
 Within the last few years so much has been written 
 in the agricultural papers about vetch that we feel 
 
 8 
 
that a book on vetch is needed. As to the qualifica- 
 tions of the author to write such a book, he has only to 
 say, that for six years he has grown on his farm and on 
 farms under his control, hundreds of acres of the vetch 
 plant. And upon the old home farm mentioned in the 
 beginning of this introduction, there has been grown by 
 his brother on an average of fifty acres each year for the 
 past five years, which have been closely observed by the 
 author. 
 
 The author has also written to growers of vetch all 
 over the world and obtained their experience with the 
 plant, so he feels qualified to write this volume upon so 
 valuable and so little known plant to the agricultural 
 world, and so submits it to judgment. 
 
 The growing of the vetch plant has been a pleasing 
 and profitable experience with the author. It has led 
 him into the mysteries and intricacies of the worn-soil 
 problem. Its restoration of the worn soils upon his 
 "Vetchfalfa Farm" and his old pioneer home farm until 
 they produced crops beyond his fondest dreams, have 
 been experiences that have given him the pleasure of do- 
 ing seemingly impossible things, which is the most pleas- 
 ing and lasting pleasure that can come to man. 
 
 It is hoped that the study of this book will prove 
 so great an inspiration to the reader that he will join the 
 company of those who are seeking the solution of the 
 worn-out soil problem — the most vital question now con- 
 fronting the American people. 
 
 Delphi, Indiana, WILLIAM C. SMITH. 
 
 January, 1912. 
 
CHAPTER I 
 
 "Out of names, words, traditions, passages of books 
 and the like, we do save and recover somewhat from the 
 deluge of time." — Bacon. 
 
 Historical Resume. 
 
 There is a tradition that vetch was born beneath 
 the soft Italian sky. History does not prove tradition's 
 claim, for the dissemination of vetch has been so wi(ie 
 that its native country is unknown. 
 
 Its ancient Latin name "vicia," and the fact that the 
 old Roman agriculturist grew it extensively as a "balance 
 ration" for the feeding of his soil and domestic animals, 
 is some evidence of its Italian origin. However, the 
 "Prophet of the Messiah," Isaiah, who prophesied during 
 the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, one of the early kings of 
 Babylon, wrote of fitch, or vetch. 
 
 An old name for vetch was "cicer," or chick pea 
 which belonged to the legume family, and which grew 
 in Asia, Africa, and the south of Europe. Its nutritious 
 seeds were used in cookery and were roasted and called 
 "parched pulse" and used as food for travelers in the 
 eastern deserts. This was, no doubt, the parched 
 pulse which the young unblemished Daniel and his 
 Israelitic companions requested the prince of eunuchs to 
 give them to eat when they purposed in their hearts not 
 to defile themselves by eating and drinking King Nebuch- 
 
 10 
 
adnezzar's meat and wine, the eating of which pulse, 
 and the drinking of water, made them fairer of counte- 
 nance and fairer in flesh than those who ate the king's 
 meat and drank the king's wine. 
 
 These facts would therefore indicate that vetch was 
 known and cultivated in the region about Babylon from 
 its foundation. And as the Babylonish Empire was 
 founded one hundred and fifteen years after the Deluge, 
 it would tlierefore follow that the vetch plant was really 
 known to agriculture when Noah and his kin left the Ark 
 and took up again the cultivation of the soil. 
 
 Vetch was a favorite with the Roman farmer, for his 
 fields were fertile with it, yet it never gave him any an- 
 noyance — it needed no cultivation or manure to make it 
 flourish. The Roman farmer had three seasons for the 
 sowing of vetch ; one about the setting of the star Arc- 
 turus; one in Januiry, and one the last of March. The 
 first sowing was for the seed crop, and the last sowing 
 for foliage. With the Romans it flourished best in dry 
 places, but it grew freely in the shade. 
 
 The lentils, extensively cultivated in Europe as a 
 food for stock, both herbage and seed being used for that 
 purpose, and so much prized by the Mexicans as food, 
 and used by the Germans as a basis of the "Linsen 
 soup," is a species of vetch. 
 
 Certain species of the vetch plant, however, are un- 
 doubtedly native to America, like the cow vetch, or blue 
 vetch (vicia cracca) having stems two to three feet in 
 length, and found on the borders of thickets or the edge 
 of cultivated fields, and which was undoubtedly the wild 
 vetch found on our prairies. 
 
 One of the vetches of agriculture, "vicia sativa," or 
 spring vetch, is beyond question a native of southern 
 
 11 
 
Europe and western Asia, and from there was dissemin- 
 ated to all parts of the civilized world. 
 
 The name "vik" from which was derived "vicia" 
 dates from a remote period in Europe, for it is mentioned 
 in the language of the Pelasgians who were the early in- 
 habitants of the Grecian Peninsula, and who existed 
 earlier than the fifteenth century B. C, a mighty people, 
 carrying on an extensive commerce, and having a large 
 navy, and who made war with Ramses II, King of Egypt, 
 and conquered lower Egypt. 
 
 The vetch plant was also found among the Slavs 
 from whence sprang the Russians, who stand today as 
 one of the greatest growers of vetch, and from whom 
 we receive most of the vetch seed that is imported to this 
 country. 
 
 It is said that the vetch plant is distinct and useful 
 enough to herbivorous animals to have received common 
 names from the earliest times. 
 
 There was also a species of vetch grown by the 
 ancient Greeks, seed of which has been found in the 
 excavations of Troy. And centuries ago it was cultivated 
 in Spain. 
 
 "Vicia sativa," or spring vetch, was brought to 
 America about the time of the Revolutionary War, but 
 the American farmer has been indifferent to its great 
 value as a fertilizing and soiling plant. So, for all the 
 years since its adoption to American soil, it has been 
 rarely cultivated except in recent years. This is the com- 
 mon vetch, or tare, (not, however, to be confounded with 
 the tare of Scripture, for that was a different species of 
 plant) which has for ages been cultivated throughout 
 Europe for a fodder for cattle, and which was for many 
 years regarded as a weed in America. 
 
 12 
 
The "vicia villosa," hairy, sand, or winter vetch, was 
 brought to America from Europe in 1847. This variety is 
 most commonly called Russian vetch — not because it is 
 a native of Russia, but for the reason that on account of 
 its hardiness and value as a soiling, fertilizing and seed 
 plant, the Russians grow it extensively, and, as stated, ex- 
 port to the United States and other countries large quan- 
 tities of its seed. This species of vetch has been exten- 
 sively cultivated in France for more than a quarter of a 
 century. 
 
 In the year 1910 there were 593,000 acres of vetch 
 cultivated in France, which was principally grown in the 
 north and west parts of France, common, or spring vetch 
 being chiefly cultivated. 
 
 In Germany the hairy vetch is better known and 
 more extensively cultivated, but it is called "Winter Sand 
 Wicken." It is grown in great quantities upon the 
 sandy lands in the vicinity of Berlin and in the north- 
 eastern parts of Germany, where it is highly prized as a 
 cover and green manuring crop. 
 
 All of the experiment stations of the United States 
 have some time or other in the past ten years experi- 
 mented with many varieties of the vetch plant, the result 
 of which experiments will be given in this volume under 
 an appropriate chapter. 
 
 From this historical resume it can readily be seen 
 that the vetch plant is of very ancient origin, and that its 
 merits as a soiling and fertilizing plant have been recog- 
 nized by the inhabitants of the old world from times very 
 remote. That the vetch has not been extensively culti- 
 vated in America, does not argue against its value, for 
 America has had for all the centuries that it has been oc- 
 
 13 
 
cupied, so much rich verdant soil that the American farm- 
 er, when he exhausted his land by cultivation, had only 
 to move on and preempt newer lands, rich in grazing for 
 his stock, or which grew native feeds and grasses in 
 abundance, and which was rich in all the elements neces- 
 sary to grow big crops. Now, when the virgin soil 
 hias all been preempted, and the American farmer finds 
 himself in the possession of worn soils and no new lands 
 in sight to subdue, he must turn about and conquer his 
 worn soils by the use of the plants with which the in- 
 habitants of the old countries beyond the seas conquered 
 and restored 
 
 "Wastes too bleak to rear 
 
 The common growth of earth, the 
 
 Foodful ear," 
 
 14 
 
HAIRY VETCH PLANTS GROWN IN NORTHERN INDIANA 
 
 TAKEN FROM SOIL IN LATTER PART OF APRIL 
 
 The Stems Were More Than Three Feet in Length. 
 
 Note the Large Number of Nodules on the Roots. 
 
CHAPTER 11. 
 
 "All sorts are here that all the earth yields ! Variety 
 without end." — Milton. 
 
 Varieties and Characteristics — Its Kindred. 
 
 Vetch is a member of the botanical pulse family, or 
 that class of plants called the legumes, or plants that bear 
 their seeds in a pod. 
 
 Its varieties have been numbered and described as 
 one hundred and twenty, twenty-three of which are found 
 in northeastern and northwestern North America. 
 
 The varieties of vetch are mostly climbing plants, 
 possessing long, slender, weak stems, having tendrils at 
 or near the extreme end of each pinnate leaf. The plant 
 generally being of a clinging or climbing nature, it re- 
 quires support of other plants to hold it off the ground 
 if it is desired to easily harvest it for hay or to save its 
 seed. The branches generally grow from two to five feet 
 in length, yet the author has known the hairy, or sand 
 vetch, sown on rich ground, to produce branches twelve 
 feet long. 
 
 A few of the vetches like Narbonne vetch produce 
 erect branches, which will stand up without support and 
 which do not have tendrils. 
 
 The flowers of the vetch are borne in clusters on a 
 long stem with many one-flowered lateral stalks, and 
 generally in shape are like the black locust flower. In 
 shade of color they are pink, violet, purple, blue, and 
 white, the prevailing color being a bluish purple. 
 
 15 
 
upon close observation the color of the bIi>om of 
 hairy or sand vetch appears to be blue, but when a field 
 in full bloom is observed at a distance the color is dis- 
 tinctly purple. 
 
 No good purpose can be subserved in describing the 
 
 characteristics of each and all the varieties of vetch, as 
 
 all vetches have similar characteristics, and the purpose 
 
 of this volume is to deal chiefly with the two vetches of 
 
 modern agriculture, to-wit: The hairy, or sand vetch 
 
 {Vicia villosa), and the common, or smooth, vetch.or spring 
 tare (Vicia sativa). 
 
 However, a few of the pther varieties of vetch should 
 be given a brief mention. 
 
 StoIIey's vetch (Vicia Leavenwortbii) growing wild 
 in the central and western part of Texas, having small 
 leaves and trailing stems, resists drouth, and makes fine 
 early grazing for stock. It is valuable as a cover and 
 green manuring crop. 
 
 A vetch (Lathy rus birsutus) similar in characteristics to 
 spring vetch, and grown in the South for fall and spring pas- 
 ture, is referred to as a winter vetch, which is somewhat 
 misleading, as it is not hardy north of Mason and Dixon's 
 line. 
 
 In the South it may justly be termed a winter vetch. 
 It is chiefly cut and cured for hay. 
 
 Dakota vetch (Lotus Americanus, or Hosackia) found in 
 the northwest of the United States, of a bushy nature, is 
 pastured and cut for hay. 
 
 The kidney vetch (Antbyllis vulneraria) differing 
 from most all varieties of vetch, in that it lives for more 
 than two years and has spreading stems about one foot 
 high that stand erect ; the plant being covered with short, 
 
 16 
 
•oft, delicate hairs, and having flowers of yellow to a deep 
 red color. This variety of vetch is found in all parts of 
 Europe and Asia. It has the good characteristic of grow- 
 ing well in the poorest soil, especially those soils found in 
 the limestone regions. It was first cultivated in Germany. 
 This plant has been frequently tested by the United 
 States government agricultural stations, but is reported 
 of little value. 
 
 The bird vetch, or wild pea (Vicia Cracca) called also 
 blue vetch, cow vetch and French pea, is cultivated in 
 Europe, both for soiling and for hay, and is highly prized 
 in Germany for sheep pasture. It is suitable for low 
 meadows and open woodlands. It is found in the 
 meadows of Vermont and has increased so rapidly in 
 that state as to cause alarm. Yet some farmers regard 
 it as a most valuable plant, and have expressed the wish 
 that their meadows were covered with it. But the ma- 
 jority of farmers deem it a weed pest. 
 
 It is a distinct variety of the vetch family, having 
 every characteristic of the vetch plant even to the long, 
 trailing stems, clusters of blue blossoms, pea-like pods 
 and nodule-covered roots. It is found in many of the 
 woodlands of eastern America, Kentucky,- Iowa, north- 
 ward and northwest. The author is of the opinion that 
 this is the vetch known as a weed in the great wheat 
 growing districts of the Northwest and Canada, which 
 survives either heat or cold, and resisting all methods of 
 extermination, grows under the same conditions as wheat 
 itself and mixes its seed with the threshed wheat. 
 
 In Vermont it is most commonly found in the 
 meadows and fence rows. It grows best on a strong 
 heavy soil, such as is best suited for timothy, and grows 
 vigorously in the Champlain clays. 
 
 17 
 
When it appears in the meadows it grows so luxu- 
 riantly that it smothers out other grasses. It is a decep- 
 tive plant in that it grows a less amount of foliage than 
 one is led to expect from its appearance. Its hay is rel- 
 ished by stock and has as much feeding value as clover. 
 Its good points are its value as a haying and soiling crop, 
 and its ability to enrich the soil as a nitrogen gatherer. 
 Its bad points are its seeming antipathy for other plants, 
 as it invariably over-tops and smothers them out and 
 is difficult to kill. 
 
 The narrow-leaf vetch (Vicia augustijolia) is said to 
 be a perennial by N. L. Willet, who has grown it in the 
 South near Augusta, Georgia, and who also says that as a 
 vetch it is priceless. The seeds of this variety are black 
 and about half the size of the hairy vetch. Its seeds do 
 not ripen at once, and as the seed pods that first ripen 
 shatter their seeds before the later pods mature, it is a 
 difficult matter to save its seed and so, commercially, the 
 seed is scarce. One party claimed that he was three years 
 in obtaining three bushels of seed for a government ex- 
 periment station. This is one of the most valuable 
 vetches grown if its seeds could be procured in sufficient 
 quantities. 
 
 There was a wild vetch that grew on the prairies of 
 Iowa and other western states, which was one of nature's 
 nitrogen gathering plants that assisted in storing these 
 rich prairie lands with the great stock of nitrogen found 
 in them when the American farmer broueht them into 
 sulDJection, but w^hich afterward was farmed out of them 
 by his mining system of agriculture. 
 
 Common or smooth vetch (Vicia sativa), called also 
 English or Oregon winter vetch, or spring tares, came 
 
 18 
 
from the Old World, has violet-purple flowers borne most- 
 ly in pairs, and has swelled, puffy, somewhat flattened, 
 gray mottled seeds. It is a stooling plant having from 
 four to six stalks. This vetch is an annual and is usually 
 sown in the spring. But where winters are mild it may 
 be sown in September and harvested the following May. 
 It will not stand severe cold. The minimum temper- 
 ature it will endure is about ten degrees above zero, al- 
 though it has stood a temperature of four degrees below 
 zero in the state of Oregon without injury, when grown 
 upon lands that were well drained. It, however, frequent- 
 ly winter kills even as far south as Georgia. This variety 
 of vetch grows to perfection in the beautiful Willamette 
 Valley of the Northwest, where thousands of acres of it 
 are grown for hay and seed. The hay yields from three 
 to six tons to the acre, and seed, giving financial returns 
 of sixty dollars to seventy dollars an acre. Vast quanti- 
 ties of the seed produced in Oregon are shipped to Cali- 
 fornia orchards, where it is grown as a cover crop. 
 Thousands of acres of this variety of vetch are also grown 
 in Georgia and South Carolina, where it stands in high 
 regard as an improver of soil, especially for the improving 
 of cotton lands, and for the profit received for its hay. As 
 this is one of the two true vetches of agriculture more 
 will be said about it in subsequent chapters. 
 
 Hairy, sand, or winter vetch (Vicia villosa) are three 
 names for one vetch. It is the hardy vetch of agriculture, 
 withstanding the rigors of winter and is grown in some 
 of the most northern states, even in the extreme north- 
 ern part of Wisconsin, and it is said to stand the winters 
 of that region. The stems of this variety being more 
 slender than any other variety, it has the trailing or climb- 
 ing habit and must have support or it trails upon the 
 
 19 
 
px)tind. It is a great stooling plant and so sends ont a 
 great number of stems at the surface of the ground, as 
 many as twelve to a plant, the stems in full growth reach- 
 ing a length of from three to twelve feet, the length de- 
 pending upon the soil where grown. When seed of the 
 hairy vetch is planted and it commences to grow, a slen- 
 der, weak-looking stem is first sent up to the height of 
 two or three inches. Soon other stems shoot out from 
 the main stem near the surface of the ground which trail 
 upon the soil. If seed is sown early in the fall and there 
 is sufficient moisture to hasten the growth of the plant, 
 the stems will make a growth of a foot in length before 
 winter, and the plants cover the g^round like a carpet and 
 remain green all winter. The fall growth never makes 
 any more growth after winter sets in, but a further 
 growth of the plant commencing in the spring is from 
 new shoots coming out of the main plant stem at the 
 ground. The plant does most of its stooling in the spring. 
 The fall growth remains green for a time, then withers 
 and dies. The new shoots come in the spring very early 
 and grow so rapidly that by the middle of May the plants 
 are in full bloom. 
 
 A field of hairy, sand, or winter vetch in full bloom is 
 one of the most beautiful of agricultural scenes. Its deli- 
 cate, bluish-purple flowers are borne in such great profu- 
 sion that at a distance a field of them seems like a sea 
 of purple, making such a charming landscape picture as 
 to be never forgotten. 
 
 The under surface of the plant is covered with a 
 dense coat of gray hairs from which it gets its name 
 hairy vetch. It gets its name sand vetch from the fact 
 that it flourishes upon sandy lands and seems to be espe- 
 cially adapted for sandy soils, although it readily grows 
 
 20 
 
on anj land, and especially upon the poor lands, which 
 makes it a valuable plant for worn-out soils. It gets its 
 name winter vetch from the fact that it is the only variety 
 of Tetch plant that will withstand the rigors of a severe 
 winter, or a temperature of zero and under. Its seeds are 
 small, round, and bluish black in color, not uniform in 
 size, and comparing in size to number two and number 
 three bird shot. This variety of vetch affords a larger 
 amount of forage than any other variety. Hairy vetch is 
 an annual and like spring vetch, if sown in the fall, makes 
 its growth between the time it was sown and the follow- 
 ing May. It freely matures its seed and will reseed itself 
 if harvesting is delayed until some seed pods have ma- 
 tured their seeds, which shatter in harvesting. Generally 
 hairy vetch matures its seeds and dies in June. 
 
 It is claimed in the northwestern part of the 
 United States that if hairy vetch is planted about the mid- 
 dle of April it will mature seed the same season. It is also 
 claimed that if hairy vetch is mowed while in bloom it 
 will, like alfalfa, spring up again and from which said sec- 
 ond crop seed can be obtained. And one party in Michi- 
 gan claims that if it is cut when it is in bloom, and not 
 cut too closely, it can be cut as many as three times. The 
 author has never succeeded in obtaining the second crop, 
 although he has experimented along this line several 
 times. 
 
 It is also claimed that it can be sown in April and 
 May and mown in the fall and early the next spring will 
 come forth vigorous, making fine pasture or a crop of hay 
 or seed. 
 
 21 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 And God said, let the earth bring forth grass, and the 
 Herb yielding seed, whose seed is in itself.— Gen. I, U. 
 
 Seed and Seeding. 
 
 The seed of the common or spring vetch has been 
 described as being swelled, puffy, somewhat flattened 
 and gray mottled in color. The seed of this variety is 
 almost universally of the same size. 
 
 The seed of the hairy vetch has been described as 
 being ununifom in size and of a bluish black color. Gen- 
 eraily they are about half the size of the seed of the 
 spring vetch. Both of these varieties of vetch seed fully 
 and freely, and both have the characteristic of shedding 
 some of their seed before they can be harvested As 
 many as one thousand seeds have been known to form 
 on a single hairy vetch plant. The seeds are formed in 
 small pods similar in shape to a pea pod. If these vetches 
 are sown in the fall they will mature their seeds in June 
 following, except in the South where they generally ma- 
 ture their seeds in May. 
 
 ^ ^ In Oregon, when the spring vetch is sown for seed, 
 It is sown upon the ground upon which a spring grain 
 crop has been grown. The ground is thoroughly disced 
 and about seventy-five pounds of seed to the acre'is sown.' 
 although one hundred pounds gives better results. In 
 the spring, if the growth seems to be rank it is pastured 
 
 22 
 
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with sheep for awhile. When the seed has sufficiently 
 matured the plants are cut with a mower early in tne 
 morning, raked up and put in a shock as soon as possible, 
 where it is allowed to remain for about ten days and 
 then threshed with an ordinary threshing machine. 
 
 This plan could not be worked successfully in a 
 country subject to heavy rains, but in Oregon the seed 
 matures in the dry season, which is from July 15th to 
 August 1st. 
 
 If the plants get wet after they are cut the seed shat- 
 ters very badly when drying. In some cases the seed is 
 sown with oats and the whole cut with a self-binder. 
 The time for mowing is generally when the lower pods 
 are ripe, and in threshing it is customary to remove some 
 of the concaves of the threshing machine and substitute 
 blanks, and run the cylinder more slowly. 
 
 When hairy vetch is sown for seed it is necessary to 
 sow with it some plant like rye, barley, or speltz to hold 
 it up so it can be harvested. For if the plant is sown by 
 itself it trails so closely to the ground that it is almost 
 impossible to cut it, especially where forage is very 
 heavy. When sown with rye or wheat it is a difficult 
 matter to separate the vetch seed from it, althoug^h a 
 separator has been invented by J. M. Stone of Lodi, Cali- 
 fornia, which senarates vetch seed from wheat. The best 
 plant +o sow with it for seed purpo«;es is winter speltz, 
 as the vetch seed is easily separated from the speltz 
 seed. 
 
 When the seed is sufficiently matured, like soring 
 vetch, hairy vetch can be threshed with any threshing 
 machine. . When the seed is sown with rye and threshed, 
 it may be separated from the rye seed by the construction 
 
 23 
 
of a heavy belt of canvas about three feet viride and ttti 
 feet long, held up at one end at an angle of forty-fire 
 degrees with a wooden frame work. The belt should 
 then be turned toward the upper end of the frame work 
 and the mixed seed thrown on it slowly. The sand vetch 
 will roll off the bottom of the belt, while the long rye 
 seed will be caught on the nap of the cloth and carried 
 off at the top. If this separator is properly constructed 
 it will perfectly separate the vetch from the rye seed; 
 but, as stated, if the vetch is sown with winter speltz it 
 can be easily separated with an ordinary fanning mill. 
 
 In those localities where rains are frequent at the 
 time the vetch matures its seed there will be some diffi- 
 culty in saving seed, and if vetch is sown by itself it is 
 likely to decay before it can be threshed. But the author, 
 who lives in a locality where rains are frequent during 
 the harvest of vetch for seed, has found no difficulty in 
 the saving of its seed. 
 
 Most of the vetch seed, of both spring and hairy 
 vetch, used in the United States, is imported from North- 
 ern Germany and the Baltic Provinces of Russia, whick 
 causes the seed to be high priced. The author is in- 
 formed that in Oregon, which seems to be the natural 
 home of vetch, the seed of both varieties can be easily 
 grown, and where it is profitable to grow it at a price of 
 three cents a pound, that an average crop is fifteen hun- 
 dred pounds to the acre, although seed crops have bee« 
 grown that run from sixty to seventy dollars to the acre^ 
 gross. 
 
 For the past season or so the author has had hit 
 own vetch seed grown, having sown it with a mixture 
 of rye and then sowed both rye and vetch without separac 
 
 ?4 
 
tion. This is a satisfactory plan where you wish to us« 
 it for fertilizing purposes only. When sown in this man- 
 ner the mixture should consist of about one peck of rye 
 and thirty pounds of vetch seed to the acre when sown 
 in corn, or about one peck of rye and fifty pounds of 
 vetch seed if sown in the open. 
 
 If farmers would use this method of securing their 
 own seed then the seed could be procured at such a rea- 
 sonable price that there would be no excuse for not grow- 
 ing it. And if the farmer wishes to secure the unmixed 
 seed it would only be necessary to sow it with winter 
 speltz, and separate, in which event he would not only 
 secure an unmixed supply of vetch seed, but would also 
 obtain some of the speltz straw, both of which are valu- 
 able feeds, and are much relished by stock of all kinds. 
 
 Prior to 1905 there was a tariflf on all vetch imported 
 into the United States, amounting to about thirty per 
 cent of the cost of the seed, or from seventy-five cents to 
 a dollar and twenty-five cents a bushel of sixty pounds. 
 In the spring of 1895 N. L. Willet of Augusta, Georgia, 
 went before the United States Treasury Department and 
 convinced the authorities that they were mistaken as to 
 the classification of vetch seed, and caused them to rec- 
 ognize their mistake and reverse all their former deci- 
 sions, and allow vetch seed to come in free of duty, which 
 action caused the great saving above mentioned, and for 
 which action Mr. Willet should receive much praise. 
 
 One thing has been in the way of procuring vetch 
 seed from the northwestern part of the United States 
 and that has been the excessive freight rates. For thia 
 reason the South cannot profitably purchase and ship 
 seed from this region, so they are compelled to buy im- 
 
 25 
 
ported seed. Some action should be taken by which 
 proper freight rates could be obtained from the north- 
 west region, for seed of either the spring or hairy vetch 
 can be so easily and cheaply grown in that region. And 
 the author is assured that it would be extensively grown 
 there if they had a market for their seed. 
 
 There is no doubt in the mind of the author but 
 what vetch seed can be successfully and profitably grown 
 in all portions of the United States, although some claim 
 it will not seed east of the Rocky Mountains ; but this is 
 beyond question a fallacy, as the author knows after 
 seven years' experience with this plant. The author does 
 believe, however, that it is necessary that the seed 
 become acclimated ; that vetch grown from imported seed 
 will not produce the same amount of seed as will vetch 
 that has been sown from seed grown in the United 
 States. 
 
 It has been found by experiments in the state of 
 Connecticut that after home grown seed had been sown 
 for several times, there was an increase in the quan- 
 tity of seed produced from year to year. So the author 
 is thoroughly convinced that after vetch has been ac- 
 climated it will produce seed as freely as it will in the 
 country especially adapted for the growing of seed. 
 
 The Department of Agriculture at Washington in 
 1911 began to collect samples of hairy vetch seed for ex- 
 amination for adulteration, and out of 303 samples ex- 
 amined found that 187, or 62 per cent, were adulterated or 
 misbranded. Five samples did not contain a single seed 
 of hairy vetch, and the others were mixed with spring 
 and other vetches. Of all the vetch seed purchased in 
 bulk for hairy vetch, only 55.9 per cent was hairy vetch 
 
 26 
 
seed capable of germination. Considering the fact that 
 in the regions where hairy vetch is threshed for seed it 
 is not grown with spring or other varieties, this disclos- 
 ure by the Department of Agriculture reveals a practice 
 in vogue among seedsmen that calls for drastic legisla- 
 tion, legislation making it a crime with severe punish- 
 ment for seedsmen to sell adulterated seed. When one 
 has learned the appearance of true hairy and spring 
 vetch seed, adulteration of hairy vetch with spring vetch 
 seed can easily be detected. But when hairy vetch seed 
 is adulterated with vetches other than spring vetch, de- 
 tection is not easy. Of course there will be found in 
 hairy vetch seed, or in any vetch seed for that matter, 
 grains of wheat, oats and even small peas, but these are 
 not generally put in for adulteration. Wheat and other 
 grain are sown with vetch to make it easy for harvesting, 
 as the seeds are all threshed together, and as it is a dif- 
 ficult matter to separate the vetch from other grains, 
 there would naturally be some of these foreign grains 
 that would escape separatioa and so be found in the 
 vetch. 
 
 The illustration in this book of hairy vetch seed, 
 actual size, consists of seeds taken from a great number 
 of samples procured from seed houses all over the United 
 States, and it will be noticed that the seeds are all similar, 
 but these seeds were of the true hairy vetch. There is 
 also much danger in securing old seed. It is claimed that 
 vetch seed several years old will not germinate. The 
 author has not been able to procure any reliable data 
 upon this point. In his experience, however, he has sown 
 vetch seed that he himself kept for two years. How old 
 it was when he procured it he does not know. Yet this 
 seed freely germinated and seemed to be as vigorous as 
 
 27 
 
any seed he ever sowed. Much hairy vetch seed of low 
 Wtality is also sold. 
 
 Vetch seed may be sown either broadcast or with a 
 drill. But as it is necessary that the seed should be well 
 covered, and put into the ground at least an inch or more 
 in depth, the best method of sowing the seed is with a 
 wheat drill. If sown in corn, use the ordinary wheat 
 drill which farmers use for sowing wheat in corn. If 
 sown by itself or in the open, use the ordinary farm drill 
 that is used for sowing wheat. The author has found that 
 the average make of drill with the feed gauge entirely 
 shut oflF will yet sow hairy vetch seed at the rate of fifty 
 pounds to the acre. If it is found that the drill will not 
 sow the vetch with the feed shut ofif, the gauge can be 
 easily opened so that it will sow the right quantity. The 
 author has found that when the seed drops from the drill 
 to the ground about one or two inches apart that the 
 right quantity of seed is being sown. 
 
 Authorities differ as to the quantity of seed to be sown 
 to the acre. It is the author's experience that when hairy 
 retch is sown by itself, or in the open, fifty pounds 
 to the acre is the correct amount to sow. If sown in 
 corn about thirty-five to forty pounds is the right amount. 
 Yet it is claimed that good stands of vetch have been 
 procured with less seed to the acre. 
 
 Unless the ground is moist when seed is sown vetch 
 seed germinates very slowly, so if an exceeding dry fall, 
 it may be late in coming up, and if some plants are very 
 young and weak, they may not withstand the rigors of 
 winter. So the sowing of the above quantity of seed gen- 
 erally insures a good stand of vetch. 
 
 The fact that vetch will come up in fields where it 
 has once been sown for several years afterwards, proves 
 one of two things: Either vetch seed remains ia the 
 
 28 
 
rronnd for a long while before it germinates, or else it is 
 also propagated from root stems that remain in the 
 ground. It is the general opinion that volunteers come 
 from hard seed that is of slow germination, and so re- 
 mains in the ground a long time before the outer cover- 
 ing of the seed becomes soft enough for moisture to 
 reach the germ. 
 
 It is claimed by some authorities that it is necessary 
 to inoculate the soil for vetch. The author has grown 
 hundreds of acres of vetch on all kinds of soil and never 
 paid any attention to inoculation, and so does not hesi- 
 tate to say that he believes that it is not necessary. He 
 has seen it grow and flourish on the poorest of soils 
 without inoculating, and he has the testimony of men 
 who have had similar experience who say that inocula- 
 tion is not necessary. He has found upon investigation 
 that the parties that make such a claim never grew any 
 vetch, for if they did and failed, it was not on account of 
 the soil in which they sowed it needing inoculation. 
 
 The proper time to sow sand, winter or hairy vetch 
 in latitudes north of the Ohio river, is the early part of 
 August. For late fall pasture it can be sown in early 
 spring. In the South it is sown from September to De- 
 cember. 
 
 Spring vetch as indical-ed by its name is in northern 
 latitudes sown in the spring after danger of severe freez- 
 ing is past. In the southern states it may be sown as 
 early as the latter part of December. 
 
 For the past six years hairy vetch seed has been 
 quoted from six to twelve cents a pound F. O. B. ship- 
 ping station. The prevailing price in the early part of 
 1912 was twelve cents a pound. 
 
 Spring vetch seed is quoted at about one-half of tht 
 above prices. 
 
 29 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Grow cover crops on worn-out soil, 
 
 And you'll secure reward and recompense for toil. 
 
 Vetch as a Cover Crop. 
 
 No worn soil can be restored to a fertile stage, and 
 the fertility of any soil cannot be maintained without the 
 use or employment of a cover crop. If this may seem 
 to the reader a bold statement, and one of apparent dif- 
 ficulty to prove, consider Nature's way of soil building 
 and how she maintains soil fertility, and you cannot help 
 being convinced that the statement is based on indis- 
 putable truth. 
 
 When the pioneer preempted this country of ours 
 he found it covered with dense tracts of timber and under- 
 brush and a thick coating of decayed or decaying weeds, 
 leaves, limbs and tree trunks, or the heavy prairie grass 
 and thick sod. This covering had been on the soil for 
 ages and had given to the soil the precious elements nec- 
 essary to make it fertile, so this soil was brought into 
 subjection by the husbandman, and was made to produce 
 big crops. 
 
 For years the farmer tilled it and it yielded unto him 
 its strength, but being deprived of its covering, it was 
 subjected to baking sun, raging winds, and washing rains, 
 and was so leached of its fertility, that it became worn 
 soil — soil that no longer produced paying crops. 
 
 30 
 
Most of this soil is still being farmed, yielding small 
 unprofitable crops to the husbandman who does not seem 
 to realize what it needs to restore it to fertility. Some of 
 it has been turned back to nature— abandoned. Nature 
 seems to abhor nakedness ; so when soil is no longer sub- 
 mitted to cultivation she takes it in hand, covers it with 
 weeds, then grasses, and then the trees of the forests— 
 in fine, she gives the soil a covering which brings to it 
 those elements that make up a fertile soil. 
 
 Even while man is cultivating the soil the great 
 variety of weeds persist in growing, which only shows 
 nature's efforts to keep the soil covered. 
 
 This theory of soil covering is no new doctrine. It 
 has been known to agricultural ages, but the majority 
 of the American farmers have had for more than a cen- 
 tury so much rich virgin soil at their disposal, from which 
 great riches have been mined, that they have not realized 
 that even rich virgin soil could, in a short space of years, 
 be deprived of its fertile elements by the damnable sys- 
 tem of husbandry that does not make provision for put- 
 ting back each year into the soil those elements of fertil- 
 ity that are farmed out of it. 
 
 The great majority of American agriculturists have 
 been blind to the fact that soil can be made fertile with- 
 out the use of manure or commercial fertilizers, by simply 
 covering the soil with "water, stone, plank, logs, chips, 
 brush, rails, cornstalks, straw, buildings of every descrip- 
 tion and with hay or straw-ricks" or any substance that 
 keeps the soil closely covered. He who wrote the old 
 proverb, "Snow is the poor man's manure," got his idea 
 from the theory of soil covering, for there is no virtue 
 in snow itself as a soil fertilizer. It simply covers the 
 
 31 
 
soil, and like any other soil covering, makes the soil mel- 
 low and prevents ammonia wastes, the loss of nitrogen, 
 and available plant food from the soil. 
 
 The true theory of soil covering is that the soil 
 should be kept covered as much as possible. During the 
 cultivating season, if the soil is properly cultivated, that 
 is, kept worked up into a fine dust mulch when conditions 
 will permit, no serious damage will occur by its being 
 uncovered, and besides the roots of the growing crops 
 will tend to hold together the fine particles of the soil. 
 But when the cultivating season has ended, then the 
 damage to uncovered soil begins. And to prevent or 
 minimize this damage is the purpose of the cover crop. 
 And so we are confronted with the question, "What h 
 the ideal cover crop?" 
 
 As stated, the most serious damage is done to un- 
 covered soil during the fall, winter and spring seasons. 
 These are the seasons that we have our heavy washing 
 rains and soil carrying winds, and the seasons that tramp- 
 ing stock damage our fields. So the ideal cover crop is the 
 one that does its best work during these seasons. A 
 good cover crop is the one that does its best work during 
 these seasons. A good cover crop must be one that will 
 make considerable growth in the fall before winter stops 
 the growth of plants ; that will well fill the ground with 
 its root system ; that will withstand the severest winter 
 and will commence to grow early in the spring and make 
 a considerable growth before plowing time, and one that 
 is capable of adding other elements of fertility to the 
 soil, as well as dissolving mineral matter from the coarser 
 particles of the soil. 
 
 Vetch fills all these requirements of the ideal cover 
 crop. It can be sown in corn at or after laying-by time» 
 
 32 
 
or after wheat has been harvested. It will grow and 
 cover the soil during the fall, winter and spring, and will 
 early in the spring begin to grow, and make sufficient 
 growth to turn under in time to plant the corn crop ; be- 
 sides filling the soil with a store house of riches contain- 
 ing the precious nitrogen and organic matter, thus mak- 
 ing quantities of plant and bacteria food that cannot be 
 obtained so cheaply in any other manner, nor in so quick 
 a time. 
 
 B. T. Galloway, Chief, Bureau of Plant Industry, De- 
 partment of Agriculture, Washington, D. C, says that 
 under many conditions hairy vetch is the best leguminous 
 winter cover crop known, and the author has long held 
 this opinion also. 
 
 33 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 Give to your orchard the best of care and feed, 
 Yet still, in fall and winter, a cover crop it needs. 
 
 Vetch as a Cover Crop for the Orchard. 
 
 It is universally acknowledged by fruit growers that 
 for successful orchard growing, a good cover crop is 
 needed, and that the ideal orchard cover crop must be one 
 possessed of all the good points of the cover crop men- 
 tioned in chapter four, as well as being capable of storing 
 large quantities of nitrogen into the soil, and must be 
 able to withstand the tramping necessary at picking time, 
 and also a possible drought. 
 
 The successful orchard must be cultivated from early 
 spring up to the time in summer when wood growth 
 should stop, so that the new growth may become suf- 
 -ficiently hardened to withstand the rigors of winter. 
 
 At the time when wood growth should stop a cover 
 crop should be sown in the orchard. It should be one 
 that will begin to grow early in the spring, and which 
 will make a considerable growth in time to turn under 
 at the proper plowing time, and one that will, during 
 the growing season, store a large quantity of nitrogen into 
 the soil and furnish, through its root and branch 
 system, a large quantity of organic matter that will rot 
 quickly when turned under by the plow, and then be- 
 
 34 
 
" I 
 
 ai £ 
 
 80 
 
come quickly available for plant food for the growing 
 trees. 
 
 The clovers have been used for orchard cover crops, 
 but they do not meet the full requirements of a good or- 
 chard cover crop, and besides, the orchardists fail so often 
 to get a stand of them that the losses for seed are too 
 great to recommend their use. 
 
 As nine-tenths of the writers upon alfalfa condemn 
 the practice of sowing alfalfa in the orchard, claiming 
 that the alfalfa takes all the available moisture to make 
 its growth so that the trees suffer and perish, and even 
 though these writers may be mistaken, as one well known 
 authority upon alfalfa claims they are, yet the use of al- 
 falfa prohibits the cultivation of the orchard which is 
 acknowledged universally to be the need of orchards, be- 
 cause it makes plant food available, and stimulates the 
 growth, without which no true success in orchard 
 growing can be obtained. It therefore can readily be 
 seen that alfalfa must be put out of the list of cover crops 
 for the orchard. 
 
 If alfalfa and the clovers do not come up to the re- 
 quirements of an ideal orchard cover crop, from whence 
 shall we procure the ideal plant for this purpose? The 
 answer to the question, coming from those who have had 
 experience, is winter vetch. This plant is admirably 
 adapted for this purpose, for the proper time for it to be 
 sown is in the early fall, which is the exact time that culti- 
 vation and wood growth of the orchard should stop. It 
 makes a fine growth before winter and so covers the 
 soil that leaching by rains, winds and baking sun is pre- 
 vented. It will endure the tramping necessary while 
 picking the fruit, and withstands a probable fall drought. 
 
It is the first plant in the spring to commence its growth 
 and grows so rapidly that by the time the soil is in condi- 
 tion to plow, it has developed a large root and branch 
 growth that gives sufficient organic matter to turn under 
 which rots quickly and becomes available at once for 
 plant food. 
 
 And then its capacity for gathering nitrogen from 
 the air is so great that it stores into the soil great quanti- 
 ties of this precious plant food estimated as high as forty 
 dollars an acre. 
 
 It seems that Nature intended that this plant should 
 be used for an orchard cover crop, as she has endowed it 
 with every quality required of an orchard cover crop. 
 Orchard growers are learning of its value and are begin- 
 ning to use it upon a large scale in California, Oregon 
 and the northwestern states where so many thousands of 
 acres of orchards are grown. 
 
 In these states enormous quantities of vetch seed 
 are sown in orchards to produce cover crops, and the 
 common, smooth, or spring vetch (vicia sativa) is the 
 vetch mostly sown, as it withstands the mild winters of 
 these states, and in California it is generally sown in 
 October. 
 
 In the orchard districts of Michigan, sand, winter, or 
 hairy vetch is being extensively employed as a cover 
 crop, and would be employed by every orchard grower 
 were not the seed so high in price. 
 
 It has been found in the use of vetch as a cover 
 crop in Michigan, that the vetch holds the snow and pre- 
 vents it from being blown away, and thus prevents deep 
 freezing and alternate thawing and freezing, which has 
 occasioned serious losses in many orchards located upon 
 the lighter and more porous soils in Michigan orchards. 
 
 36 
 
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 c/) ^ 
 
 
 ;3 a 
 
 
 
 a: Q 
 Q 
 
The seed should be sown in July or early in August. 
 And good results have been obtained by the sowing of 
 eighteen, twenty-five and thirty pounds of seed to the 
 acre, but the author recommends the sowing of not less 
 than fifty pounds to the acre. 
 
 If orchards are grown in states where winters are 
 mild and the thermometer does not fall much below freez- 
 ing, the common spring vetch may be sown with safety as 
 a cover crop. But generally the author recommends the 
 sowing of sand, winter or hairy vetch. 
 
 It is interesting to note that the oldest Roman writer 
 on vetch advised against the use of vetch as a cover crop 
 for the reason that it robs the vines of their sap. 
 
 When Prof. John Craig, Horticulturist of Cornell 
 University, was asked what was the best cover crop for 
 the orchard, he replied without hesitation, "Winter 
 vetch." 
 
 37 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Oh ! Emulate the busy tireless bee, 
 
 As she gathers sweets from herb and tree. 
 
 Vetch and Bees. 
 
 Whether the bee fertilizes the vetch blossom the 
 author is unable to state with positive assurance, but as 
 the vetch bloom is similar in construction to the alfalfa 
 bloom, it is evident that, like the alfalfa bloom, it has 
 difficulty in fertilizing itself. And the further fact that 
 the seed pod does not develop from more than one-half 
 of the vetch blooms is some evidence that fertilization is 
 very imperfect. 
 
 The vetch blooms being numerous, attractive in 
 color, and having considerable fragrance, bees and other 
 insects of like character, frequent them in great numbers. 
 
 The author has observed that when the hairy vetch 
 is grown in the vicinity of numerous bee stands, it 
 produces more and more perfect seeds than fields of vetch 
 grown more remote from bees, which is strong evidence 
 that bees aid in cross-fertilization of the vetch bloom. 
 
 The blue tufted or cow vetch, the wild vetch found 
 east of the Rocky Mountains and distributed from New 
 Jersey, Kentucky and Iowa northward and northwest- 
 ward, has a bloom almost identical to that of the bloom of 
 the hairy vetch. Neltze Blanchan in his work on "Na- 
 
 38 
 

ture's Garden," speaking of the bees and this species of 
 vetch, says: 
 
 "Dry fields blued with the bright blossoms of the 
 tufted vetch, and roadsides and thickets where the angu- 
 lar vetch sends forth vivid patches of color, resound with 
 the music of happy bees. Although the pods of the flower 
 fit closely together, they are elastic, and opening with the 
 energetic visitor's way and movement give ready access 
 to the nectar. On his departure they resume their origi- 
 nal position, to protect both nectar and bloom from rain 
 and pilferers. Its pods are not perfectly adapted to 
 further the flower's cross-fertilization. The common 
 bumblebee (Bornbus terreslris) plays a mean trick, all 
 too sufficiently, when he bites a hole at the base of the 
 blossom, not only gaining easy access to the sweets for 
 himself, but opening the way for others less intelligent 
 than he, but quite ready to profit by his mischief, and so 
 defeat nature's plan. Dr. Ogle observed that the same bee 
 always acts in the same manner, one sucking the nectar 
 legitimately, another always biting a hole to obtain it 
 surreptitiously, the natural inference, of course, being 
 that some bees, like small boys, are naturally depraved." 
 
 The author has many times noticed the bumble or 
 bumblebee working industriously among the bloom of the 
 hairy vetch, but whether he was playing the mean trick 
 mentioned by Blanchan, of biting into the base of the 
 vetch bloom that he might easily steal its sweets, the 
 author does not know, but if he was, he certainly was to 
 be commended for the industry and intelligence by which 
 he "learned how" to obtain his daily bread with the least 
 amount of labor. 
 
 Honey extracted from the vetch bloom is white and 
 of fine flavor, and it is said that while the vetch is in 
 
 39 
 
bloom, in its vicinity the bees will deposit from two to 
 three times as much honey as they will at other seasons. 
 As the hairy vetch blooms early and continues in 
 bloom for a period of more than a month, and as it bears 
 its bloom at a season when the buckwheat and other 
 blooms of plants valuable for honey making are not in 
 existence, this plant is certainly worthy of cultivation by 
 the keepers of bees. If bees fertilize the vetch bloom, 
 the keeping of bees should be encouraged by the growers 
 of vetch seed, and especially the bumblebee should be 
 protected, for he it is that makes it possible to grow clover 
 seed, and who, no doubt, performs the same mission to 
 vetch that he does to clover. It is wonderfully interest- 
 ing to study the ways that Nature provides for the per- 
 petuation of her children. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 "Who learns and learns, but acts not what he knows 
 
 Is one who plows and plows but never sows." — Unknown. 
 
 Vetch as a Green Manuring Plant. 
 
 The American farmer has reached that age in agri- 
 cultural history when he must make employment of fer- 
 tilizing plants to restore or maintain the fertility of his 
 soil. Experience has demonstrated that the average 
 farmer ca'nnot secure sufficient barnyard manure for his 
 lands, nor can he rely on commercial fertilizers. So he is 
 either forced to employ the legume plant for fertilization, 
 or see his land pass to the doom of worn-out soils. 
 
 Being confronted with this condition he must make a 
 choice as to the proper legume to use — the one best suited 
 to his needs. He is in that condition that he must depend 
 each year on his soil for daily bread for himself and fam- 
 ily, and cannot for a single year miss growing a crop for 
 profit or food. So if he can find a legume that can be 
 grown between seasons or between crops which he grows 
 for profit and which will do its work of soil restoration or 
 maintain soil fertility, he has, indeed, secured a legume 
 of untold value. 
 
 It must be conceded that the legumes are the best 
 fertilizing plants that can be grown for fertilizing pur- 
 poses, as they bring to the soil nitrogen, the crying need 
 
 41 
 
of all our soils. Then the best nitrogen gathering legume 
 is the consideration to be weighed in selecting a legume 
 with which to restore or maintain soil fertility. 
 
 Our soils today are so deficient in organic matter that 
 they no longer make a favorable environment for soil 
 bacteria, which must exist in abundance in our soils to 
 make them rich and suitable for the growing of profitable 
 crops. 
 
 Our soils deprived of a sufficient supply of organic 
 matter have become so compact that ventilation has been 
 shut oflF and they are dying for want of air. So another 
 consideration to be weighed in the selection of a legume is 
 one that produces organic matter in abundance so that the 
 soil bacteria will find in the soil a home with abundant 
 food and material to work into plant food ; and that will 
 give the soil ventilation, without which no plant can grow 
 and be fruitful. 
 
 Green manuring was practiced by the ancient farmer. 
 It has been known to all ages. And now, as the new lands 
 are all gone, and the lands in possession of the American 
 farmer have or are becoming worn, the agriculturists of 
 the country are reviving the practice of green manuring, 
 and are using green crops for turning under, as never be- 
 fore in the history of our nation, and it has been found 
 that there is often greater profit in plowing under a crop 
 than from its harvesting. 
 
 In comparing green manures with barnyard manures 
 it is said that "it has been found that animals digest and 
 thus destroy two-thirds of the dry matter in the food they 
 eat, so that a ton of clover plowed under will add as much 
 organic matter to the soil as the manure made from three 
 tons of clover fed to stock, even if all the manure is re- 
 
 42 
 
turned to the land without loss from fermentation." But 
 in the use of barnyard manure we lose all the liquids of 
 plants which is saved when plants are turned under 
 green. 
 
 Green manures furnish a large amount of organic 
 matter which is the right kind of food for soil bacteria. 
 They increase the water-holding capacity of the soil, aid 
 soil ventilation, utilize soluble plant food that would 
 otherwise escape from the soil, and make use of the min- 
 erals that the plant roots bring up from the lower depth 
 of the soil where they exist in greater abundance. 
 
 And if legumes are used for green manuring large 
 quantities of nitrogen are stored into the soil. The use of 
 green manures is but a simple imitation of nature's way of 
 soil building and soil restoration. 
 
 Important as minerals like potassium and phosphorus 
 are to the soil, yet the author, after years of living close to 
 the soil , studying its needs, makes the bold statement with- 
 out fear of successful contradiction, that our soils need or- 
 ganic matter a thousand times more than they do the min- 
 erals enumerated. 
 
 Our soils were rich in organic matter when they were 
 reclaimed from nature. Now they are poor and without 
 organic matter and consist mostly of rock particles. In 
 all this land of ours there is not one foot of our worn or 
 worn-out soils but what is totally deficient in organic 
 matter. Years of sordid tillage without a supply of or- 
 ganic matter being furnished, have farmed our soils to 
 their death. And whenever an abundant supply of or- 
 ganic matter has been brought to them again, they have 
 been restored to a fertile stage, which is proof of the 
 author's statement or position. 
 
 43 
 
Green manuring is the most profitable, cheapest and 
 quickest method of restoring or keeping up the fertility 
 of our soils. The use of green manures will furnish a 
 means by which the rock particles of the soil will be dis^ 
 solved and thus release the minerals needed for the grow- 
 ing of crops, which exist in these rock particles. 
 
 While the value of barnyard manure must be recog- 
 nized, yet not one farmer in ten produces it in any quan- 
 tity, and even those who do, do not produce enough to 
 fertilize one-fourth of their farms each year. 
 
 It is practicable to grow some kind of green crop 
 tor manuring on any soil, and to grow it in abundance. 
 And It is cheaper to grow a green manuring crop thaa 
 to buy fertilizers, and the green manures give better and 
 more lasting results for they are the fertilizers that na- 
 ture gave the soils when she constructed them. 
 
 To determine the value of a plant for green manur- 
 ing we must look. 
 First.— To its capacity to produce through its root and 
 
 branch system an abundance of organic matter. 
 Second.— The quantity of mineral matter it will dissolve 
 
 from the coarser particles of the soil. 
 Third.— Its ability to assimilate nitrogen from the soil 
 
 and atmosphere. 
 Fourth.— Its resistence to drought, heat and cold. 
 Fifth.— Its capability of making a quick growth, and of 
 
 growing between crops grown for profit. 
 Sixth. — Its capacity for holding moisture when plowed 
 
 under, and for quick decomposition. 
 The vetch plant has a large number of long fibrous 
 roots. They completely fill the soil to a considerable 
 depth, so that the soil turns in plowing like heavy sod. 
 
 44 
 
The branches of the plant are also numerous and of 
 great length, especially in hairy, sand or winter vetch, 
 so that the root and branch system of the vetch plant 
 produces a large amount of organic matter to turn under. 
 There being so many long fibrous roots of the vetch 
 plant, they go out in every direction into the soil, com- 
 ing in contact with so much of the coarse rock particles 
 of the soil. It can be readily seen that these rootsgrowing 
 in our soils deficient in organic or vegetable matter and 
 containing, as they do, from ninety to ninety-five per cent 
 rock, that these roots covering so large an amount of rock 
 surface, will dissolve and absorb a vast amount of min- 
 eral food needed for plant growth. In fact, will secure 
 a sufficient supply of mineral food, as these rock particles 
 of the soil are rich in minerals and contain generally a 
 sufficient supply of minerals to last for a great number of 
 years. 
 
 This mineral matter becomes embodied in the vetch 
 plant in its growing, and if turned under and incor- 
 porated into the soil, becomes available as plant food for 
 the plants that follow vetch. 
 
 Nitrogen is considered the most essential soil ele- 
 ment, and without which no plant will grow. It is also 
 the most costly element. If procured for the soil by way 
 of nitrates of soda or commercial fertilizer the cost is 
 burdensome. Therefore, any plant that will furnish 
 nitrogen to the soil is of great value to the husbandman. 
 
 All the legumes are nitrogen gatherers, but some 
 have greater nitrogen gathering powers than others. 
 After a careful study and observation of the best legumes 
 for this purpose, the author is convinced that there is 
 but one legume that has greater nitrogen gathering 
 power than vetch, and that is the sweet clover plant. 
 
 45 
 
Many years ago there was solved the mystery of 
 how and from whence the legumes gathered nitrogen. It 
 was an important and interesting discovery, and shows 
 how well Nature provides for the wants of man, and how 
 willing she is to help him if he but shows the slightest 
 disposition to aid her. 
 
 In this discovery it was ascertained that in addition 
 to the millions of bacteria in fertile soil which transfer 
 organic matter into nitrates and other substances suit- 
 able for plant food, there are other bacteria which 
 are co-partners with the legumes in the manufacture of 
 plant food, and without which the legumes would be of 
 little value as nitrogen gatherers. 
 
 Our lands are immersed in an ocean of air, three- 
 fourths of which is nitrogen. These bacteria that enter 
 into partnership with the legumes in gathering nitrogen, 
 make their way into the roots of the legumes and cause 
 the formation of root tubercles or nodules which we see 
 on the roots of legumes, and in which these bacteria es- 
 tablish their homes. These bacteria secure their food 
 from the sugar and other compounds found in the juices 
 of the leguminous plants. They seem to have the 
 power to draw nitrogen from the ocean of nitrogen above 
 them, and from this combination of plant juices and 
 nitrogen substances from the air, they bring to the plant 
 an excess of nitrogen compound which the plant utilizes 
 for the building up of its roots, stems and leaves. We 
 thus have a profitable partnership in that both partners 
 profit and secure the food necessary for their rapid and 
 proper growth. Therefore, the legume that bears the 
 greatest number of root tubercles or nodules on its roots, 
 furnishes the most homes for this bacteria, and there- 
 
 46 
 
fore must be the favorite legume to use in soil deficient in 
 nitrogen. 
 
 In all the years that the author has grown vetch he 
 has made extensive examination of the roots of the vetch 
 plant, and with but one single exception, has found the 
 vetch roots to be covered with the root nodules, which 
 no doubt accounts for the great success he has had in 
 growmg big crops after vetch on soil deficient in nitro- 
 gen. This, taken together with the experience of 
 others m the use of this plant, justifies him in making the 
 statement that as a nitrogen gatherer the vetch plant is 
 the peer of all legumes, unless it be the sweet clover 
 plant which is beyond doubt the king of them all. 
 
 _ The sand, winter or hairy vetch has withstood the 
 wmters of some of our most northern states. The 
 author has found that it has never been too hot, too cold 
 or too dry for this plant if it secured some growth in the 
 fall, or where it was grown from seed of strong vitality 
 True, we have noticed that in some years a small 
 per cent of the vetch plants would apparently winter- 
 kill, and that m mild winters, but upon close investiga- 
 tion we are satisfied that the trouble has been in the vital- 
 ity of the plants, for why should a certain per cent kill out 
 when the remainder would be strong and vigorous? 
 
 Seed selection in vetch is as important as in that of 
 any other plant, and insures complete success. Yet the 
 author has never had a failure in growing vetch, either 
 from seed of weakened vitality or from winter-killing. 
 He has never seen the vetch plant affected by heat or 
 drought. Vetch seed, however, will be slow in germinat- 
 ing if too dry when planted and if it remains dry for any 
 length of time. 
 
 47 
 
As vetch can be sown after corn is laid by or after 
 wheat harvest, and make a large growth for fall and 
 winter covering, and a large growth before time to turn 
 under for corn and will increase the corn yield two fold, 
 it becomes an ideal green manuring plant. 
 
 Vetch has great capacity for holding moisture when 
 turned under green. The author has many times turned 
 under immense crops of vetch even in the driest of 
 weather, as stated in another chapter, and it must have 
 held and retained moisture or the crops grown after it 
 would have been failures. These heavy crops of vetch 
 turned under have decayed within a short time. 
 
 There is no plant that so completely fills the require- 
 ments of a good green manuring crop as vetch. This has 
 been the author's experience as well as that of many 
 others. Considering the experience of Connecticut 
 farmers in restoring their worn-out tobacco land, the 
 Carmers of the South in the restoring of their worn-out 
 cotton lands, and the author's experience in the North in 
 restoring worn-out corn lands, all done by the growing 
 and plowing under of vetch, the author ventures the 
 prophecy that the vetch plant will in the near future 
 become the Moses that will lead our worn and worn-out 
 soils, wherever situated, through and out of the wilder- 
 ness of the criminal mismanagement and sordid, dam- 
 nable system of farming that has made them "bleak and 
 barren," into the promised land of fertility when they 
 will again become rich in the elements that produce big 
 crops, which means the building up of an empire on 
 American soil greater in splendor and power than any 
 ever dreamed or imagined. 
 
 In the cotton fields of the South vetch can be sown 
 at the last plowing and the tramping necessary at pick- 
 
 48 
 
mg time will not injure it, and then at planting time the 
 following spring the vetch crop can be plowed under. Or 
 the vetch can be sown in early fall and cut for hay the 
 following May and followed with a crop of Early King 
 cotton. 
 
 In the tobacco districts of the North vetch can be 
 eown after the tobacco crop has been harvested and 
 turned under the following spring, thus securing the 
 nitrogen for the soil without which a good tobacco crop 
 cannot be grown. It has been estimated that vetch so 
 eown in tobacco lands releases in the ground plant food 
 that would cost, if purchased in the form of commercial 
 fertilizers from $16 to $40 an acre. 
 
 Mr. Edwin Russell of Manistee, Michigan, in his 
 article on cover crops, found in chapter twelve, Michigan 
 division, struck the key note of soil restoration, and 
 emphasized the position taken by the author in his corn 
 book and in this volume, when he said, that to restore 
 the soil to fertility, "all that is necessary is to sow and 
 plow under, sow and plow under. It is the key to the 
 whole situation." 
 
 When the modern American farmers learn well this 
 lesson, and proceed to put it into practice, then and not 
 till then, will worn and worn-out soil and the abandoned 
 farm be eliminated from our agricultural economy, and 
 vetch being one of the best green manuring crops for 
 plowing under, will become a corner-stone in this new 
 adaptation of an old, valuable and neglected system of 
 agriculture. 
 
 49 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Sow the seed for forage bread, 
 That man, as well as beast, be fed. 
 
 Vetch as a Forage Plant. 
 
 Upon the average farm the production of food for 
 domestic animals used for carrying on farm operations 
 and food for the farmer's family, is most generally s 
 serious problem ; and if food is needed for animals des- 
 tined for the market, the problem becomes more serious. 
 So good forage plants are always a boon to the average 
 farmer. 
 
 A plant valuable for forage must be one which pro- 
 duces feed in abundance and at seasons of the year when 
 most needed. The farmer is indeed fortunate who pos- 
 sesses good grazing lands not suitable for farming pur- 
 poses. But most farms consist of lands, all of which are 
 tilled, and such farms at the present high price of farm 
 lands, are not profitable when devoted to blue-grass 
 pasture and the like. They must be made to produce 
 crops that pay, and on such farms the selecting of a 
 proper forage plant that will pay is no small problem 
 for solution. 
 
 The forage plant should be selected that not only 
 produces food in abundance, but produces a food of high 
 feeding value, and one that will grow in unfavorable 
 seasons. If possible, a forage plant should be selected 
 
 SO 
 
which will grow and mature its crop between that 
 of other crops, as the growing of such a plant increases 
 the profit of the farm. And a leguminous plant should 
 be grown for the great benefit which it gives the land. 
 
 Vetch is a suitable forage plant for all animals of the 
 farm, and no animal food grown on the farm is as much 
 relished. According to analysis made, the fattening prop- 
 erties of vetch exceed that of alfalfa, alsike, cowpea vine, 
 crimson clover, Johnson grass, orchard grass, red top, 
 soja bean and timothy hay. There are but three well 
 known hays that exceed it in fattening power, and they 
 only a few points, to-wit: Hungarian grass, red clover 
 and serradelia hay, the clover hay exceeding it but two 
 points. It is claimed that the feeding value of vetch hay 
 is the same as the feeding value of bran and has three 
 times the food protein value pound for pound that is 
 found in timothy hay. As a milk producer vetch is 
 equal to that of any plant. It changes the quality and 
 quantity of the milk, giving it a rich yellow cream and 
 a good taste, and it is said that if this milk is fed to pigs 
 you can actually see the little fellows grow. 
 
 In the South dairymen plant thirty pounds of vetch 
 with one bushel of beardless barley and one bushel of 
 lye to the acre, and some plant less amounts. If this 
 barley, vetch and rye mixture is planted early in the fall, 
 the barley can be cut in sixty or eighty days after plant- 
 ing, and in early spring the rye and vetch can be cut 
 together, and the same be followed with two or three 
 similar cuttings later in the season. If this combination 
 is sown late in the winter the three crops can be cut at 
 the same time. 
 
 In the North if one-half bushel of winter vetch is 
 sows with one-half bushel of wheat, the whole can be cut 
 
 51 
 
in the middle of June for hay and splendid cheap feed be 
 obtained. 
 
 In the northern states when winter or hairy vetch 
 is planted for forage it should be planted with a small 
 quantity of rye, winter speltz or wheat to hold it up so 
 it can be cut Speltz is the preferable grain to use, as it 
 is itself a valuable food for stock. While it is not neces- 
 sary to sow any of the grains mentioned with vetch 
 when wanted for pasture alone, yet the author advises 
 their use, for a heavy crop of vetch lodges so badly that 
 it is liable to rot when sown alone. 
 
 In the North vetch should never be pastured in the 
 fall unless sown with considerable rye, and then should 
 not be pastured too heavy. Stock can be turned on vetch 
 very early in the spring. By the time it has reached the 
 height of eight to twelve inches, which is generally about 
 the middle of April, and from that time until late in June, 
 it will afford an abundance of fine pasture. 
 
 If either spring or winter vetch is planted in the 
 spring it will afford an abundance of fall pasture. 
 
 A few pounds of winter vetch seed sown with clover 
 or timothy almost doubles the value of these crops for 
 feed. The author has known instances where vetch has 
 been sown with clover and the two crops harvested for 
 hay and stock would eat it clean, which generally they 
 will not do where clover alone is given them. 
 
 The following method of using oats, vetch, and 
 clover in the northern states is recommended, which is 
 like killing three birds with one stone: In early spring, 
 after breaking the ground, sow twenty pounds of winter 
 vetch seed to the acre with the usual amount of oats sown 
 to the acre, and also one bushel of clover seed, for four of 
 
 52 
 
five acres of ground. The oats are ready for harvesting 
 before the vetch has attained any size, and the vetch may 
 not be of any size when the clover has gotten a good 
 start But, however, it will soon come up through the 
 clover and if the season is favorable, there will be a fine 
 fall pasture, and if not pastured too closely, the clover 
 and vetch will make a rapid growth the following spring 
 and a fine hay crop will be secured, and there will be 
 enough vetch in the clover to make it easy to handle with 
 a hay fork. You will have a crop of hay that will 
 be entirely consumed by your stock, as the vetch seems 
 to be a seasoning or sauce to the clover hay, making it 
 much relished by stock. When vetch is grown with 
 timothy stock will first pick out and eat the vetch and 
 leave the timothy to the last. 
 
 The author always prepares his alfalfa ground by 
 sowing and turning under vetch, and for several years, 
 in the first crop of alfalfa cut each season, he has a large 
 amount of vetch. This he finds a splendid addition to 
 his alfalfa hay, making it easier to handle with the hay 
 fork, while the stock seem to relish the mixture better 
 than they do the alfalfa hay alone. 
 
 Winter vetch can be sown in corn at or after laying 
 by time and the stalks rolled down after corn has been 
 gathered. If you will allow no stock to pasture same 
 you will have by the middle spring following, excellent 
 pasture and can obtain from a month to six weeks or 
 more of pasture before time to turn under for corn; 
 thus obtaining the benefit of winter soil covering, a fine 
 crop of organic matter for turning under, besides consid- 
 erable valuable pasture for stock. If it is desired to 
 sow the land in alfalfa you can pasture the vetch up to 
 
 S3 
 
July and then plow the ground and same will be inocts- 
 lated for alfalfa to be sown in August, or the same can 
 be plowed and planted in the spring to oats and cloYcr. 
 
 Rye is a valuable and cheap forage plant and if cut 
 with a mower about the time its heads begin to form it 
 will make a vigorous second growth. So, in northern 
 sections, if thirty pounds of vetch seed and from one- 
 half to three-fourths bushels of rye are planted to the acre 
 in the latter part of August, this mixture will afford two 
 cuttings. If it is not pastured too heavily in the spring 
 and a mower is run over same when the rye is not eaten 
 off by stock, before it begins to head, and stock is taken 
 from it for a short time, the pasturing of this mixture can 
 be prolonged for a considerable period. 
 
 Hogs pastured on vetch and rye and fed twice daily 
 with the usual amount of corn and some clover and soy- 
 bean hay, have made a gain of fifty-three pounds in thirty 
 days. It is the author's experience that hogs do fine on 
 pasture obtained from vetch alone, and when once they 
 obtain a taste of green vetch will attempt to break 
 through almost any fence to get to it. 
 
 It is said that an abundance of pasture can be had 
 from vetch the entire summer and fall by sowing same at 
 intervals of two or three weeks apart. 
 
 While vetch stands pre-eminent as a fertilizing plant, 
 it is not to be despised or rejected as a forage plant 
 Enough has been written to show its great value for this 
 purpose. The author's own personal experience 
 leads him to say that it cannot be too highly recom- 
 mended for forage purposes. 
 
 54 
 
=■ < 
 
 > ^ 
 
 — o 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Experience is of no value unless it is made to illu- 
 minate the path we are yet to tread. 
 
 The Author's Personal Experience With the Vetch Plant. 
 
 The author's personal experience with vetch has ex- 
 tended over a period of six full years. 
 
 In the introductory chapter of this book he told how 
 he came to grow the plant and that his first experience 
 was with two acres. This two acres was planted with 
 bairy vetch upon rolling, sandy ground, occupied by a 
 young orchard. 
 
 The ground was broken up in the early part of Au- 
 gust, and the vetch seed was sown broadcast and well 
 harrowed in. The plants came up quickly and covered 
 the ground with a considerable growth before winter, af- 
 fording an excellent winter covering that held the snow, 
 and thus afforded an excellent orchard cover crop. 
 
 The plants were not aflfected in the least by the 
 severe winter that followed and early the following spring 
 began to grow. The growth was so rapid that by the 
 middle of April the plants were more than a foot in 
 height. By the first of May they had reached the height 
 of about three feet and began to show buds for bloom- 
 ing. By the first of June the plants were from three to 
 four feet in length and were in full bloom, affording a 
 pretty picture. 
 
 55 
 
As no crop was planted with this vetch to support it, 
 of course the vetch lodged very badly. It was decided 
 to cut the crop for hay, and an attempt was made to 
 cut it with a mowing machine, but owing to the vine-like 
 character of the plant and the fact that they had lodged 
 so badly, it was impossible to run the machine through it. 
 So it was mowed, not, however, without difficulty, by a 
 mowing scythe, and after being sufficiently cured, was 
 raked up and taken to the barn and mowed away. It 
 made a most excellent feed and was more relished by 
 the author's horses and cattle than timothy, Hungarian 
 or clover hay, or any other feed. 
 
 It was thought that after this first crop had been 
 mowed that the second crop would appear, but such was 
 not the case. 
 
 The following season this orchard was broken up 
 and planted to potatoes and a fine crop of potatoes was 
 procured. 
 
 The following season the orchard was planted to 
 alfalfa and since that time it has been in alfalfa, producing 
 four large crops each year. 
 
 The author's second experience with vetch was with 
 twenty-four acres planted on rolling, sandy land, and 
 upon land that for twenty years had never produced to 
 exceed thirty bushels of corn to the acre. And in most 
 years corn had been an entire failure upon this land. 
 
 The hairy vetch was sown and it was drilled in with 
 an ordinary wheat drill during the last days of August, 
 the ground having been broken and harrowed. The vetch 
 made a rapid and a large growth before winter set in, 
 and early the following spring began to grow, and grew 
 so rapidly that by the middle of May it was from three 
 
 56 
 
Co six feet in length, completely covering the soil with a 
 heavy mass of vegetation. 
 
 The spring had been so wet that plowing could not 
 be done until the latter part of May. And when the 
 plows were taken into twenty acres of this vetch the 
 vegetation was so heavy that the ordinary walking or 
 riding plows would not turn it under without the plows 
 so choking up that two-thirds of the time was spent in un- 
 choking the plows. It began to look like an impossible 
 task to plow under this great mass of vegetation, so the 
 author decided to try the double-disc plows. And one 
 was brought into the field, and after the discs were made 
 as sharp as possible, four horses were hitched to the 
 plow and it was started. The plow did the work remark- 
 ably well. It only choked up occasionally, and the vetch 
 generally was well turned under, only a bunch now and 
 then sticking out of the ground. 
 
 As fast as the vetch was plowed under it was well 
 rolled and dragged and then harrowed. The soil was 
 completely filled with the vetch roots and so turned over 
 like heavy sod. The field, after it was prepared for plant- 
 ing, presented only a fair condition as a considerable 
 number of bunches of vetch stuck out of the ground, and 
 some difficulty was experienced in planting the field to 
 corn with the corn planter. 
 
 The corn was planted the third and fourth of June, 
 which is considered a very late time to plant corn in the 
 locality in which this field is situated. The weather 
 turned dry after this corn was planted, yet the corn came 
 tip promptly and grew to a height of three or four inches 
 and then seemed to cease growing, and stood in this con- 
 dition for a week or more. And as it had been predicted 
 
 57 
 
by the neighboring farmers that this heavy mass of grce« 
 ▼egetation turned under would absorb all the moisture in 
 the soil and kill the corn, it began to look as though this 
 prediction would be verified, and the prospect for a corn 
 crop did not look very inviting to the author. But sud- 
 denly the corn began to grow, and never in all the experi- 
 ence of the author, has he seen corn grow so rapidly as 
 this did. 
 
 As stated, this was rolling, sandy land and there 
 were several ridges of considerable height running 
 through the field, yet the corn in all parts of the field was 
 of identically the same height, color and appearance. 
 
 This field of corn during its growing season became 
 the talk of the neighborhood, and its fame extended even 
 for miles. The fact that there had never been a good 
 crop of corn grown on this field for many years, and this 
 crop having such an exceptionally fine appearance, it of 
 course attracted much attention, as it lay along the road- 
 side. And it attracted the attention of strangers, because 
 on the opposite side of the road a neighbor had a field of 
 corn upon identically the same kind of land which was of 
 such poor quality that the contrast between the two 
 fields was so great that no one could help but notice it. 
 
 Dry weather set in when this corn began to silk and 
 tassel and there were seven weeks of dry weather, yet 
 during all that period this corn showed no evidence of the 
 severe drought, and not a single stalk could be found 
 that was fired, while the neighbor's corn across the road, 
 mentioned above, was fired above the ear and did not 
 make twenty bushels to the acre. 
 
 At harvesting time the corn was gathered, hauled to 
 58 
 
the market and made seventy-three bushels an acre by 
 weight. 
 
 The remaining four acres of vetch that was not 
 plowed up and planted to corn, was pastured by milk 
 cows from early spring until the vetch ripened and 
 died. Quite a few of the stalks of vetch that escaped 
 the grazing of the cattle bloomed and seeded and enough 
 seed fell on the ground to reseed the field. So a disc 
 was run over the field and a good crop of vetch came up 
 for the next season. 
 
 The author's third year's experience with vetch was 
 with fifty acres sown upon worn-out river bottom and 
 upland soil. The bottom land was typical Wabash bot- 
 tom soil that had been farmed for years without the addi- 
 tion of any leguminous or other crops to restore or build 
 tip the soil. Even the cornstalks had been burned each 
 .year. The upland had been subjected to the same treat- 
 ment 
 
 All of this land was in corn and the crop was exceed- 
 ingly poor, much of it not exceeding four or five feet in 
 height and produced not over forty bushels of corn to the 
 acre. 
 
 The vetch seed was sown in the early part of August 
 in corn with a one-horse wheat drill. Before winter set 
 in the vetch on the upland had made a splendid growth. 
 Much of that upon the bottom land was weak and small 
 when it went into winter and quite a good deal of it win- 
 ter killed. 
 
 The following spring there was, however, a fair 
 fitand of vetch which commenced to grow very rapidly 
 and very early, and within a short time completely cov- 
 ered the ground. 
 
 59 
 
The vetch on both bottom and upland was turned 
 tinder along in the early part of May and planted to field 
 corn, sugar corn and potatoes, there being potatoes 
 planted on both the upland and on the bottom land. 
 
 That portion of the bottom land planted to corn 
 which had been producing at the rate of about forty 
 bushels to the acre, produced that season an average of 
 ninety bushels of corn to the acre. And that portion of the 
 bottom land planted to potatoes produced at the rate of 
 250 bushels to the acre, and as fine potatoes as ever grew. 
 
 The potatoes planted on the upland, which was ex- 
 ceedingly poor soil, produced at the rate of 150 JDUshels 
 to the acre. 
 
 Since this third experiment with vetch upon the 
 author's "Vetchfalfa Farm," he has planted each year on 
 an average of forty to fifty acres of vetch seeded by itself, 
 and quite a number of acres of vetch and rye mixed, the 
 vetch and rye mixture having been grown upon a farm 
 of the brother of the author. 
 
 The largest acreage ever grown by the author was 
 seeded in the fall of 1910 upon 165 acres of rented land 
 that was in sweet corn. And the vetch was planted in 
 the month of August at the rate of about thirty-five 
 pounds to the acre and was seeded with a one-horse wheat 
 drill. 
 
 This vetch did not make a very large growth before 
 winter, and in some portions of the fields it did not look/ 
 as if there was sufficient vetch for a stand. All this 165 
 acres of vetch was allowed to grow until about the first 
 of May before any of it was turned under. At that time 
 three double-disc plows were started to work turning it 
 
 60 
 
under, tOmmencing in that portion of the fields where 
 the vetch was the largest. 
 
 This 165 acres was in two fields, one of ninety acres 
 and the other seventy-five acres. And it so happened 
 that the vetch was the largest in one end of the ninety- 
 acre field. So plowing was begun at this end, and the 
 vetch was two feet or more in height at the time the 
 plowing commenced. The vetch was turned under as 
 deeply as possible with a disc plow, and as fast as plowed 
 under, was followed with roller, drag and harrow. And 
 as fast as the ground was put in condition it was planted 
 to sweet corn. This process of plowing, preparing the 
 ground and planting the sweet corn was continued until 
 the whole 165 acres were finished, and the planting was 
 completed about the middle of June. And during most 
 of the entire time of plowing and planting there was no 
 rain and almost the entire seventy-five acre field was ap- 
 parently without moisture. The ground plowed up so 
 dry that it did not look as if it were possible for anything 
 to grow in it, and the vetch on this field was from three 
 to six feet high when turned under. Yet, notwithstand- 
 ing the dryness of the soil and the immense amount of 
 organic matter turned under, the corn seemed to come 
 op promptly and grew as well as though it had sufficient 
 moisture. A good rain, however, came in due season and 
 upon this 165 acres there was as fine a sweet corn crop 
 as the author ever grew. The yield was at least one- 
 third larger than he had ever produced upon this land. 
 
 In the fall of 1911 the author sowed about eighty 
 ceres in vetch and rye, and about thirteen acres of pure 
 wetch which went into winter in good shape. 
 
 It has been the practice with the author to sow all 
 
 61 
 
his corn land at or after laying-by time in vetch one year, 
 jtind the next year with rye, and then plow under the 
 entire crops of rye, vetch and cornstalks the following 
 spring, and to allow no stock to pasture same at any 
 time. This method affords an excellent cover crop and 
 gives an abundance of organic matter for plowing under. 
 
 The author has plowed under heavy crops of vetch 
 the latter part of May, grown upon worn-out sandy soils, 
 plowing to the depth of twelve inches, contrary to the 
 advice of farmers who claimed that they had had much 
 experience with these kind of lands, and that it was posi- 
 tively injurious or fatal to plow them to so great a depth. 
 But, however, upon these lands so treated by the author, 
 crops of corn have been grown producing seventy-five 
 bushels to the acre. 
 
 The illustration of "Rye After Vetch," found on a 
 subsequent page, shows a picture of a six-acre field on 
 the author's "Vetchfalfa Farm" that was sown to hairy 
 vetch one fall, and then in the following spring was 
 pastured with several head of milk cows up to about two 
 ^veeks before time for the vetch to bloom (see illustration 
 "Hairy Vetch Pasture"), when cattle were taken off and 
 in two weeks the vetch was in full bloom (see the illustra- 
 tion, "A Field of Vetch in Full Bloom"). After the vetch 
 •had ripened its seed the field was plowed and in August 
 planted to rye. Both rye and vetch came up and fur- 
 nished an abundance of pasture from September until 
 snow fell. The following spring the rye came on early, 
 also some vetch, which afforded fine pasture until the rye 
 not eaten by the stock began to head. Then all stock 
 was taken from the field and a mower was run over the 
 field, and in a short time a heavy crop of rye was in head 
 
 62 
 
which was cut for hay when the rye was in the milk, the 
 time of cutting being about the middle of July. The field 
 was immediately plowed and sown to Hungarian which 
 was harvested for hay in eight weeks from time of 
 sowing, and made a large amount of most excellent hay 
 After the Hungarian was cut for hay it sent out a short 
 growth which afforded considerable late fall pasture The 
 field was planted to potatoes in the summer of 191Z 
 This experience shows the possibilities of combining 
 fetch, rye and Hungarian for pasture and a hay crop 
 
 63 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 How oft apparent evil in the things about. 
 Becloud our vision, intensify our doubt. 
 Yet the seeming bad in everything revealed. 
 May, after all, be but the good concealed. 
 
 The Bad Points of Vetch. 
 
 No plant grown upon the farm is without its bad 
 points. Therefore, it would be strange indeed if some- 
 thing bad could not be said of vetch. 
 
 In all the author's experience, and from the experi- 
 ence of others whom he has interrogated, he has only 
 been able to search out the following alleged bad points, 
 if such they can be called, which have been urged against 
 the growing of vetch, to-wit: 
 
 Cost of seed. 
 
 Its liability to escape cultivation and become a weed. 
 
 The necessity of inoculating the soil to secure its 
 growth. 
 
 Its liability to freeze out in winter. 
 
 For the past seven or eight years vetch seed has cost 
 from six to twelve cents a pound. Sowing fifty pounds to 
 the acre would make a cost of from three to six dollars 
 an acre. Several years ago, in writing on vetch, the 
 author made the statement that if it should cost ten dol- 
 lars an acre to sow vetch, it would yet be a profitable 
 fertilizer to use. In the light of experience obtained since 
 
 64 
 
THE J. M. STONE GLOBE SEPARATOR FOR SEPARATING 
 
 VETCH SEED FROM WHEAT 
 
 The Mixed Seed Are Dumped in Top of Machine and Separation Is Done Automatically 
 
 by Gravity, No Belts, Pulleys or Power Being Required. 
 
the time of making that statement, the author has found 
 no occasion for modifying it. 
 
 How much manure or commercial fertilizer could one 
 put on an acre of land for three to six dollars, and what 
 result would you obtain for that amount expended? The 
 author has expended, and he has seen others expend six 
 dollars an acre for commercial fertilizer from which 
 practically no results were obtained. 
 
 Prof. T. S. Hunt, of the Cornell Experiment Station, 
 from analysis of the vetch plant found that three months' 
 growth of hairy vetch produced 6,824 pounds of air-dried 
 forage to the acre, which contained 240 pounds of nitro- 
 gen, 53 pounds of phosphoric acid and 52 pounds of pot- 
 ash, a total of 345 pounds to the acre of the most valuable 
 fertilizing elements that can be put into the soil. The com- 
 mercial value of the 240 pounds of nitrogen alone at fif- 
 teen cents per pound, which is a conservative price for 
 nitrogen, is worth thirty-six dollars an acre. It cannot 
 be said that this nitrogen was already in the soil and 
 that the vetch plant simply utilized nitrogen that was 
 already available in the soil, for the vetch being a legume, 
 it obtains this nitrogen, as heretofore explained, from the 
 air through the working processes of the nitrogen-gather- 
 ing bacteria. 
 
 But some scientists reading this statement regarding 
 the phosphoric acid and potash found in this vetch by 
 ,Prof. Hunt, will boldly proclaim that these two mineral 
 elements were already in the soil and were extracted from 
 it by the vetch plant in its growth, and therefore there 
 was no addition to the soil of these two elements. 
 
 The author concedes that the phosphoric acid and 
 potash were already in the soil, but were they available 
 
 65 
 
for the use of plants before the vetch was grown ? Was 
 not the vetch the means of releasing these elements and 
 rendering them available for the future crops? If these 
 elements were in the soil they were in rock particles of 
 the soil, and it was necessary for some plant, with its 
 prolific root system, to cover these coarser rock particles 
 of the soil and absorb and take from them the minerals 
 contained in them. This, no doubt, the vetch roots do. 
 And so these elements were stored into the vetch plant 
 during its growth, and, if the vetch was plowed under 
 and incorporated with the soil, these elements would be- 
 come available for the food of future plants grown in 
 the soil. 
 
 The author has demonstrated, and it has been demon- 
 strated by many others, that vetch will make sound 
 merchantable crops and increase their yield from forty 
 to fifty per cent. Say that it will only increase the yield 
 twenty per cent, and that your average crop of corn 
 heretofore has been forty bushels an acre, you would 
 have an increase of eight bushels, which, at fifty cents a 
 bushel, would be four dollars an acre. 
 
 Most of our lands are in such condition that we must 
 build them up or abandon them and turn them back to 
 Nature for her slow process of restoration. But we can- 
 not do this and live. We must apply to our lands that 
 which the manufacturer applies to his manufacturing es- 
 tablishment to increase its efificiency. He does not hesi- 
 tate to expend any amount of money when he can in- 
 crease the efficiency of his plant even five- or ten per 
 cent. He finds that this expenditure is worth the price 
 it costs. If we run our farms upon the same principle we 
 
 66 
 
will find that whatever increases the efficiency of our 
 soils is worth the price it costs. 
 
 In the chapter entitled "The Author's Experience 
 With the Vetch Plant," he shows how he increased the 
 efficiency of his land by the use of vetch ; but the author 
 desires that under the chapter of "Vetch Experiments by 
 Experimental Stations and Individuals," the reader con- 
 sider the experiments of the Connecticut Experiment 
 Station, in which they say that the fertilizing elements 
 gathered by vetch releases in the ground plant food that 
 would cost from sixteen to forty dollars an acre if pro- 
 duced in the form of commercial fertilizer ; and the ex- 
 periments of A. D. Shamel of Connecticut, who points out 
 the great benefits that have been secured from the use of 
 vetch upon the poor worn-out tobacco lands of Connecti- 
 cut; how tiiey have added the necessary nitrogen to these 
 soils and how it has furnished the ideal cover crop, en- 
 abling the tobacco growers to cut down the heavy ex- 
 penses of fertilizers, and how it is enabling their lands 
 to endure droughts ; and how, by the use of vetch upon 
 corn land, in the year 1907, a field of corn planted after 
 vetch plowed under, won a world's record for yield to the 
 acre ; and that the same thing has been done since that 
 time by the plowing under of vetch ; and that he has not 
 seen a single instance where great benefits have not been 
 secured for the following corn crops where vetch was 
 plowed under. 
 
 Go to that part of said chapter showing the experi- 
 ments with vetch in the state of Georgia and read how 
 the worn-out cotton lands of the South have been re- 
 stored by the use of vetch. Read the statements of James 
 T. Gardiner of Augusta, Georgia, wherein he says that 
 
 67 
 
the vetch plant is destined to become the savior of the 
 long mismanaged soils of the sunny Southland, so that 
 they will become as productive as any on earth, and then 
 say that it is not profitable to grow vetch with the present 
 price of its seed. 
 
 So the author does not believe that he made a wild 
 statement when he said that if vetch should cost ten dol- 
 lars an acre it would yet be a profitable fertilizer to use; 
 and. in the light of all these experiences with the vetch 
 plant, it certainly cannot be urged that the cost of seed 
 is a bad point against the use of vetch. 
 
 If we have reached that point in our agricultural his- 
 tory where we are confronted with worn-out soils, what 
 are we going to do about it? Shall we continue to farm 
 them and procure low yields of crops that do not pay the 
 cost of production? Or shall we pay the price and restore 
 them? We must pay the price or perish. 
 
 The author does not consider the objection of the 
 liability of vetch to escape cultivation and become a weed 
 as worthy of much consideration, yet something should 
 be said about this. If there is but half the truth in the 
 experiments and statements of Prof, T. S. Hunt, then 
 would not vetch be a valuable weed to have upon our 
 farms? 
 
 A fertile soil produces weeds in abundance and the 
 husbandman must ever combat the weed proposition. 
 He cannot escape it unless his soils are so worn out that 
 weeds will no longer grow upon them, and in that condi- 
 tion he certainly would wish for weeds in abundance. 
 
 God, when he pronounced sentence upon the first 
 man for his sin, said, "Curst is the ground for thy sake. 
 Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee and thou 
 
 68 
 
SCREEN 
 
 Style of Screen Used in the J. M. Stone Patent Globe Separator 
 
 for Separating Vetch Seed From Wheat. 
 
Shalt eat thy bread in the sweat ot thy tace." bince that 
 sentence was pronounced upon man, the soil has ever 
 brought forth thorns and thistles and the weeds, and man 
 must ever contend with them as long as the soil is capable 
 of producing food for man. So if our soils are fertile 
 there is no escaping the weed proposition in some form 
 or other. Then why not grow valuable weeds that re- 
 turn some beneficial elements or some soil-building ma- 
 terials to the soil? The author has always contended 
 that weeds were a benefit and were placed in our soils 
 for some purpose. But supposing that vetch did escape 
 cultivation and become a weed, it would grow up in our 
 fence corners and highways, and certainly would be more 
 beautiful than the weeds found in these places. The 
 author has shown that vetch is a benefit to clover, 
 timothy and alfalfa, and it could not possibly injure any 
 other crops unless it would be wheat, and wheat it will 
 injure in this respect. 
 
 It is characteristic of vetch to remain in soils for a 
 series of years after it has been once planted. Why this 
 is, the author has never yet been able to ascertain. 
 Whether the plants that grow the succeeding year after 
 vetch is once grown come from seed that do not germin- 
 ate the first year they were planted on account of their 
 hard covering, and thus remain in the soil for the suc- 
 ceeding year, or whether the plants are propogated from 
 live roots of vetch that remain in the soil, has not yet 
 been ascertained. It is a fact, however, that when vetch 
 is once sown upon soil, that the plants will continue to 
 come from year to year for several years thereafter. And 
 if wheat is sown in these lands after vetch has once been 
 grown upon them, there will be enough vetch come up 
 
 69 
 
with the wheat which will ripen its seed at the same time 
 that the wheat ripens its seed, and thus the two become 
 mixed in threshing. And until recently there has been 
 no separator invented that would separate the seed, so 
 that vetch seed would mix with wheat, causing a dock 
 of the wheat at the elevator. This has become a serious 
 problem in the wheat regions of the Northwest and in 
 Canada. In these regions there seems to be a wild vetch 
 similar in every respect to the hairy vetch that mixes with 
 the wheat. The seed of this vetch is a flat, black disc, the 
 side faces of which are slightly curved. The diameter is 
 about the same as the length of the grain of wheat and 
 the thickness of the two is also nearly the same. So, 
 therefore, it has been impossible to separate this vetch 
 from wheat by the ordinary method of screening, as any 
 screen large enough for the wheat to pass through would 
 also permit the passage of the vetch seed. If the two 
 seeds are ground up into flour it makes the flour dark, 
 heavy and bitter, and in fact, wholly unfit for use. This 
 same condition would be true in any region where vetch 
 of any variety was mixed with wheat. The author has 
 personally known of experiences where vetch had been 
 so mixed with wheat that elevators would not purchase 
 it, and the wheat was totally unfit for grinding into flour. 
 Of course this mixture of vetch and wheat would be ideal 
 for sov/ing for fertilizing purposes or for a forage crop. 
 So if any farmer wish»,s to grow wheat the author desires 
 to warn him that he must be careful with the growing of 
 vetch upon his farm so as to prevent this mixture of 
 ^vheat and vetch, and this mixing of vetch with wheat 
 is really the only bad point that vetch possesses. How- 
 ever, there has recently been invented a seed separator 
 
 70 
 
that will perfectly separate vetch and wheat, an illustra- 
 tion of which is shown in this book. This machine was 
 invented and patented by J. M. Stone of Portland, 
 Oregon, now of Lodi, California, and the right to use this 
 patent in Canada alone, was sold for $50,000.00. This 
 screen or separator is a very simple proposition. It 
 simply consists of screens made in the sliape of a square 
 frame of pipe over which is wound piano wire. The seeds 
 are dropped on these screens inclined, and when they 
 strike the wires they bounce back like balls dropped on 
 a spring mattress. The vetch seeds being heavier, bounce 
 higher and continue to bounce until they bounce off the 
 edge of the screens. But the wheat, which is lighter, falls 
 between the wires. It is not necessary to operate these 
 separators with either pulleys, belts, chains, scrapers or 
 fans, as the seed is simply poured into the top of the 
 machine and the grains pass rapidly through the screens 
 and separation is done automatically. These machines 
 are made so as to separate all kinds of grains, and its 
 invention and being placed on the market solves the ques- 
 tion of separation of vetch from wheat, and therefore re- 
 moves the only serious objection or bad point ever urged 
 against the growing of vetch. These separators are made 
 for both elevator and farm use. Those made for the farm 
 separate from thirty to fifty bushels of grain an hour, 
 and vary in price from $30 to $60 each. They not 
 only separate vetch from wheat but other grains also. 
 
 As to the necessity of inoculation, the author has al- 
 ready stated in this volume that in all his experience with 
 the growing of vetch he has never had to resort to inocu- 
 lation, and a great number of vetch growers have given 
 similar testimony. Yet there are some reputable auth- 
 
 71 
 
orities who claim that they have found it necessary to 
 inoculate. 
 
 The author believes that it can be safely stated that 
 most any lands will grow vetch without inoculation ; that 
 the proper bacteria for inoculation is already in the soil 
 and that if vetch fails to grow upon any soil that we must 
 look for causes other than want of inoculation. 
 
 As to the last objection, the author has already stated 
 that he has found the vetch plant to be one of the most 
 hardy grown on the farm ; that he has grown it where it 
 has been subjected to a temperature of from seventeen 
 to twenty degrees below zero, and has had many acres to 
 stand under water and ice for several months without 
 injury; that it has withstood the test of winters in states 
 in the extreme North. However, there is no question 
 but what hairy vetch winter kills, that is, some of the 
 plants winter kill. And the author has already stated 
 that he believes that the cause of this is that the plants 
 were grown from seeds of weak vitality. He is of the 
 firm opinion that if vetch is grown from the genuine pure 
 liairy vetch seed or seed that has been acclimated, that 
 there will be little danger of winter killing. Some authori- 
 ties recommend a heavy seeding of vetch so that if some 
 of the plants do winter kill, there will yet be a sufficient 
 stand. 
 
 It should not be forgotten that hairy vetch can be 
 sown in the spring and a good forage crop obtained in 
 the fall from same, or it will be large enough to plow 
 under in the fall, so if planted in this way the freezing 
 feature would be eliminated. 
 
 Of course the freezing objection does not obtain as 
 to spring vetch, as it is always sown in the spring. 
 
 72 
 
B. T. Galloway, Chief of the Bureau of Plant In- 
 dustry, Agricultural Department at Washington, says of 
 the hairy vetch: "This is a comparatively new crop 
 adapted to use over a large part of the United States 
 and under many conditions it is the best leguminous 
 winter cover crop known. It is unfortunate that the 
 more general use of this plant should be restricted not 
 only by the high price of the seed, but by the fact that it 
 is adulterated and of low vitality." In a preceding chap- 
 ter we have shown the extent of this adulteration, and 
 does this not explain why so many have had their hairy 
 vetch to winter kill? 
 
 73 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 The death blight fell upon the source of Ireland's 
 
 bread, 
 Famine stalked in place of hunger satisfied — Erin's 
 
 hosts were dead. 
 
 Vetch and Potatoes. 
 
 The author has had a large experience in the grow- 
 ing of potatoes, and finds them a profitable farm crop 
 when a yield of seventy-five or more bushels to the acre 
 can be obtained. As it costs the same expenditure of 
 money and labor to grow fifty bushels an acre as it does 
 to grow two hundred or more bushels an acre, then it 
 certainly behooves the grower of potatoes to obtain the 
 conditions that will produce the larger crop. 
 
 It is a waste of time and money to attempt to grow 
 potatoes on land deficient in organic matter. No amount 
 of commercial fertilizers of any kind or character ap- 
 plied to land deficient in organic matter will produce a 
 profitable crop of potatoes. If commercial fertilizers are 
 applied to soil in which there is an abundance of organic 
 matter it will be of some aid to the crop. 
 
 Organic matter applied to potato land in the shape 
 of manure is not desirable because manure has the 
 tendency to produce scab on potatoes. 
 
 74 
 
The ideal organic matter for potatoes is some green 
 manuring crop that fills the soil with its roots, thus giv- 
 ing an abundance of organic matter, other than the tops 
 of the green manuring plant, that becomes available as 
 plant food at once and which has the capacity of loosen- 
 ing up the soil. 
 
 Among the green manuring crops best for the potato 
 soil are the red and crimson clover, rye and vetch. Vetch 
 is one of the best. Its growth in the fall and its covering 
 the soil in the winter makes the soil loose and friable, and 
 the early spring growth fills the soil with an abundance 
 of organic matter and nitrogen, which with the large top 
 growth, makes the most favorable environment for the 
 potato when the soil is plowed deep, and no potato 
 ground should be plowed less than ten inches in depth. 
 
 The author has already told how he has grown fine 
 crops of potatoes after vetch. In the spring of 1911 he 
 plowed under deep, a heavy crop of vetch and cornstalks, 
 rolled and harrowed same until the soil was like a rich 
 garden and planted it to late potatoes in the month of 
 June. 
 
 The potatoes were planted four inches deep with a 
 potato planter. They were harrowed four times between 
 planting time and the time they had reached the height 
 of one inch, after which they were given two deep culti- 
 vations and then cultivated shallow all summer until 
 too large to run a cultivator between the rows. The 
 summer was the driest experienced for years, yet these 
 potatoes made a large yield, and not one of the author's 
 neighbors, who planted as ordinarily planted, produced 
 enough potatoes for home use. 
 
 While deep plowing, the selection and proper treat- 
 
 75 
 
ment of seed for diseases, the proper cutting of seed, 
 depth of planting, proper cultivation and spraying have 
 much to do with the growing of a profitable potato crop, 
 yet the putting of the soil in that condition that will make 
 it a favorable home or environment for the growing po- 
 tato is after all the chief essential. No successful potato 
 grower has failed to notice that the best potato land is 
 the loose soil full of vegetable or organic matter. As 
 vetch brings about the loose vegetable-filled soil it is 
 therefore one of the greatest aids to successful potato 
 growing. At least the author has found it so. 
 
 7a 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 VETCH EXPERIMENTS 
 
 BY 
 
 EXPERIMENTAL STATIONS AND INDIVIDUALS 
 
 Arizona. 
 
 But little vetch has been grown in Arizona. The ex- 
 perimental station reports that no vetch tested proved at 
 all satisfactory. But the station also reports that many 
 of the legumes which grow successfully in other parts 
 of the world do not succeed in Arizona. 
 
 Colorado. 
 
 Vetch is grown to some extent in Colorado, but only 
 for experimental purposes. The experimental stations 
 have grown some for seed purposes, but their methods 
 of handling the crop and threshing for seed have not as 
 yet been worked out. 
 
 Connecticut. 
 
 On account of the large amount of tobacco grown 
 in Connecticut, and from the fact that it has been ascer- 
 tained that vetch is one of the best plants for renovating 
 and building up soils for tobacco, vetch has been exten- 
 sively grown in Connecticut. 
 
 The horticulturalist of the Storrs Agricultural Experi- 
 ment Station at Storrs, Connecticut, says that their sta- 
 
 77 
 
tion has not conducted any very extensive experimetfts 
 with vetch, except to ascertain its value as a cover crop 
 for orchards; that they have found that the ordinary 
 hairy, sand or winter vetch is very suitable for orchard 
 cover cropping, especially on the heavier soils; that they 
 have found that it is very difficult to harvest the seed on 
 account of rain, but that occasionally they harvest in 
 good shape, and especially if grown with rye. 
 
 At the experiment station at New Haven they have 
 made quite extensive experiments with vetch to ascertain 
 its value as a cover and fertilizing crop for tobacco fields, 
 and they report that their experiments indicate beyond 
 question that the sand, winter or hairy vetch is admirably 
 adapted to this purpose; that they sow the vetch im- 
 mediately after the tobacco crop has been harvested so as 
 to protect the soil from washing, or a loss of fertility in 
 other ways ; that it has been their experience that after 
 tobacco has been harvested, which is generally in August, 
 there is a considerable loss of plant food from the soil 
 by leaching and drifting of the surface soil, and the heavy 
 fall and spring rains on sloping land which badly wash 
 and gully the fields on account of it laying bare nearly 
 nine months; that heretofore rye has been used for a 
 cover crop, which did not prove wholly desirable, al- 
 though it gathers up and holds the soluble plant food in 
 the soil where it grew, but that it added nothing to what 
 was already in the soil ; that sometimes it winter kills 
 badly, and at other times it dries out the soil very much, 
 especially where it was allowed to get too high in the 
 spring; that it did not decay quickly when turned under, 
 particularly if it was turned under after it had made a 
 large growth, when it impaired the capillary action of 
 
 78 
 
the soil, leaving it too dry and loose for the young tobacco 
 plants, and yielded up its plant food to them too slowly ; 
 that they tried many kinds of clover and other legum- 
 inous plants without much success because they winter- 
 killed even after a good stand was secured ; but that gen- 
 erally it was impossible in that region to obtain good 
 stands of them in the fall, and for the further reason 
 those crops require two seasons to reach their full devel- 
 opment which of course was unsuited to their needs, 
 hence, they found the hairy vetch plant exactly suitable 
 for their purpose, because it was a nitrogen gathering 
 crop ; that its habit of growth of spreading out its plants 
 on the surface of the ground and covering it completely 
 with its dense foliage, made it an ideal cover crop which 
 protected the lands from washing and leaching. The fact 
 that the tobacco lands were poor in nitrogen, which was 
 the most costly element of plant food, the vetch supply- 
 ing this nitrogen, made quite a saving in dollars and 
 cents, as they were compelled to pay sixteen cents and 
 more per pound for nitrogen obtained in commercial 
 fertilizers. 
 
 This station in its experiments also learned that 
 hairy vetch requires moisture during the first few weeks 
 of growth, but after it became established it was one of 
 the best drought-resistant forage plants grown; that it 
 withstood the cold, heat and drought, but did not do well 
 where water stands in the soil or covers the land; that 
 its fine small roots entered the soil in every direction and 
 when the plants were turned under they rapidly decayed 
 •and gave up their plant food to the succeeding crop. 
 
 This station began a series of experiments in Octo- 
 ber, 1904, which was a month later than desirable, and 
 
 79 
 
several fields in this state on which tobacco had been 
 harvested were sown to Russian or hairy vetch. In some 
 cases the fields were plowed and the vetch sowed with 
 rye, while in others the vetch was sowed alone. In some 
 instances the vet<^h was sowed on plowed ground and 
 harrowed in with spike tooth harrow, while in others 
 it was sowed on the surface of the ground immediately 
 after the tobacco plants had been harvested and disced 
 in with an ordinary disc. 
 
 In some parts of the fields inoculated seed was sown, 
 and in others seed that had not been inoculated. The 
 stand on all these plots was made thin on account of not 
 having sufficient seed, yet a good stand was obtained 
 and the plants grew thrifty in the fall and bore the severe 
 winter that followed. The vetch stood the winter bet- 
 ter than the rye, which was mostly killed. The tests 
 showed that in one field which was covered with ice 
 for several weeks, the vetch survived and was not 
 injured; that the roots of the plants of the inocu- 
 lated seed bore many tubercles or nodules, some being 
 as large as corn kernels ; that from the seed that 
 was not inoculated, the roots did not have as many 
 nodules as the inoculated seed and the plants did not 
 seem as vigorous ; that when the plants were plowed 
 under in May they were from four to eight inches high 
 and, where the seed was sufficient, completely covered 
 the ground. They learned from these experiments that 
 the seed should be sown as soon as possible after the to- 
 bacco is cut, and at the rate of one and one-half bushels 
 of seed to the acre when sowed broadcast, and three- 
 fourths to one bushel to the acre when sowed in drills; 
 that the best time for sowing was between August 1st and 
 
 80 
 
September 15th. It was also learned that the fertilizing- 
 elements gathered by vetch are in best form for use by the 
 succeeding crop, and that the crop of vetch plowed under 
 by the first of May might, under favorable conditions, re- 
 lease in the ground plant food that would cost from six- 
 teen to forty dollars an acre if purchased in the form of 
 commercial fertilizer; that in addition to this fact the 
 vetch had a high nutritive ratio, and is one of the most 
 valuable forage crops known; that when it is sown for 
 forage it cannot profitably be mowed and cured for hay 
 unless sown with some plant that will hold it up; but 
 that it made excellent pasture. 
 
 This station also recommended the use of this plant 
 upon large areas of land in the Connecticut valley which 
 were hardly farming land at present, but upon which 
 sweet and Indian corn crops could be profitably grown if 
 some crop was used to bring the soil into proper condi- 
 tion for the growing of these crops without any great 
 expense; that it was their opinion that the growing of 
 vetch and plowing it under would bring these lands into 
 the proper condition for growing the crops mentioned. 
 
 A. D. Shamel, who has been making experiments 
 with vetch since 1903 in Connecticut says that the benefit 
 of growing vetch as a cover crop for tobacco lands has 
 been definitely determined; that it improves the tilth, 
 fertility and general soil conditions, and protects some 
 lands from waste ; that the chief factors that stand in the 
 way of its further use are high cost of imported seed and 
 the imperfect and unsatisfactory methods of seed produc- 
 tion in this country ; that there is needed a more reliable 
 source of seed at a reasonable price; that he wonders 
 whether some of the grain regions of the North or West 
 
 81 
 
might not prove to be suitable for the growing of vetch 
 seed; that he has in the past years received hundreds of 
 letters from farmers inquiring about the vetch plant, 
 source of seed, etc., which shows the interest that is being 
 taken in the plant. He also says that in his experimental 
 work with tobacco breeding in the Connecticut valley he 
 found that the tobacco crops which were harvested in 
 September from lands that were left bare through the 
 fall, winter and spring, that rains washed away consider- 
 able soil; that during the dry seasons heavy winds car- 
 ried the top soil and piled it up into drifts along the road- 
 ways or against other obstructions; that from fifty to 
 one hundred dollars an acre was annually spent by grow- 
 ers for commercial fertilizers and manures, mostly for 
 the nitrogen contained in these fertilizers; that it was 
 clear to him that if it be possible to grow a cover crop 
 on these lands it might be possible to prevent this great 
 waste of soil, and that if a legume cover crop could be 
 used it would be the means of reducing the great ex- 
 pense incurred in fertilizers for these soils; that he in- 
 terested with him Dr. B. T. Galloway, Chief of the 
 Bureau of Plant Industry, and it was suggested that a 
 trial be made of the vetches, which was carried out dur- 
 ing the season of 1904. They tried several varieties and 
 obtained seed of the hairy vetch from the office of the 
 seed and plant department, which had obtained it from 
 Russia ; that the seed of all varieties was sown in a large 
 plot on tobacco lands after harvest the latter part of 
 August and the fore part of September; that good stands 
 were secured and all entered the winter in good condi- 
 tion. In the spring it was found that the most of the 
 plants of the hairy vetch had lived through the winter, 
 
 82 
 
and with the first days of spring began to grow rapidly ; 
 mat when the fields were plowed in May these plants 
 were several feet long, and the roots turned up and ex- 
 posed by the plow, were found to be literally covered 
 with white nodules. Some patches that were well set 
 with plants were allowed to grow for seed production in 
 an effort to acclimatize this variety of vetch and adapt it 
 to use as a practical cover crop for tobacco lands. As 
 these plants were not sown with any grain to hold them 
 up they laid on the ground, and the season being wet, 
 most of the flowers and seed pods rotted and only about 
 enough seed was obtained to sow an acre the following 
 year. This teed was sown with a thin seeding of rye, 
 and the second season the rye and vetch plants were cut 
 with a mower about July 4th, when a majority of the 
 pods were ripe, and piled in small cocks until thoroughly 
 dried. As no threshing machine could be secured at that 
 season the seed was threshed with a flail and about ten 
 bushels of vetch seed and fifteen bushels of rye were ob- 
 tained from this acre. As they could not separate the 
 vetch seed from the rye with the ordinary screen and 
 fanning mill, a home-made separator was constructed, 
 consisting of a heavy belt of muslin about three feet wide 
 and ten feet long, held up at one end at an angle of about 
 forty-five degrees with a wooden framework. The belt 
 was turned toward the open end of the framework and 
 the mixed seed thrown on it slowly. The sound vetch 
 rolled off the bottom of the belt, while the long rye seed 
 caught on the nap of the cloth and was carried off at the 
 top. 
 
 He states that the tobacco growers who have used 
 this acclimated hairy vetch seed have found that it so 
 
 83 
 
improved the soil that it enables them to cut down the 
 heavy expense of fertilizers, and that crops grown on 
 the vetch lands are more thrifty and endure droughts 
 and wet spells of winter better than crops grown in the 
 adjacent fields where no vetch cover crops had been 
 grown; that the vetch has been found to be superior to 
 rye, barley or other cover crops tried for the same pur- 
 pose, and that many growers have had great success even 
 with the imported seed. 
 
 Mr. Shamel also says that during the course of these 
 experiments he conceived the idea of sowing vetch in 
 cornfields at the time of the last cultivation, and so on 
 the farm of H. Brewer, Hartford County, Connecticut, 
 who was experimenting with him in the breeding of a 
 new variety of corn for New England, in 1907 a field 
 of ten acres of this dent corn was used for this experi- 
 ment, and about July 15, 1907, the acclimated vetch seed 
 was sowed broadcast by a man in this field. The sower 
 covered three rows at once, and the horses were hitched 
 to a light harrow that could pass through two rows of 
 corn, and the seed was lightly harrowed in; that a good 
 stand was secured, and by the time the ground was 
 frozen, completely covered it with a perfect mass. In 
 the following spring the vetch began to grow as soon as 
 the soil warmed up, and by the time the field was ready 
 to plow for corn, a heavy growth of vetch was developed 
 and was easily turned under; that the corn crop on this 
 field won a world's record for yield to the acre. And he has 
 done the same thing again since that time with the grain 
 after successive crops of vetch ; that during the dry 
 weather the corn plants on this vetch field did not suflFer, 
 while adjoining fields were seriously injured by the 
 
 84 
 
drought. This field was visited by hundreds of people, 
 as well as other fields where vetch has been used as a 
 cover crop and they have been amazed by the beneficial 
 use of vetch. He says that in many other cases since 
 that time that he has observed the use of vetch for cover 
 crop purposes in corn fields, and that he has not seen a 
 single instance where it has not been of great benefit to 
 following corn crops, and he has outlined these benefits 
 as follows : 
 
 1. The cover crop protects the soil that is liable to 
 waste from washing or other causes. 
 
 2. The extensive fine root development tends to 
 break up the surface of the subsoil, thus improving the 
 tilth of the soil. The rains and melting snows follow 
 down these roots, and in this way definitely increase the 
 water holding capacity of the soil. 
 
 3. The vetch plants, through the root nodules, in- 
 crease the nitrogen contents of the soil. In experiments 
 covering three years our bureau estimates that on tobacco 
 lands this nitrogen gain is equal in value to about twenty- 
 five dollars an acre, or, in other words, takes the place in 
 value of that much nitrogen fertilizer which would have 
 to be applied but for the use of the vetch cover crop. 
 
 4. The mass of vetch plowed under in the spring 
 rots quickly, and adds to the humus contents of the soil, 
 thus enabling the crops better to resist drought and make 
 a more vigorous, healthy growth. Tobacco crops grown 
 on vetch land are healthier, less liable to "mottled" or 
 "mosaic" leaf, and to certain fungus diseases than crops 
 grown in neighboring fields where no vetch crop has been 
 grown. 
 
 85 
 
In the light of his experience he urges wide-spread 
 trials of this legume cover crop, vetch. He also states 
 that in South Carolina he has seen trials of hairy vetch 
 as cover crops in both corn and cotton fields with prof- 
 itable results, and he recommends that a bushel of the 
 hairy vetch seed be sown to the acre in corn fields ; that 
 in his opinion it is not safe to sow a less amount. He has 
 seen good results by adding ten to twenty pounds of rye 
 seed to the acre, especially on light soils where it is de- 
 sirable to add to the amount of forage to be plowed 
 under; that the seed should be sown as soon after the 
 last cultivation of corn as possible. 
 
 In plowing under he recommends the use of a heavy 
 chain to help push the plants in the furrows and aid in 
 their covering by the plow; that he has experienced no 
 difficulty in turning under the crop, and as the vetch rot3 
 so quickly it does not interfere in any way with the plants 
 or cultivation or any other process; that he has also ob- 
 served that all kinds of farm animals and poultry thrive 
 on vetch when they become accustomed to it; that it is 
 one of the most valuable foods grown. 
 
 He cautions the purchasers of vetch seed to use 
 care in securing the proper variety, which is hairy or 
 winter vetch, as in some cases he has found that seed 
 houses have sold to purchasers seeds of other varieties 
 for the hairy vetch. 
 
 He also states that he has been conducting some ex- 
 periments in California among the citrus growers, who 
 having grown it recognize the great value of vetch as a 
 cover crop and who are now sowing thousands of acres 
 of orchards annually to summer or spring vetch, which 
 is adapted to warm climates and where the value of this 
 
 86 
 
crop as a fertilizing plant and cover crop stands in high 
 regard. 
 
 He says that the large seed of vetch makes it a much 
 more certain grower than the small seeded legumes like 
 clover, etc., which have been used for fertilizing and 
 cover crops. 
 
 California. 
 
 G. W. Shaw, of the Agricultural Experiment St.- 
 tion of the University of California, says they have done 
 considerable experimental work with vetch with much 
 success. The vetches are especially adapted to southern 
 California, to the coast sections and next to bottom lands 
 in the interior valleys. In this state they are not at all 
 adapted to the uplands. They are not grown to any ex- 
 tent at the present time except as fertilizers to be plowed 
 under in cit us orchards in southern California. 
 
 Vetches in this s.ate should be planted preferably in 
 October, and not later than the middle of November to 
 secure the best results. The vicia sativa is the one which 
 has given the best results. 
 
 Georgia. 
 
 Milton P. Jarnagin, of the State College of Agricul- 
 ture, Athens, Georgia, says that their station has grown 
 vetch in areas of from forty to one hundred acres for the 
 past four years ; that at the time he came to the Georgia 
 State College of Agriculture the farming land had been 
 rented out to negro croppers for a part of the crop ; that 
 the land, which is naturally rolling in character, and with 
 the slipshod methods of farming in use, had been much 
 depleted of its fertility, and was in a worn and washed 
 condition ; that the principle work on the farm had been 
 
 87 
 
to try and reclaim these soils, and that, everything con- 
 sidered, vetch had been the most valuable crop that they 
 had used for the building up and reclaiming of these 
 soils ; that the fact that it could be seeded after the corn 
 crop had been taken off in the fall, and then turned under 
 in time to plant the land back to cotton the following 
 spring, made it the most economical of all the leguminous 
 crops, and so they have used it freely ; that on some 
 of the better lands they had gotten as much as three 
 thousand pounds of hay from an acre after having gotten 
 considerable grazing off of it early in the season ; that 
 they grazed it with both beef and dairy cattle, as well as 
 colts and hogs ; t' t the combination for seeding whicli 
 they preferred for thin land was one bushel of rye and 
 fifteen pounds of hairy vetch seed and ten pounds of 
 crimson clover seed to the acre ; that they found that 
 the English or spring vetch winter-killed quite often with 
 them, though they had the hairy vetch to freeze out ; 
 that they made a practice of mixing both the English or 
 spring vetch with the hairy vetch in smaller lots to be 
 used as calf pasture ; that the English or spring vetch 
 comes on earlier and makes a more vigorous growth ; 
 that they count on getting considerable grazing on it the 
 latter part of November, December and part of January ; 
 that it usually kills by this time, and the hairy vetch 
 comes on in the same territory later in the season; that 
 during the year 1911 they threshed hairy vetch for the 
 first time. It was seeded with rye and left until the 
 vetch was thoroughly ripe. The rye was a little too 
 ripe and shattered quite a bit in harvesting; that they 
 put it through an ordinary threshing machine and had 
 no trouble in threshing the clean seed; that they then 
 
 88 
 
run a disc harrow over the land where it was grown and 
 believed that they would get a good stand of rye and 
 vetch on this land. He also says that he is very enthus- 
 iastic about the use of vetches in this territory. 
 
 Jas. T. Gardiner, of Augusta, Georgia, manager of 
 the Moore farm near Augusta, Georgia, says that this 
 farm was the pioneer in introducing vetch in Georgia 
 some twenty-five years or more ago ; that ever since then 
 this farm has grown vetch, making a specialty of vetch 
 hay ; that in and around Georgia are bought every year 
 thousands of bales of this hay and several thousand acres 
 are grown to vetch ; that the farmers recognize the great 
 improvement in the soil after a few crops of vetch, to 
 say nothing of the profit in growing of veach for hay; 
 that it makes first-class hay and sells for two to four 
 dollars a ton more than other native hays ; that there are 
 three varieties of vetch grown, the native vetch (vicia 
 augiisti folia), English or spring vetch, and hairy or sand 
 vetch; that it is almost impossible, however, to obtain 
 the seed of the first named, and so as a vetch it is losing 
 out; that most of the seed of the other two varieties are 
 obtained from Russia ; that they do not grow very much 
 of the northwestern United States vetch on account of 
 the high freight rates, but that the hay produced from 
 these northwestern vetches ranks high as forage for 
 stock; that the growing of vetches adds nitrogen to the 
 soil and adds immensely to its permanent fertility; that 
 the vetch crops can be harvested in the spring in time 
 to follow with cowpeas, and so two legume crops can 
 be grown on the same land within a year ; that they find 
 the vetch and the peas give more benefit to the crop 
 than the clover or any other legume crop grown; that 
 
 89 
 
the feeding value of the hay crop is greater than that 
 of clover; that the value of a vetch and pea crop grown 
 on the land in the same year is greater by one-half or 
 two-thirds than the value of two clover crops ; that it 
 is a common saying with 'vetch growers near Augusta 
 that if you make your land rich enough for the maximum 
 crop of vetch, the vetch will keep it permanently rich 
 enough for everything else ; that the soil best suited for 
 the growth of vetch is one that is loamy and well drained; 
 that a soil with some clay is preferred to an excess of 
 sand ; that sandy soils have produced good crops of vetch ; 
 and lands that v/ill make the best pea crops will also 
 make the best vetch crops ; that on the Moore farm they 
 plant forty-five pounds of spring vetch with two quarts 
 of cleaned oats to the acre, the latter to help hold up the 
 former; that both seeds are sown with a disc grain drill 
 after first going over the land twice with a disc harrow, 
 or, more if on hard sod fields. For the hairy vetch they 
 use twenty-five pounds of seed to the acre to the two 
 quarts of oats. After the seeding is all over, a careful 
 man on horseback sows two quarts of late crimson clover, 
 and if the season is favorable, this crop in early May 
 will be the most beautiful one ever seen, with its wealth 
 of purple, pink, and crimson blooms and its many shades 
 of green. It is truly a delight to the eye, standing up from 
 three to four feet high. Many of the stalks of the hairy 
 vetch measure nine feet long. He says that vetch aver- 
 ages one ton to the acre of dry hay ; though many fields 
 will make twice that amount ; that the hay of the spring 
 vetch as a rule is preferred to that of the hairy vetch for 
 the reason that it does not grow in such a tangled mass 
 and it is therefore easier to cure, and so a better grade 
 
 90 
 
of hay is secured from the spring vetch. The seed of 
 this variety is about one-half cheaper in price. Some 
 growers plant as much as from seventy-five to a hundred 
 bushels of spring vetch each season. He advises the 
 planting of both varieties if grown for hay, as the hairy 
 vetch ripens about two weeks later than the spring vetch, 
 giving time to save one crop before the other is ripe; 
 that both these varieties of vetch stool very freely, there 
 being from five to twelve stalks of vetch to the seed of 
 the hairy vetch and four to six of the spring vetch. Not 
 all the vetch fields near Augusta are planted with the oats 
 mixture, as many of them are planted with the pure 
 vetch; that the hairy vetch is hardier than the spring 
 vetch. He says that the time of planting is from Septem- 
 ber to December for the spring vetch, and that the seed- 
 ing of the hairy vetch may be continued two weeks long- 
 er. However, they aim to get all planted by November 
 1st. Mr. Gardiner says that he thinks the vetch plant is 
 destined to become the saviour of the long mismanaged 
 soils and will ultimately make the soils of the sunny 
 Southland become as productive as any on earth; that 
 vetch stores up more nitrogen in the soil than cowpeas. 
 
 He says that a good series of crops is to plant early 
 in September vetch and beardless barley together, graze 
 or cut the barley in the winter, cut the vetch, say in April, 
 and then plant to cowpeas for summer hay cutting. The 
 added value to any soil of these two legumes with or 
 without barley should be in one year six to eight dollars 
 an acre; that vetch hay and pea-vine hay have three 
 times the food protein value, pound for pound, than found 
 in timothy hay. 
 
 Mr. Gardiner also says that both varieties of vetch 
 
 91 
 
cut green are used freely by the dairymen in and about 
 Augusta, and that this feed changes both the quantity 
 and quality of the milk, increasing the quantity and 
 giving to the milk a rich yellow cream, and a good taste; 
 that when this milk is fed to spring pigs you can actually 
 see the little fellows grow ; that some dairymen plant one 
 bushel of beardless barley and a half bushel of vetch 
 and one bushel of rye to the acre, some in less amounts; 
 that if this mixture is planted quite early in the fall the 
 beardless barley can be cut within sixty or eighty days 
 from planting. Then in early spring the rye and vetch 
 are cut together, and this cutting can be followed by two 
 or three similar cuttings later in the season. If this 
 combination, however, is sown late in the winter, the 
 three crops can all be cut at the same time ; that the 
 vetches furnish a wealth of bloom in the spring which af- 
 fords a great feeding ground for bees which, during the 
 time of its bloom, deposit three times the amount of 
 honey that they will in other seasons, and that the honey 
 is white and of an especially good flavor ; that the feeding 
 value of vetch hay is the same as the feeding value of 
 bran ; that in all Augusta territory there is now growing 
 wild and increasing in amount each year a half dozen or 
 more varieties. 
 
 Mr. Gardiner states that the greatest mistake that 
 the Southern farmer makes in the management of his soil 
 is when he allows it to remain bare of crops throughout 
 the winter, thus letting the rain wash through the soil 
 and rob it of its fertility, and that this custom of relying 
 on commercial elements to restore his soil makes it a 
 very bad and unprofitable business. The planter could, by 
 using a winter crop of small grain mixed with vetch, save 
 
 92 
 
the fertility already in the soil, as well as increase the 
 fertility which vetch and these small grain crops will 
 give. 
 
 He states that experiments prove that the vetch 
 plant stores more nitrogen in the soil than cowpeas or 
 any other legume. Comparing the feeding value of the 
 different kinds of hay with vetch, he finds the vetch hay 
 to exceed in value the entire list. 
 
 The best time for planting vetch in the South is 
 from December 15th to January 15th. Some are planted 
 as late as March 15th, but maximum crops resulted from 
 plantings made from December 15th to January 15th. 
 February planting was not nearly so good, and a March 
 planting was almost a complete failure. 
 
 In the cotton fields vetch should be sown at the 
 last plowing and then the whole crop turned under at 
 cotton planting time. The vetch planting could be done 
 in early fall or Christmas time and turned under in the 
 spring. When the vetch is planted and the vetch hay 
 crop cut the latter part of May, a crop of Early King 
 cotton, or corn, or cowpeas could be planted down. 
 
 The N. L. Willet Seed Company of Augusta, Georgia, 
 say that they will not any longer list the variety known 
 as vicia gracca; that it is a perennial vetch which grows 
 too small to be of use. They claim that their native vetch 
 called augustifolia is the best vetch they have there, but 
 that the seed is too hard to obtain. They say that Augusta 
 is a great vetch growing center and that the villosa and the 
 sativa are grown very heavily for hay purposes only. 
 
 93 
 
Hawaii, 
 
 The College of Hawaii reports that while they have 
 experimented with various legumes for cover crops, yet 
 they have never included vetch in their experiments. 
 
 Indiana. 
 
 The experiment station at Purdue has made some 
 experiments with vetch, mostly in small plots. And in 
 their report they say that they have sown it about the 
 first of September at the rate of sixty pounds to the acre, 
 and it was sown with about one and one-fourth bushels 
 of rye to the acre ; that they had also sown it in corn at the 
 last cultivation or later. They claim that the plant did 
 not make a heavy growth in autumn and that the winter 
 season seemed to be so hard on them that many were 
 winter-killed, and that those which survived the winter be- 
 gan growing very slowly in the spring, but that, however, 
 when they did begin to grow, they grew rapidly, and by 
 May 1st had made a growth of eighteen inches or more. 
 They state that when vetch was sown with rye the mix- 
 ture did not seem to grow well together, as the rye grew 
 more rapidly than the vetch and rather over-topped it. 
 They noticed in some spots of the rye the vetch would 
 have a good growth, while in other parts it seemed to 
 be on a standstill and did not do much good ; that the 
 proportion of vetch to rye of green weight when cut 
 about May 1st was about twenty-five to thirty per cent ; 
 that the green weight of rye and vetch to the acre will run 
 about six tons, equivalent in dry hay to two and a half 
 tons; that they highly recommend this vetch and rye 
 mixture for green feed for dairy cattle, but are of the 
 
 94 
 
opinion that wheat and vetch would make a better com- 
 bination as the wheat makes slower growth than the 
 rye and the two plants would come along more nearly 
 together. They recommend vetch for turning under as 
 soil improvement, either sowed alone or with a rye mix- 
 ture. They observed that the roots were well supplied 
 with nodules. They were of the opinion that the seeding 
 ought to be rather heavy so as to make allowance for 
 plants that were winter-killed, in order to get a good stand 
 from the plants that were left over, or which survived the 
 winter. They, however, recommended the use of clover, 
 cowpeas and soybeans as a soil improver rather than 
 vetch, stating, however, that if vetch would succeed and 
 would not kill out, and was sown in the autumn in time 
 to make sufficient growth in the spring, that it would be 
 of great value turned under as a fertilizing crop. It is 
 their opinion also that there is danger of the plant escap- 
 ing cultivation and becoming a weed; that the vetch 
 would mix with wheat, and not being easily separated 
 from the wheat, and so would cause a dock at the ele- 
 vator. Ov/ing to the high price of seed they state that 
 they did not like to highly recommend the use of vetch 
 generally by farmers. 
 
 T. M. K., of Indiana, who does not give his name in 
 full, writing for an agricultural paper, states that he has 
 always had success in raising vetch ; that it had many ad- 
 vantages over crops of similar use; that it not only had 
 some properties of clover, but that it could be made to 
 grow where clover would not do well ; that it was valu- 
 able as a winter cover crop ; that he sowed it from the last 
 of September to the first of October, pasturing it in the 
 spring, and turned it under at plowing time for corn. He 
 
 95 
 
states that it was perfectly hardy and stays green 
 throughout the entire winter season; that it did v/ell in 
 any soil and made excellent growth on poor sandy soil, 
 and also on clay or heavy loam ; that it could be sown in 
 the spring and would furnish an early green crop for 
 soiling purposes ; that when sown in mid-summer it made 
 an abundance of fall pasture. He recommends sowing 
 fifty pounds of seed to the acre. He says that when har- 
 vested for seed it could be threshed with a threshing 
 machine, and a good load of it would thresh six bushels of 
 seed; that for hay it should be cut when in full bloom; 
 that he recommends sowing thirty to fifty pounds of vetch 
 with a bushel of rye to the acre ; that the hay was splendid 
 feed for sheep, cattle and hogs ; that it produced three or 
 more tons to the acre. 
 
 Another Indiana farmer, writing under the initials 
 D. W. B., for a farm paper, states that a trial of vetch in 
 his locality gave splendid results when followed with a 
 corn crop, as it increased the yield quite largely ; that he 
 sowed a half bushel of vetch seed with three quarters of 
 a bushel of wheat about September 10th and it was 
 plowed under for corn the following season, and while 
 this was not sandy soil, the corn crop following proved to 
 be the best corn crop on the farm in a yield of sixty 
 bushels to the acre. He claims that vetch will do well on 
 any good corn ground. 
 
 Another Indiana farmer, writing under the initials 
 N. P. W., near Richmond, Indiana, states that he has 
 had some experience with vetch and found it to be a 
 very valuable forage plant ; that no farmer need have 
 any fears of vetch ever becoming a troublesome weed 
 as all kinds of stock are very fond of it and will eat it 
 
 96 
 
down to the ground the first season if they are allowed 
 to pasture it close. He sows twenty pounds of vetch 
 seed to the acre, mixing the vetch seed with oats, at the 
 same time sowing one bushel of some red clover seed to 
 four or five acres of ground ; that the vetch will not show 
 until after the oats are harvested, and after the clover 
 has a good start the vetch will peep up here and there 
 above the clover, and if the season is favorable you will 
 have the finest fall pasture any one ever saw. He recom- 
 mends to not pasture this too close, and that next spring 
 you will be surprised what a rapid growth the vetch will 
 make; that it will be far ahead of the clover, and when 
 you cut the crop for hay you will have no trouble in 
 getting a hay-fork to hold it, and in feeding the hay in 
 winter, you will not have a manger full of hay for bed- 
 ding as is often the case in feeding clover hay. He says 
 try it and be convinced of these facts. 
 
 An Indiana farmer, writing under the initials of G. 
 B., says that when winter vetch is sown on well prepared 
 soil from August 1st to September 15th, it will supply a 
 heavy crop of foliage for early spring feeding, but claims 
 that the soil should be inoculated and that sandy, gravelly 
 and well drained soils are best adapted to it; that the 
 winter or hairy vetch will reseed itself from year to year 
 if given a chance ; that the growth of this variety on suit- 
 able soil has been so immense in some patches that 
 neither man or beast could have waded through it with- 
 out great difficulty, and that the roots were a mass of 
 nitrogen-bearing nodules capable of drawing frorn the 
 air one hundred pounds of nitrogen to the acre, worth 
 not less than seventeen or eighteen dollars, besides 
 furnishing a large supply of organic matter, and that 
 
 97 
 
when Prof. John Craig, Horticulturist at Cornell Uni- 
 versity was asked what was the best orchard cover crop, 
 he replied without hesitancy, "winter vetch." 
 
 Another Indiana farmer, writing under "A Reader," 
 states that vetch does the best on good soil, but has the 
 rare property of making a good growth on poor soil, 
 especially on poor sandy soils ; that the seed germinates 
 slowly, but that when the plants begin to grow it extends 
 its roots into the soil, bringing up the plant food from 
 below and storing it in the foliage, which, when turned 
 under for green fertilizer in the spring, leaves it in the 
 surface soil, where it may be easily utilized by crops 
 which follow; that it makes rich pasture and is liked by 
 all kinds of live stock, but is more useful as fertilizer 
 turned under in the spring; that it stands the coldest 
 winter weather, comes out early in the spring and quick- 
 ly covers the ground, making it moist and mellow for 
 the corn crop ; that where it has been grown on land 
 that formerly produced forty bushels of corn to the acre, 
 the following year after it was turned under the same 
 land produced double the number of bushels and a bet- 
 ter quality, which shows it to be one of nature's greatest 
 nitrogen-gathering and humus-producing plants ; that he 
 had noticed an abundance of root tubercles upon its 
 roots; that the seed should be planted early during Au- 
 gust. 
 
 J. W. Simon, of Indiana, writing for an agricultural 
 paper, says of vetch that fifty pounds of seed is the right 
 amount to plant in corn ; that the seeding should be in 
 August or early September ; that he plows the same under 
 in the spring and follows with corn again ; that following 
 this practice for the past three years it has doubled the 
 
 98 
 
yield of corn on his land ; that it is a wonderful plant to 
 bring the nitrogen from the air to the soil and to produce 
 humus which so much helps to hold moisture in the soil ; 
 that it is the greatest crop, before the corn crop, he ever 
 tried ; that for grazing purposes it furnishes splendid 
 nitrogenous food when grazed in spring; that it matures 
 about June when it may be cut for hay ; that if left on the 
 ground uncut a small seed crop will mature in autumn; 
 that some sow it late in spring, but he prefers August or 
 early September sowing. 
 
 I. M. Edgington, of De Long, Indiana, has been 
 sowing vetch for four or five years on his bottom land 
 with timothy and says that it makes a fine hay, and that 
 his cattle will eat the vetch instead of the timothy. This 
 gentleman has been making a living for a large family 
 for the last fifteen years off of a forty-acre tract of land 
 and has educated all his children and has been to very 
 heavy expense at several times for doctor bills. 
 
 Iowa. 
 
 Vetch has not been extensively grown in Iowa. One 
 writer states that it is an interesting plant which in the 
 future will be grown more than it is now ; that at present 
 the cost of seed and the liability of the plant becoming a 
 weed, nas prevented the more extensive growing of vetch 
 in corn-fields ; that his reasons for thinking that the plant 
 will be grown more in the future are that it possesses more 
 of the good qualities of clover, and alfalfa ; that like them 
 it brings down large quantities of nitrogen from *he at- 
 mosphere and fixes it in the soil ; that it has been found 
 that vetch was superior to clover and alfalfa in this 
 
 99 
 
respect ; that from the fact of its being an annual the roots 
 do not go quite so deep as clover and alfalfa and conse- 
 quently its roots did not have the beneficial eiifect which 
 is received from those plants which go into the soil deep- 
 ly and changes the physical condition of the subsoil, and 
 in bringing up the mineral soils from below ; that for pas- 
 ture purposes it was similar to clover, alfalfa and other 
 legumes, except that the vetch is superior even to alfalfa 
 in muscle-building material. Each hundred pounds oi 
 the hay contains eleven and nine-tenths pounds while 
 alfalfa contains eleven and one-tenth pounds and red 
 clover about seven pounds, but that the fact that vetch 
 is an annual means that it will never become a perfect 
 substitute for either clover or alfalfa; that he had seen 
 vetch plants which sent out vining stems in all directions 
 from the central crown for a distance of six or eight 
 feet ; that it had been found that winter vetch gave better 
 satisfaction as a rule than spring vetch ; that at present 
 the high price of seed was the chief obstacle in the way 
 of growing vetch ; that one of the objections for growing 
 a vetch crop for seed was that it has no definite period of 
 ripening, but that it is continually growing and producing 
 seed; that from the best investigations it was learned 
 that from ten to twelve bushels of seed to the acre could 
 be obtained, which, at two dollars a bushel, would be a 
 paying crop. 
 
 Another writer states that there is a wild vetch 
 growing in some places in Iowa, and in abundance, at- 
 taining a height of three feet, and that stock seem to be 
 fond of it, it sometimes being used for hay. This Iowa 
 wild vetch was found in great quantities upon prairies 
 before they were brought into cultivation. 
 
 100 
 
a I 
 
 w g 
 
 f-i CD 
 
 C/5 " 
 
 O -a 
 
 an 
 
 < 
 
 W 
 K 
 H 
 
Idaho. 
 
 The Experiment Station at Moscow, Idaho, reports 
 through Prof. W. H. Wicks, that when in charge of 
 the Oregon station he had observed the growing of vetch 
 to a large extent; that at one time they were testing 
 some ninety-six different kinds for the government ; that 
 as to Idaho very few orchardists were acquainted with it, 
 but that he was talking it quite generally among them 
 as a shade or green manure crop ; that alfalfa was not 
 satisfactory to use in orchards for this purpose. 
 
 L. F. Childers, Agronomist, Idaho Experiment 
 Station at Moscow, says that he has had considerable 
 experience with vetch in Idaho; that he has never seen 
 a failure resulting from seeding this crop ; that it is grown 
 both for cover crops and orchards and as a forage ; that 
 in the first instance nothing is seeded with it and it makes 
 a rank growth, completely covering the ground; in the 
 second instance it is seeded with wheat or some other 
 crop to hold it up. In this case it does not make as 
 heavy a growth as when seeded alone ; that in Idaho 
 vetches are something of a weed and when seeded on the 
 ground persist for a long time afterwards, but that Idaho 
 farmers do not consider this a bad habit and prefer it to 
 ordinary weeds. 
 
 Illinois. 
 
 I. E. Ingram, of Marshall County, Illinois, says that 
 some years ago he sowed one-half bushel of hairy or sand 
 vetch in corn before the last cultivation. The next year 
 the land was put in oats and the vetch grew around on 
 top of the oats so that it was very difficult to handle the 
 
 101 
 
binder. The land was fall plowed and sowed to millet 
 The next year the crop of millet was a very heavy one 
 and no signs of vetch were seen. The land was again 
 fall-plowed and sowed to oats and Canada field-peas 
 which were cut for hay. Some vetch grew in the oats 
 and peas, and the land was again fall plowed and put to 
 corn the next season. The vetch again came up volun- 
 tarily, and last year this piece of land was put in oats 
 again, and again the binder was bothered in cutting the 
 oats, and lots of the vetch seed had ripened. Vetch seems 
 to be a persistent grower as the seed seemed to grow 
 a^ter laying over in the ground for several years. He says 
 he found vetch very troublesome in oats. 
 
 Albert N. Hume, University of Illinois, says there 
 are two kinds of vetch which have been at different times 
 experimented with in the middle western states. At 
 any rate the writer has knowledge of experiments with 
 both kinds in Illinois. 
 
 One kind is known as summer vetch and the other 
 variety is known as winter vetch. 
 
 Summer vetch is not a plant of much utility in this 
 part of the country. It is possible that further experi- 
 ments might be tried with it to some advantage, but it is 
 hardly worth while for practical farmers to undertake to 
 grow it. 
 
 Winter vetch does better, but even that is rather an 
 uncertain crop. In several years' trial at the Illinois 
 Experiment Station, winter vetch on well fertilized, well 
 drained land only made one good crop of hay or seed. 
 So much for the cropping value of vetch. As to its value 
 as a green manure plant one may say that no doubt some 
 
 102 
 
of the claims made for it are warranted, but it would seem 
 that the claims are somewhat over-enthusiastic. 
 
 Vetch is a leguminous plant and would, therefore, 
 when properly grown, add nitrogen and organic matter 
 to the soil. Unquestionably such additions would in- 
 crease the following crops. It is hardly likely that the 
 yield of corn would increase from an average of fifteen 
 bushels to the acre to an average of eighty or one hundred 
 bushels to the acre. Although it is possible that such a 
 change would in some instances and in some years take 
 place. 
 
 The only thing which the use of vetch as a green 
 manure would add to the soil 1- nitrogen and humus. 
 Neither vetch nor any other green manure will add min- 
 eral elements to any soil. Therefore it is not a very good 
 comparison to say that the plowjng under of vetch is 
 equal to the putting into the ground sixteen dollars to 
 forty-five dollars worth of commercial fertilizer, for com- 
 mercial fertilizers contain mineral elements, or at least 
 should contain them. Green manure adds only nitrogen 
 and humus to any soil. The amount of benefit which 
 would accrue from turning under a crop of vetch as a 
 green manure would probably be less than the minimum 
 usually suggested. 
 
 It hardly seems necessary to enter more fully into 
 the methods of handling vetch as a crop, because it does 
 not seem likely that it will be very generally adopted as 
 a part of the rotation systems in the Middle West. Where 
 clover is not generally grown soybeans are more likely to 
 take its' place than vetch. 
 
 103 
 
Kansas. 
 
 C. W. Nash, of the Kansas State Agricultural Col- 
 lege, says : "So far as I have been able to find, nothing 
 has been published on vetch at this station, and but very 
 iew trials have been made of it here. The work that has 
 been done with it, in brief is as follows : In the fall of 1904 
 a small plot of vetch was seeded with rye. The vetch 
 was a poor stand but survived the winter and made a 
 tall growth. No yields are reported. In the fall of 1910 
 vetch was sown alone and also with rye at different rates. 
 The vetch came up and lived through the winter, but 
 was smothered out on all the plots where it was seeded 
 with rye. On the plots where it was seeded alone, a fair 
 growth was obtained, but the yield an acre was not de- 
 termined. In the spring of 1905 two plots were seeded 
 to winter and spring vetch. A good stand was re- 
 ceived of each. But the spring vetch dried up when about 
 a foot high. The winter vetch grew to two feet in height 
 and made 290 pounds of nay. As the area of the plot was 
 not recorded it is not possible to give the yield to the acre. 
 Spring and winter vetch sown this spring gave some re- 
 sults. The spring vetch died early in the season, and the 
 winter vetch lived and matured some seed, but not mak- 
 ing a very heavy growth the result obtained would indi- 
 cate that vetch has only fair promise for this section. 
 
 "It is planned, however, to continue the test so as to 
 get accurate data as to its value as a crop for our condi- 
 tions." 
 
 Kentucky. 
 
 H. Garman, of the Agricultural Experiment Station 
 of the State University of Kentucky, says: "I have 
 
 104 
 
grown both the winter and spring vetches on the experi- 
 ment farm for a good many years and find no difficulty 
 in growing either of them. The winter vetch does 
 particularly well. It does not, however, seem to be 
 suited for forage unless grown with some other crop, such 
 as oats or rye in good soil. Our farmers are not making 
 very much use of the vetches at present, but are becom- 
 ing interested in them and will doubtless find a place for 
 them in some rotations." 
 
 In the Fifteenth Annual Report of the Kentucky 
 Agricultural Experiment Station, on page 42, we find the 
 following on Russian or hairy vetch: "This is a trailing 
 plant with weak stems and soft gray-green foliage that 
 has done remarkably well wherever planted on the farm. 
 It is an annual, but when left to itself sends up a profu- 
 sion of plants from seeds dropped the preceding summer. 
 It produces large numbers of lobe tubercles on the roots 
 and is thus an active nitrogen gatherer. From its trail- 
 ing habit it is not an easy plant to cut, and it is probable 
 it will be found better as a catch crop to turn under than 
 for anything else. Its vigorous growth is a pleasure to 
 see when other plants are suffering from unfavorable 
 weather. To keep it from the ground it may be sown 
 with some small grain, such as wheat, oats or rye. It 
 may be planted either in the spring or fall, using about 
 one bushel of seed to the acre." 
 
 In Bulletin 98 of the Kentucky Agricultural Experi- 
 ment Station, published in 1902, speaking of tubercles, or 
 root nodules, on vetch, they say: "On hairy vetch (vicia 
 villosa) they are variously lobed, young galls frequently 
 consisting of three or four rather slender processes loose- 
 ly attached to a rootlet, and older galls having numerous 
 
 105 
 
lobes, making the general surface very uneven. The 
 diameter of some of those observed in our plots was 5-16 
 inch." 
 
 The analysis of the different plants as made by this 
 station shows that the kidney vetch in comparison with 
 the different clovers, rape, field peas, English blue-grass, 
 Florida beggar weed, Johnson grass, dwarf rape, Essex, 
 etc., is higher in nitrogen free extract than most of the 
 other plants mentioned ; that the Russian or hairy vetch, 
 as compared to red clover, was higher in water, ash, pro- 
 tein, fiber and nitrogen free extract content ; that the 
 Russian vetch was higher in water, ash, protein, fiber 
 and nitrogen free extract content than the whole plant of 
 the soybean, except the fiber and the nitrogen free ex- 
 tract content, which was slightly higher in soybeans than 
 it was in Russian vetch. 
 
 And the analysis of the average digestion co-efficients 
 of the vetch plant as compared to alfalfa hay, alsike clover 
 hay, cowpea-vine hay, crimson clover hay, Hungarian 
 hay, Johnson grass hay, orchard grass hay, red clover hay 
 cut in bloom, red top hay, serradelia hay cut in bloom, 
 soybean hay, soybean meal, timothy hay all trials, 
 timothy hay cut in bloom, timothy hay cut soon after 
 bloom, contained a higher per cent of dry matter than 
 any of these plants except the soybean meal, and con- 
 tained a higher per cent of protein than any of these 
 plants except the soybean, and a higher per cent of fiber 
 than any of the above mentioned plants except the Hun- 
 garian grass hay, Johnson grass hay, orchard grass hay, 
 red top hay, soybean hay and timothy hay cut in bloom. 
 
 In nitrogen free extract the vetch plant was of the 
 same per cent as alfalfa hay, and contained a higher per 
 
 106 
 
cent than any of the above mentioned plants except 
 alsike clover hay, cowpea-vine hay, Hungarian grass 
 hay, red clover hay cut in bloom, soybean and soymeal. 
 
 The fat parts of each one hundred parts of these 
 feed stuffs as shown by analysis, developed the fact that 
 the vetch plant contained sixty parts of fat, which was 
 nearly double that of the alfalfa hay and more than any 
 of the aforementioned plants except Hungarian grass, 
 seradelia hay and the meal made from soybean hay. 
 There were only two parts more of fat in red clover hay 
 than there was in vetch. 
 
 Louisiana. 
 
 The Agricultural Experiment Station of the Louisi- 
 ana State University reports as follows: "We have 
 planted the hairy vetch and Oregon vetch here for a 
 number of years. We find they do pretty well here but 
 they are not entirely satisfactory as a pasture plant, and 
 the seed has been so expensive that we have not found 
 it an economical plant to grow, as we have other plants 
 that are as valuable that can be cultivated at a less ex- 
 pense." They also report that they discussed this vetch 
 plant in their Bulletin No. 72, which bulletin is exhausted 
 and cannot be obtained. 
 
 Missouri. 
 
 The Agricultural Experiment Station of the Univer- 
 sity of Missouri reports on vetch as follows: "We re- 
 gret to say that Missouri has printed no matter up to the 
 present time on the production of vetch, and in fact the 
 crop is but little beyond the experimental stage in this 
 
 107 
 
state. We have found the chief objection to the crop 
 to be the securing of pure, germinable seed and the high 
 cost of securing a good stand. It usually costs from $2.50 
 to $5 an acre to get a good stand. Where the crop was 
 gotten in late the growth the plant made before winter was 
 not sufficient to cover the ground to any extent, or make 
 any great amount of winter pasture. Where vetch was 
 seeded early enough in late summer, so that a good 
 growth could be had before frost, it has been found to be 
 a paying crop. But these cases are so few and far be- 
 tween that we recommend the crop only in an experimen- 
 tal way and then very cautiously." 
 
 Massachusetts. 
 
 The Experiment Station of the Massachusetts Ag- 
 ricultural College reports on vetch as follows: "Wt 
 are sending under separate cover a copy of our Bulletin 
 No. 133 and also a copy of our Fifteenth Report. You 
 will see that we have tried the winter wheat and sand, 
 or hairy vetch, particularly for forage purposes and have 
 succeeded very well with same. We have also grown 
 the winter vetch by itself as a cover crop with excellent 
 results. We have' not tried it for seed. In earlier years 
 the spring vetch was also grown in connection with oats 
 for forage purposes with very satisfactory results. If 
 the vetch is grown by itself, and especially if it is seeded 
 thickly, it lodges and decays before ripening its seed. 
 We presume this could be avoided if the plant was sown 
 not too thickly in drills. Our chief objection to the use 
 of vetch has been the cost of the seed. Of late years we 
 
 108 
 
have been obliged to pay as high as six or seven dollars 
 a bushel for it." 
 
 In Bulletin No. 133 of this station they state that the 
 most desirable legumes for green forage are the field 
 pea, soybean, clover and alfalfa; that the vetch closely 
 resembles the pea in its habit of growth and general ap- 
 pearance; it has, however, finer stems and leaves. There 
 are two species used for fodder purposes— the spring 
 vetch (vicia sativa) and the sand or winter vetch (vicia 
 villosa). The vetches and peas are used chiefly for green 
 forage, to be grown together with the cereal fodders, 
 the latter plant furnishing a desirable support." 
 
 And they recommend wheat as the most desirable 
 non-leguminous forage plant to be sown with certain 
 legumes for forage purposes, saying: "The land should 
 be plowed and one and one-half bushels of wheat and 
 one bushel of vetch to the acre sown broadcast about 
 September 1st, and covered not too deeply with a wheel 
 or other harrow. A good growth may be expected be- 
 fore cold weather but should be left uncut as a mulch. 
 Cutting should begin just as the wheat-heads show them- 
 selves, which in our locality is the last of May. This 
 green crop will remain in feeding condition for twelve to 
 fourteen days. If more of the fodder mixture has been 
 produced than can be fed green, the balance may be made 
 into hay. The yield will vary from six to ten tons of 
 green fodder to the acre, depending upon the fertility of 
 the soil, rainfall, and spring temperature. Immediately 
 after the removal of the crop the land may be planted to 
 Hungarian, barnyard millet or corn. In one season, from 
 the same piece of land, we have secured at the rate of ten 
 tons of green wheat and vetch and 17.6 tons of fod- 
 
 109 
 
<ler corn to the acre, containing nutrition equivalent to 
 five tons of well cured hay. The wheat and vetch mix- 
 ture is hardy, and will contain approximately 3.4 per 
 cent of protein, equal to twelve to fifteen per cent in air- 
 jdried material. Because of the cost of the vetch seed it 
 is doubtful if the ordinary dairyman can aflFord to grow 
 the mixture; but the milk producer in the vicinity of 
 private markets may find it of value as an early green 
 feed. 
 
 "Vetch sown by itself is not satisfactory for forage 
 as it is recumbent in its habit of growth and rots badly, 
 especially if the weather is moist. It has been highly 
 recommended by Shamel as a cover crop to follow to- 
 bacco. Sown broadcast about September 1st at the rate 
 of one and one-half bushels of seed to the acre it grows 
 rapidly and makes a good covering before winter. We 
 have grown nine to ten tons of green material to the acre, 
 cutting June 2d, equivalent to some one hundred and 
 twenty pounds of nitrogen. This plant appears to be 
 valuable as a forage crop grown together with a cereal, 
 and likewise as a cover crop and producer of humus for 
 sandy land and as a gatherer of nitrogen. The green crop 
 that would naturally follow wheat and vetch is clover, or 
 grass and clover," 
 
 This station also states that the approximate time of 
 seeding wheat and vetch is September 1st and the ap- 
 proximate time of cutting is from May 25th to June 8th. 
 And in their tables showing percentages of composition 
 and digestibility of forage crops the vetch plant seems to 
 make a better average than any of the other legumes. 
 
 In Public Document No. 33 of the Fifteenth Annual 
 
 110 
 
Report of the Hatch Experiment Station of the Massa- 
 chusetts Agricultural College, they give the following re- 
 port of vetch and winter wheat: 
 
 Summer Forage Crops. 
 
 (a) Winter Wheat and Sand or Hairy Vetch. 
 
 This mixture of a non-legume and legume has been 
 tried for a number of years at the station, and has proved 
 to be an early and desirable spring green fodder. The 
 only objection to be found is the present cost of the vetch 
 seed — $5 or more a bushel. This excessive cost is due 
 to the fact that the vetch is a poor seeder, and frequently 
 sheds its seeds before they can be harvested. 
 
 History of the Several Trials. — The first planting of 
 this mixture, Aug. 1, 1898, winter-killed, in all probabil- 
 ity, owing to the iact that the seed was sown too ^.?rly. 
 
 The second pljinting, made Aug. 25, 1899, in the 
 proportion of rwo but^hels of wheat to one and one-half 
 bushels of vetch, wintered well, and made a fine spring 
 growth. Cutting began May 31, and the yield was at the 
 rate of ten tons to the acre. 
 
 The third planting was made Aug. 24, 1900, with 
 equal quantities of wheat and vetch seed. The autumn 
 of that year was extremely dry, and the wheat killed out 
 to some extent, so that the vetch predominated. The fol- 
 lowing spring was wet and cold — a condition which ap- 
 peared to favor the growth of the vetch at the expense of 
 the wheat. At the time of cutting, May 30, the vetch had 
 completely covered the wheat in spots, and had lodged 
 badly. The vetch roots were full of the characteristic 
 
 HI 
 
nodules. The weight of the entire yield was not obtained, 
 but a conservative estimate places it at six to seven tons 
 to the acre. 
 
 The fourth planting (1-3 acre), made Sept. 3, 1901, 
 at the rate of one and one-half bushels of Rural New 
 Yorker No. 6 wheat and one bushel of vetch to the acre, 
 wintered well, and cutting began May 28th, at which 
 time the mixture was from two and one-half to three feet 
 high. At that lime the wheat was about ready to show 
 the head, and scattered vetch blossoms were noticed. 
 When in full bloom the mixture stood from three and one- 
 half to four feet high. The total yield was 6,545 pounds, 
 equivalent to 9.5 tons to the acre. 
 
 Further Use of the Land. — Immediately after the re- 
 moval of this crop the land was plowed, a light dressing 
 of manure applied, and seeded with Longfellow corn. A 
 yield (the past season) of 35,362 pounds (17.68 tons) of 
 fairly well-eared green fodder to the acre was secured. 
 The land was light and the rainfall excessive, which 
 conditions were favorable, excepting the lack of heat, for 
 fodder production. The total product of this piece of 
 land for one year (first sown to wheat and vetch, and 
 followed by corn) was at the rate of 8,622 pounds of dry 
 matter to the acre, being equivalent to fully five tons of 
 well-cured hay. It is not to be expected that such quanti- 
 ties could be obtained yearly under average conditions, 
 for the land could not be as fully utilized. It is interest- 
 ing to note, however, the quantity of fodder that may be 
 secured from an acre of land in an average state of fertil- 
 ity, when climatic conditions are favorable and the land 
 is occupied the entire season. 
 
 Best Method of Growing Wheat and Vetch. — The 
 
 112 
 
land should be plowed, harrowed if necessary, manure 
 spread at the rate of four to six cords to the acre, har- 
 rowed in ; a mixture of one and one-half bushels of wheat 
 and one bushel of vetch sown broadcast about September 
 1st, and covered, not deeply, with a wheel or other har- 
 row. Cutting should begin just before the wheat heads 
 appear, which in this locality is the last of May. The 
 green crop will remain in feeding condition for twelve to 
 fourteen days. If more of the fodder mixture has been 
 produced than can be fed green, the balance may be made 
 into hay. The vetch seed may be procured of New York 
 seedsmen. 
 
 Composition of Wheat and Vetch 
 
 
 Green Fodder 
 
 Dried Fodder 
 
 
 No. 1 
 
 No. 2 
 
 No. 1 
 
 No. 2 
 
 Water 
 
 Ash 
 
 Protein 
 
 Fibre 
 
 Extract Matter 
 
 Per Cent 
 
 83.40 
 1.50 
 3.25 
 5.13 
 6.24 
 .48 
 
 Per Cent 
 
 79.60 
 
 1.76 
 
 3.14 
 
 5.98 
 
 8.92 
 
 .00 
 
 Per Cent 
 11.90 
 7.97 
 17.07 
 
 28.38 
 
 32.52 
 
 2.16 
 
 Per (^ent 
 13.70 
 
 .5.22 
 10.93 
 29.51 
 38.70 
 
 1.94 
 
 Pat 
 
 
 100.00 
 
 100.00 
 
 100.00 
 
 100.00 
 
 The percentage of protein in the mixture is depend- 
 jnt to an extent upon the quantity of vetch present. In 
 case of sample No. 1 of both the green and dry fodder, 
 
 113 
 
the vetch predominated. In case of sample No. 2 of the 
 dry fodder the wheat was probably in excess. In fodder 
 combinations it is difficult to secure an even distribution 
 of the several plants. The mixture of one and one-half 
 bushels of wheat and one bushel of vetch to the acre is 
 satisfactory, does not lodge, and will show from 12 to 
 15 per cent protein in a thoroughly air-dry condition. 
 
 Digestibility of Winter Vetch and Sand Vetch. — 
 Five digestion trials have been made with two different 
 samples of green fodder, and six trials with two samples 
 of the dried material : 
 
 m 
 
 o 
 
 u 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 *^ a 
 
 
 
 ■»3 
 
 
 <A » 
 
 fl 
 
 ^ (3 
 
 a 
 
 %■"• 
 
 s^ 
 
 O 
 
 
 0) 
 
 25 
 
 
 <:9i 
 
 
 
 
 (^ 
 
 a 
 o 
 
 VI 
 
 VII 
 
 VII 
 VII 
 
 vv^heat and Vetch (green) . . 
 Wheat and Vetch (green) . . 
 
 Average 
 
 Wheat and Vetch (dry) , . . 
 
 same as Series VI (green) 
 
 Wheat and Vetch (dry) 
 
 Average 
 
 Dent fodder corn (milk), 
 
 for comparison 
 Oats and peas (bloom), 
 
 for comparison 
 
 64.5442.4 
 70_1343_5V) 
 
 68.58J42.92 
 68.33.59.41 
 
 64. .5035.20 
 66.4247.3173 8264.5. 
 
 70.00 
 70.0049.00 
 
 76.27166.05 
 70.9270 50 
 
 74.1367.83 
 76.8664.4769.71 
 
 70.7764.5«166 75 
 
 61.0064.00 
 74.0064.00 
 
 13155.65 
 05 57 92 
 70 i 
 
 56.58 
 63.46 
 
 63.75 
 
 ;^68 
 
 2.3 
 
 76.00 
 72.00 
 
 63 61 
 78.00 
 
 64.00 
 
 The several digestion trials make it clear that the 
 wheat and vetch mixture is as digestible as either fodder 
 corn or oat and pea fodder. They also show this fodder 
 when dried under normal conditions to be as digestible 
 as when fed green. 
 
 114 
 
General Conclusions. 
 
 1. Wheat and sand vetch is a hardy fodder mixture. 
 
 2. When sown the previous autumn, it will be ready 
 to cut the last of May, and is considered preferable to rye. 
 
 3. It will yield about ten tons of green material to 
 the acre under average conditions, and in composition, 
 digestibility and feeding value it fully equals peas and 
 oats, and similar crops. 
 
 4. Because of the present cost of vetch seed, it is 
 doubtful if the ordinary dairyman can afford to grow it; 
 but the milk producer in the vicinity of profitable 
 markets, who cultivates intensively, may find it a satisfac- 
 tory source of early green feed. 
 
 5. Wheat seeded by itself in early September makes 
 a fairly satisfactory early soiling crop, and is to be pre- 
 ferred to rye. 
 
 6. The dried wheat and vetch fodder, if cut when in 
 bloom, is preferable to ordinary hay for milk, but, on ac- 
 count of the increased cost of production, it would hardly 
 be considered profitable as a hay substitute. 
 
 Minnesota. 
 
 The Experiment Station of the University of Min- 
 nesota reports as follows : "We may say that vetches 
 are not grown extensively in this state. They are grown 
 in small patches in some places for forage, and are occa- 
 sionally used as green manure crops. We have tried 
 them at the station for the above purposes, but have 
 found the Canada field-pea a more satisfactory crop for 
 either, but that seed is high in price and sometimes diffi- 
 cult to get. We have no published information on the 
 
 115 
 
subject, and all we can say is that vetches grow very well 
 in most parts of the state, and have considerable value as 
 forage and as a fertilizer, but that other crops are more 
 popular and satisfactory." 
 
 Michigan. 
 
 In Bulletin 199 of the Michigan State Agricultural 
 College Experiment Station, in a summary of legumes, 
 it says that "Winter vetch, seeded in the spring, makes 
 excellent fall pasture, but remains green through the 
 winter. 
 
 "Winter vetch as a substitute for clover has been 
 grown best by seeding in the fall, using a half bushel of 
 wheat and a half bushel of vetch, cutting the whole in the 
 middle of June for hay." 
 
 And in speaking of legumes it says : "The cowpea, 
 soybean, and winter vetch have so many prominent 
 characteristics as soil renovaters and stock feeds that 
 they promise to be generally adopted as economical for- 
 age and green manuring crops for the state of Michigan." 
 
 A glance at the analysis of these legumes and a num- 
 ber of our other common crops grown for the same pur- 
 pose in the table given will at once give the reader an 
 idea of their economic importance. They also say: "Ex- 
 periments to determine the digestibility of cowpeas 
 either as green feed, silage or cured hay, show it to rank 
 higher than the average of forage crops. The winter 
 vetch is slightly more digestible than cowpeas, and soy- 
 beans more than vetch." 
 
 In speaking of winter vetch the station says: 
 
 (Vicia villosa). — This interesting legume has ap- 
 peared under a great variety of names. It is often called 
 
 116 
 
hairy vetch and sand vetch. Some have called it Russian 
 vetch, probably because it originated in Russia. 
 
 The seeds of this plant are small, black, hard spheres, 
 resembling sweet-pea seeds. The growing plant also 
 bears a close resemblance to sweet pea up to the time it 
 blossoms, when a field of vetch appears as a sea of beau- 
 tiful, bluish-purple clustered flowers. The plant is a 
 branching, climbing vine, a great many of its branches 
 attaining the length of seven to ten feet. 
 
 A full-grown crop, even in three-foot rows, forms a 
 dense mat, completely covering the ground to the depth 
 of one to two feet. When grown with a crop of wheat, 
 rye or other strong growing plant, it is kept entirely 
 above ground. 
 
 If the seeds be sown in early spring, when the 
 ground is moist and the conditions generally favorable 
 for growth, the plant will develop rapidly. By the mid- 
 dle of August, it will be in full blossom, although it will 
 continue to grow and remain green until the ground 
 freezes in the winter. A few seeds will be formed in 
 the late fall, but spring sowing is not advisable if one 
 wishes to harvest a crop of seeds. 
 
 If the seed is sown in the fall, that is, any time be- 
 tween the first of August and the first of October, it 
 will make some growth before winter sets in, but in the 
 following spring will continue a marvelous growth, de- 
 veloping blossoms by the first of June and ripen seeds 
 by the middle of July. The fall sowing is the more de- 
 sirable for producing seeds. One of the principal objec- 
 tions urged against the growing of this crop is the great 
 expense for seeds which are this year quoted at about 
 $7.00 a bushel, while former advices have recom- 
 
 117 
 
mended using as high as a bushel and a half to the acre. 
 We find that the seed can be readily grown in this state 
 by sowing in the fall, and harvesting about the time of 
 winter wheat. 
 
 It is found too that the quantity of seed necessary 
 can DC economized by sowing with some other crop. A 
 mixture of half oats and half vetch for spring seeding 
 and a similar mixture of wheat or rye with the vetch for 
 fall seeding have proved to be successful combinations 
 for soiling and for hay. Our observation leads us to recom- 
 mend the use of winter wheat instead of rye for fall seed- 
 ing, because the latter will ripen too early and not give 
 the vetch sufficient time for mature growth. When sown 
 with winter wheat for hay, the crop makes an excellent 
 substitute for red clover and is ready to harvest as hay 
 by the middle of June. A piece of this on light, sandy, 
 loam soil on the college farm the past year from a seed- 
 ing of one-half bushel Dawson's Golden Chaff wheat and 
 one-half bushel winter vetch gave, on June 19th, 4,300 
 pounds of cured hay to the acre. The hay was greedily 
 eaten by all kinds of farm stock, and its feeding value was 
 especially high as will be seen by the following analysis: 
 
 Moisture, 17.70; Crude Protein, 12.47; Ash, 5.72; 
 Ether Extract, 2.20; Crude Fibre, 24.47; and Carbo- 
 hydrates, 37.42. 
 
 Circular No. 6, Division of Agrostology, recom- 
 mends ensiling it in alternate layers with corn. Consid- 
 ering its high protein content, this practice certainly 
 ought to be desirable. A yield of nine tons of green 
 feed to the acre is recorded in Circular No. 20, Division of 
 Agrostology. 
 
 118 
 
In Alabama Experiment Station Bulletin No. 105, 
 hairy vetch is recommended as an especially valuable 
 forage plant for the South. Analyses were made at 
 various stages of growth, resulting as follows : 
 
 Yield and Composition of Hairy Vetch Cut at Dif- 
 ferent Dates. 
 
 (Alabama College Station Bulletin No. 105.— J. F. Druggar) 
 
 
 State of growth 
 
 Hay 1 Composition 
 
 Date 
 
 2fe 
 
 2 
 
 
 J2 ei 
 
 i ^ 
 
 1 Xi 
 
 J3 
 
 
 
 eo c3 
 
 CO 
 
 ? n 
 
 u u 
 
 o3 
 
 
 « 
 
 
 
 
 O 
 
 
 
 fo 
 
 1 
 
 < 
 
 
 
 Lbs. 
 
 Per 
 
 Per 
 
 Per 
 
 Per 
 
 Per 
 
 Per 
 
 
 
 
 Cent 
 
 Cent 
 
 Cent 
 
 Cent 
 
 Cent 
 
 Cent 
 
 Apr. 19 
 
 Just before bloom. . . 
 
 3,117 
 
 20.72 
 
 23.45 
 
 26.25 
 
 2.22 
 
 20.24 
 
 7.12 
 
 Apr. 26 
 
 5% bloom showing. . 
 
 3,705 
 
 22.83 
 
 18.97 
 
 29.06 
 
 2.112044 
 
 6.59 
 
 May 2 
 
 [n full bloom 
 
 5,789 
 
 20.30 
 
 17.15 
 
 32.12 
 
 2.1422.50 
 
 5.79 
 
 May 9 
 
 Seed pods formed 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 but not tilled 
 
 5,463 
 
 22.48 
 
 18.71 
 
 29.50 
 
 2 3519 92 
 
 7.04 
 
 The analysis of vines, roots and stubbles to de- 
 termine the fertilizing value develops the fact that the 
 nitrogen content increases with the stage of maturity, 
 while the percentage of potash and phosphoric acid 
 changes but little as the crop matures. These results, 
 however, do suggest the advisability of postponing plow- 
 ing under the crop for green manure until as late in the 
 life of the plant as practicable. 
 
 The winter vetch is rapidly gaining favor as a cover 
 
 119 
 
crop for orchards. For this purpose it should be sown 
 in July or August, and if the seeding is followed by favor- 
 able growing weather, a very satisfactory crop will be 
 present to mulch the soil when winter sets in. 
 
 Mr. E. W. Hutchinson of Shelby, Mich., has for sev- 
 eral years grown winter vetch for various purposes and 
 writes as follows : 
 
 "I would say that with us winter vetch can be grown 
 successfully either for seed or as a feeding plant, or for 
 plowing under as a fertilizer, and when hown on good 
 corn or potato ground, it will grow a big crop. I have 
 seen a space of six feet square covered with the vines 
 from one root. 
 
 "If sown in early fall, it will be ready to commence 
 to cut in early summer for green feed ; and if cut when 
 it begins to bloom, or is in full bloom, and is not cut too 
 close, it can be cut as many as three times. 
 
 "Should it be wanted as green feed for late fall or 
 early spring, it should be sown in the spring, but should 
 it be wanted for seed or dry feed, it should be sown in 
 the fall. Should it be wanted to feed as hay, we find it 
 is well to sow about twelve pounds of rye and fifteen 
 pounds of vetch seed to the acre, but when the vetch is 
 sown alone, we sow about twenty pounds to the acre. 
 By sowing rye with the vetch, it holds it up the better, 
 for cutting and curing. We find it one of the best plants 
 for sowing on light land to plow under. 
 
 "I do not just remember how much seed we got to 
 the acre, but I do know that it was a good paying crop 
 at the price we had to pay for seed, viz : $4.00 a bushel." 
 
 Mr. C, H. Estes, Bates, Mich., in giving his experi- 
 ence with winter vetch pronounces it one of the most 
 
 120 
 
promising new legumes for northern Michigan. As a 
 substitute for red clover he believes that it is a success. 
 His most interesting experience with it was from some 
 seedings made in the spring which he used for fall paatur- 
 age. Some of the plants which were left through the 
 winter were found in the spring showing above the snow 
 and his cows when offered them, although having had 
 roots once a day all winter, would eat this vetch in early 
 March, seeming to like it. Even the fowls relished this 
 green feed in the early spring. 
 
 Mr. James Mills of Mancelona, Antrim county, 
 sowed some winter vetch on sandy soil broadcast May 1, 
 1901. He writes: "I tried it for green manure (top 
 dressing) in orchard. It commenced to bloom in August 
 and continued until frost in the fall, and there was a 
 good covering on the land at the end of the season. It 
 did not, however, seem strong enough to withstand the 
 June grass." 
 
 In Circular 13 issued July, 1911, by the Michigan 
 Agricultural College Experiment Station, they say of 
 winter vetch as a cover crop in Michigan orchards as fol- 
 lows: 
 
 "Most of the successful orchards in Michigan are 
 plowed in the spring and cultivated until mid-summer. 
 This season is the natural one for trees to make a growth 
 of new wood and the plowing and cultivating make the 
 plant food in the soil available and stimulate the growth. 
 After the cultivation ceases, the new growth will ripen, 
 become hard and in a condition to pass through the aver- 
 age winter without injury, which it could not do if growth 
 continued late in the fall. 
 
 "At the last cultivation, it is desirable to sow some- 
 
 121 
 
thing that will make a 'cover crop' on the land during 
 the fall, winter and early part of the spring. If nothing 
 is sown, weeds will make a 'cover,' but they will not 
 make a uniform growth nor will they result in any bene- 
 fit to the land and they may become a serious annoyance. 
 
 "Many desirable features will result from having a 
 cover crop in an orchard or vineyard, some of the more 
 important ones are: 
 
 "1. Their growth helps to check the tree growth 
 and ripen the new wood. 
 
 "2. A cover of vegetable growth over the soil, sup- 
 plemented by the root system will prevent, to a very 
 large extent, the washing of the valuable top soil by the 
 heavy fall and spring rains. This feature is especially 
 valuable on knolls and hillsides. 
 
 "3. A cover crop will catch and hold the leaves as 
 they fall from the trees. They contain some fertility 
 and afford some protection. 
 
 "4. The cover crop itself will make a blanket over 
 the soil and by holding the snow from blowing away, 
 this feature will be more efifective, as it will largely pre- 
 vent deep and severe freezing of the roots and the altern- 
 ate freezing and thawing, all of which causes serious 
 losses in many Michigan orchards, especially those lo- 
 cated upon the lighter and more porous soils. 
 
 "5. One of the most valuable results from the use 
 of cover crops is that they add humus and plant food to 
 the soil. Certain plants commonly used for cover crops 
 as clover, vetches, peas and beans, possess the power of 
 gathering nitrogen from the air, storing it in the plants 
 and later it becomes available in the soil. 
 
 "Some of the advantages of the cover crop that might 
 
 122 
 
be mentioned are : That they encourage the deep root- 
 ing of trees ; they make the fall and spring operations in 
 the orchard more comfortable and they improve the 
 physical condition of the soil. 
 
 "A plant suitable lor an orchard or vineyard 'cover 
 crop' must meet some unusual demands. It must make 
 at least a fair growth during late summer and fall; it 
 must be able to stand the tramping necessary at picking 
 time ; it must be able to withstand a possible drought ; in 
 most' cases in Michigan, it must live over winter and 
 grow vigorously in the spring; it must be hardy and it 
 should have power to gather nitrogen from the air and 
 hold it in the roots. 
 
 "The experiment station has been carrying on tests 
 in orchards and vineyards in different parts of the state 
 to determine the best plant for a cover crop under Michi- 
 gan conditions. At this time, winter vetch (vicia villosa) 
 promises to be especially valuable for this purpose. The 
 plant is sometimes called hairy or sand vetch. It was 
 imported from Europe many years ago and has long 
 been used, in the Southern states especially, as a forage 
 crop. An appreciation of its value for orchard cover 
 crop purposes is comparatively recent. 
 
 "When sown as late as the middle of August, it 
 makes a fair growth before winter ; it will stand tramp- 
 ing well ; it is not difficult to get started ; it is hardy and 
 will withstand the possible drought of fall and cold of 
 winter; it grows vigorously in the early spring; it adds 
 a large amount of nitrogen to the soil ; it will succeed on 
 a variety of soils and especially well on sandy soil. 
 
 "Michigan fruit growers who have not tried this 
 plant for a cover crop are urged to do so. Seed should be 
 
 123 
 
ordered at once as practically all that is used in this 
 country is imported from Europe and the supply is lim- 
 ited. 
 
 "For cover crop purposes in Michigan, the seed 
 should be sown during July or early August, usually at 
 the time of the last harrowing. 
 
 "If the seed is sown broadcast about 25 to 30 pounds 
 to the acre is required and it should be harrowed in. 
 Good results have been secured by drilling 18 pounds of 
 seed to the acre. 
 
 "A quick growth or 'catch crop' can be secured by 
 sowing a bushel of oats or rye with the vetch. Since tlie 
 vetch does not make a large growth in the fall, this com- 
 bination is often desirable. 
 
 "There will not be any difficulty in turning under 
 the vetch if the orchards are plowed at the proper time 
 in the spring. Where the growth is extra large, a chain 
 or rolling coulter may have to be used on the plow." 
 
 Chas. H. Hilton of Benton Harbor, Michigan, writes 
 of vetch as follows : "We have grown vetches for cover 
 crop purposes in orchards and vineyards for seven or 
 eight years. We grow no seed. Do not believe it will 
 be profitable here. Neither do I believe we can grow 
 seed of as good quality or vitality as the foreign grown 
 seed. I am much interested in the subject both as a 
 farmer and a handler of the seed. This season we have 
 handled 30,000 pounds of seed." 
 
 Robert A. Smythe of Benton Harbor, Michigan, 
 writes as follows: "I have never grown vetch for seed, 
 but see no reason why we could not. My land is all in 
 fruit and we use the vetch as a cover crop to plow under 
 for the great benefit it does the land. I grow the winter 
 
 124 
 
or hairy vetch. We sow the seed the last of July or 
 early August. We broadcast it and disc it in thirty 
 pounds to the acre. My vetch is looking fine now (Sept 
 10, 1911). There are large quantities of the seed sold 
 here and there would be a good deal more used if the 
 seed waa not so expensive." 
 
 C. H. Estes of Bates, Michigan, writes as follows: 
 "Some six or seven years ago or more I bought some 
 vetch seed and commenced to experiment with it. . My 
 health failed me and I had to turn my farm over to my son 
 and son-in-law. They said it was a nuisance and would not 
 continue what I had begun. So my experiments are not 
 large. I sowed two and a half acres and threshed 27 or 
 29 bushels of seed. I did not sow anything with it to 
 hold it up, and it only podded on top. Then I let it be 
 until dead ripe and raked it with a horse rake and lost 
 a lot of seed in so doing. I use it some for fertilizing. 
 I never cut it for hay. I cut it and fed a lot of pigs on 
 it one season, cutting the ground over twice, and used it 
 as a cover crop in my peach orchard and was well pleased 
 with it in every respect. The vetch has come up every 
 year in my peach orchard and has been such a fine thing 
 for it that my son and son-in-law have changed their 
 minds about it and they are sowing it this fall, and so 
 are eight of our neighbors. There has not been any 
 raised in this neighborhood only what I sowed years ago, 
 but I am sure that as soon as its value is learned, it will 
 be raised largely. I think it is the cheapest, quickest and 
 surest way to fertilize a poor piece of grounvl of any 
 way, outside of barnyard manure. We are having a 
 great deal of trouble to get clover on account of dry 
 springs and grasshoppers, and the vetch will grow, wet 
 
 125 
 
or cold, hot or dry, and the grasshoppers do not trouble 
 it, and farmers have got to substitute something." 
 
 W. H. Burke of Three Rivers, Michigan, writes of 
 vetch as follows: "I have recently received from farm- 
 ers in many states interesting suggestive reports con- 
 cerning two great legumes — the hairy vetch and the soy- 
 bean, and I know of no better way to encourage farmers 
 to adopt new lines of work than to give the results se- 
 cured by practical farmers. I present in summarized form 
 the information thus furnished me : 
 
 "The hairy vetch is said to be one of the best ferti- 
 lizers for light soil. In my experience no inoculation 
 was necessary, the proper bacteria being in the soil. I 
 have examined the roots of many legumes, but have 
 never seen the nodules in such abundance on any other, 
 thus showing the value of the hairy vetch gathering 
 nitrogen from the air. It is now conceded that those 
 legumes which have the greatest number of nodules on 
 their roots are the best fertilizers, and this should remind 
 us carefully to examine the roots for these little nodules, 
 and if they are not found, then to inoculate with the 
 proper bacteria. 
 
 "Hairy vetch is a winter annual and is sown with 
 rye in the latter part of August, at the rate of one-half 
 bushel each to the acre. This year I mowed and raked 
 the vetch and rye and ran it through the threshing ma- 
 chine, immediately after oat threshing was finished, and 
 without any change in the machine. The vetch and rye 
 were nicely threshed, and the rye and five bushels of 
 marketable seed were thus secured from less than one 
 acre. The seed can be harvested in this way so cheaply 
 that every farmer can grow seed for his own market. 
 
 126 
 
"October 3, I weighed seventy-seven shoats which 
 averaged 103 pounds. November 3, they were again 
 weighed and showed an average gain of forty-two pounds 
 each. December 3, they averaged 188 pounds, making a 
 gain of forty-three pounds each for that month. At this 
 time they were turned into a two-acre lot of vetch and 
 rye that had not been pastured, and given the usual 
 amount of corn twice daily, with some clover and soy- 
 bean hay. January 5 they were again weighed, averag- 
 ing 241 pounds, a gain of fifty-three pounds from Decem- 
 ber 3." 
 
 An unknown Michigan writer writes of Michigan 
 sand vetch as follows: 
 
 "Michigan sand vetch is a very valuable forage plant 
 and is rapidly becoming popular as year after year the 
 farmers of this country are learning more of its true 
 value. It is noted for its extreme hardiness, is highly 
 valuable in the North as a winter cover crop to prevent 
 leaching, is also valuable for forage and fertilizing pur- 
 poses. It withstands hard winters, being hardier than 
 wheat. It is an annual, but drops its seed freely and 
 will come up year after year on the same ground. It 
 does well on nearly all soils and is especially recom- 
 mended for poor land, where it thrives and improves the 
 soil wonderfully as it is very rich in nitrogen. It be- 
 longs to the pea family but the vines are nearly twice 
 as long and leafy as peas. It may be sown in the spring or 
 fall with any crop of jrain. It remains green all winter 
 and is valuable for early pasturing as well as for fertiliz- 
 ing. It is extremely early and has enormous value for feed- 
 ing purposes. Drought, heat, and cold do not affect it. 
 It is eagerly eaten by all kinds of stock. The Washing- 
 
 127 
 
ton Department of Agriculture estimates the value of an 
 acre of this vetch plowed under as equivalent to putting 
 into the ground twenty to forty dollars worth of com- 
 mercial fertilizer. When sown in August or September 
 it covers the ground before winter sets in and prevents 
 washing of the soil during winter and early spring, which 
 saves a great portion of mineral fertilizers contained in 
 the soil which otherwise would wash out. When sown 
 in April or early May it can be cut in July, the second 
 growth affording excellent pasture during the summer. 
 The yield of green forage runs from twelve to twenty 
 tons to the acre. It is suited to any soil and is valuable 
 in this respect, as it produces good crops on poor sandy 
 soil, while on good land it grows to a height of four or 
 five feet and produces enormous crops. Every farmer in 
 the United States who raises any stock should have a 
 field of it, as it is much more nutritious than clover and 
 can be fed to any kind of stock with perfect safety. It 
 is a rapid grower and thrives on little moisture. If raised 
 'for hay it should be left standing until some seeds have 
 become well formed. Sow thirty to forty pounds of seeds 
 to the acre, either broadcast or in drills. To get the 
 best results from it sow about one-half bushel of rye or 
 oats to the acre with it, to furnish support for the vine." 
 
 An unknown Michigan writer writes of vetch as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 "Crops for cut-over and stump lands. — Observa- 
 tions of the sandy jack-pine cut-over lands in Michigan, 
 Wisconsin, and Minnesota have been continued a id work 
 has begun in the growing of hairy vetch as a seed and 
 forage crop suitable for these lands. Large quantities of 
 hairy vetch are now grown throughout the Atlantic Coast 
 
 128 
 
and southern states as a soil-improving, forage, and win- 
 ter cover crop, the seed for which is nearly all imported. 
 The light, sandy soils of the North promise to be well 
 adapted to this crop." 
 
 Edwin Russel, President Manistee County Horticul- 
 tural Society, of Manistee, Michigan, says : 
 
 "At the time I decided to plant forty acres of light 
 Michigan sand to fruit trees there was a very prevalent 
 opinion that such soil was valueless for agricultural or 
 horticultural purposes. The idea may have been local 
 and was the result of frequent failures on the part of 
 those who had neither capital nor brains to invest in the 
 business. The old notion that any one can be a success- 
 ful farmer has been cast into the scrap heap of discarded 
 ideas. Farming is a business, often a serious one, and 
 to succeed in it one must be alert, intelligent, progressive 
 and ambitious. 
 
 "The soil which I selected for my orchard was 
 similar to thousands of acres along the east shore of 
 Lake Michigan and about as light as nature makes it. 
 The cut-off pine had been followed by a thick growth of 
 oak which made clearing difficult and expensive. The 
 first season I cleared and plowed twenty acres and sowed 
 it to winter rye. Late that fall and in the spring follow- 
 ing I cleared another ten acres which was plowed about 
 the same time I turned under the rye on the twenty acres 
 cleared the year previous. This gave the twenty-acre 
 field the advantage of a crop of rye that the other ten 
 acres did not have, and that lead has been maintained to 
 the present time. Both pieces have had exactly the same 
 treatment ever since, but the ten could never overtake 
 the twenty and the difference has been very noticeable. 
 
 129 
 
1 turned down the rye when it began to show the heads 
 and at once sowed the thirty acres to mammoth clover, 
 securing a good catch. Somewhat to my surprise, I 
 found that the soil was inoculated with clover bacteria, 
 the nodules came early and were thick all along the roots 
 of the young plants. Subsequent observation and ex- 
 periment show that nearly all our sand soils are similarly 
 ^inoculated. This is an important aid in building up the 
 soil. There was a good growth of clover but it was much 
 heavier on the twenty acres where the rye had been 
 turned under. Early the following spring I set the 
 thirty acres to fruit trees, mostly apples and peach, using 
 peach as fillers. The trees were set in clover. This was 
 unavoidable as setting could not be deferred till the 
 clover had reached a suitable condition for plowing down. 
 The best time to do this is just as the plants are ready 
 to bloom. Growth will then be at its maximum and con- 
 ditions right for supplying the greatest possible amount 
 of humus. After turning under the clover there was a 
 period of clean cultivation, then early in August I drilled 
 the whole piece to winter vetch, about forty pounds to 
 the acre. The stand was good, as is nearly always the 
 case with vetch, and the growth rapid. But again, there 
 was the same noticeable difference between the growths 
 on the ten and twenty-acre tracts. This was still more 
 marked when it was plowed down in May and June of 
 the following year, which was in 1911. Another period 
 of clean cultivation followed until August when a cover 
 crop of rye was drilled in. The main reason why I seeded 
 to rye instead of a legume was because the trees on the 
 twenty acres were making such a heavy growth that it 
 seemed advisable to add less nitrogen than would be sup- 
 
 130 
 
plied by a leguminous crop. Many of the peach trees 
 had sent out branches over a yard in length and the ap- 
 ples were not much behind them. Yet I was told not to 
 plant apples on this soil. Peaches might do fairly well if 
 well cared for, but apples would be a complete failure. 
 The results which I have secured show conclusively that 
 this belief is unfounded and erroneous. There is no ques- 
 tion but our light sand soils can be made immensely 
 productive, far more so than the heavier clay lands which 
 have heretofore been considered much superior. Sand 
 is the best foundation in the world upon which to build. 
 Always clean and always workable. No artificial fertiliz- 
 ers need be applied, no expensive manures need be 
 hauled. All that is necessary is to sow and plow under, 
 sow and plow under. It is the key to the whole situation. 
 One must not begin to take from the soil at once after it 
 is cleared. Put under a crop or two. Lay by a little sur- 
 plus. Build up to a point of high productiveness. When 
 this has been reached it is easily maintained through 
 subsequent years of cropping. Whatever crop is grown, 
 one must not lose sight of the fact that the cost of pro- 
 duction is regulated by the quantity produced. A hun- 
 dred bushels to the acre every other year with a crop or 
 two turned under in alternating years will return a larger 
 annual profit than two successive yearly crops of fifty 
 value of the land. Vetch is, undoubtedly, one of the most 
 reliable and valuable fertilizing crops. It is a rank grow- 
 ing legume and contributes a large amount of humus rich 
 in nitrogen. It seems especially adapted to light soils 
 where it is sometimes found groiving wild. It may do 
 equally well on heavier lands, but my experience with it 
 has been confined to the sand soils of Michigan. When 
 
 131 
 
one can get a good stand of mammoth clover it is equally 
 as good, but it is not as certain, being much more easily 
 affected by weather conditions soon after sowing. On 
 light soils I would always sow rye for a first crop after 
 clearing. It never fails to grow and furnishes a liberal 
 amount of humus which, in addition to its value as a 
 fertilizer, fills the porous soil, conserves the moisture and 
 makes an excellent, stimulating foundation for the clover 
 or vetch which should follow. Every year's additional 
 experience and observation strengthens my belief that 
 the green crop, properly rotated and turned under, com- 
 pletely answers the question of how to maintain soil 
 fertility. Without exception, the most productive soils 
 are those which contain the largest amount of humus. 
 The most casual observer cannot fail to notice that, on 
 hilly lands, the valleys are far more productive than the 
 hills. The reason is because the rains and melting snows 
 annually rob the hills of their humus and deposit it in 
 the valleys. For centuries, Egypt was the 'granary of 
 the world' because annually enriched by humus deposited 
 by the overflow of the Nile. The prairie soils of the West 
 contain little beside decomposed vegetation, and, while 
 they may be and have been exhausted, yet they produce 
 more successive good crops than any other soil. When 
 depleted, they may again be made productive by the ad- 
 dition of a fresh supply of humus. 
 
 "One of my farms of forty acres was originally placed 
 on the government map as 'swamp land.' That does not 
 necessarily imply that it was all swamp, but that the low 
 wet places were numerous and extensive. When tim- 
 bered, these were cedar bogs or marshes, always filled 
 with water. In order to fit them for cultivation I ran 
 
 132 
 
tile underneath and dried them. The soil was a deep de- 
 posit of humus that had been accumulating for ages. In 
 these dried marshes I have never used any fertilizer but 
 have applied it liberally on the higher lands adjoining. 
 They are cropped annually with corn, potatoes, onions, 
 cauliflower, cabbage, cucumbers and small fruits. It mat- 
 ters not what the crop may be, the yield is double that of 
 the higher lands adjoining, and the quality far superior. 
 All of which is convincing proof that humus supplies the 
 plant with all the food necessary for the perfect develop- 
 ment of itself and fruit. 
 
 "As a rule, we who till the soil, work our bodies too 
 much and our brains too little. We do not observe, in- 
 vestigate, reason and interpret as we ought. We use too 
 little sense and too much theory and never discover how 
 inconsistent theories often are. I had a rather amusing 
 illustration of this at the time I sowed my first rye in the 
 orchard. A neighbor, who had seen more years of farm- 
 ing than I, happened along and the following conversa- 
 tion ensued : 
 
 " 'Good morning. What you sowin'?' 
 
 " 'Rye.' 
 
 " 'Rye, eh ; well, I don't expect you'll git much of a 
 crop on that sand.' 
 
 " *Oh, I don't intend to harvest the crop ; I'm sowing 
 to plow under in the spring.' 
 
 " 'Plow under, eh ; now there's where you make a 
 mistake. You ought to sow peas or clover. Rye's no 
 good.' 
 
 " 'What makes you think rye is no good ?' 
 
 " 'Why, it never puts back any more than it takes 
 out. You don't gain anything, it just quits even.' 
 
 133 
 
" 'See here neighbor, you are on the wrong track. 
 I've got more sand in that twenty acres than I need and 
 a lot less humus than I want, so I'm dropping a few mil- 
 lion grains of rye into that twenty-acre laboratory to 
 work out a little problem in chemistry, and when they 
 have completed the work I'll have less sand and more 
 humus, and if I could continue the chemical transforma- 
 tion long enough, I'd bury that sand a foot deep with the 
 richest plant food on earth. Those grains of rye are go- 
 ing to do business. They are wonderful workers and 
 they'll convert some of that unavailable quartz rock into 
 nutritious food that trees and plants can use. Don't tell 
 me rye is no good, its a magician that converts grains of 
 sand into Elberta peaches.' 
 
 " 'Wall,' said my neighbor, 'mebbe so. I hadn't 
 thought of that.' And he drove away." 
 
 Maine. 
 
 The Experiment Station of the University of Maine 
 reports that "The College of Agriculture at Orono has 
 had no experience with the vetch plant. We regret ex- 
 ceedingly that we are unable to give you any information 
 on this subject." 
 
 North Carolina. 
 
 The Experiment Station of the College of Agricul- 
 ture of North Carolina reports that they have done con- 
 siderable work with vetch and bur clover. They write 
 .concerning vetch as follows: "Vetch with us is chiefly 
 grown with oats. Also frequently with rye or wheat. 
 Usually two to three pecks of vetch are seeded with a 
 
 134 
 
bushel and one-half to two bushels of oats, all being put 
 in with a drill or broadcast. Usually the best time for 
 seeding is during the latter part of August or early Sep- 
 tember. Frequently, however, we can secure good re- 
 sults if the seeding is delayed as late as the middle of 
 October or later." 
 
 In their bulletin on Co-operative Experiments they 
 say: 
 
 "Realizing the great value of the different legumes, 
 the cowpea, the different varieties of clovers, soybeans, 
 (also known as Japan peas, soja beans and in some of 
 the eastern countries as stock peas), alfalfa, vetches, etc., 
 on account of their ability to get nitrogen from the air 
 through certain bacteria infesting the roots of these 
 plants, and their importance to the farmers of North 
 Carolina, the State Department of Agriculture desires to 
 stimulate the growth and cultivation of these crops as 
 much as possible, and to this end is co-operating with the 
 National Department of Agriculture in planning co- 
 operative experiments as rapidly as conditions will war- 
 rant. 
 
 "To grow any of these crops successfully there are 
 certain soil requirements or conditions that must be met, 
 otherwise the crop will be a failure. 
 
 "One of the conditions required by every legume is 
 bacteria, the kind peculiar to the particular crop to be 
 planted. The department will be glad to give any definite 
 information along this line at its command. 
 
 "There are many varieties of vetch, but the ones 
 used mostly for soil improvements are the hairy or sand 
 vetch (vicia villosa), and the so-called spring vetch (vicia 
 
 135 
 
sativa), which also needs to be sown in the fall months 
 in North Carolina, to make a successful crop. 
 
 "To succeed with vetch the soil needs to be inocu- 
 lated the same as for crimson clover, except it must be 
 inoculated with soil coming from a field that has grown 
 vetch of some kind. Soil from a place that grows wild 
 vetch or partridge pea is as good as that from a field 
 where the cultivated vetch is grown. Also, soil taken 
 from a place that grows English or garden peas will in- 
 oculate vetch, as they belong to the same family. 
 
 "Vetch makes a fine quality of hay, but when planted 
 for that purpose it is well to sow it with wheat or oats, 
 to hold the vetches up. Sow half a bushel of wheat, half 
 a bushel of oats that will ripen at the same time the 
 wheat will ripen, and half a bushel of vetch to the acre, 
 in September or early October according to location. If 
 vetch is sown alone, sow one bushel of seed to the acre, 
 or when sown with wheat three pecks of wheat and half 
 a bushel of vetch ; or one bushel of oats and half a bushel 
 of vetch to the acre. If vetch is sown alone it can be put 
 in at the last cultivation of the crops or at any time from 
 then until October. If vetch and oats are sown together, 
 sow in September. Vetch will reseed itself when the pods 
 are allowed to ripen on the land. The seed should be 
 covered from one to three inches deep, according to the 
 nature and condition of the land." 
 
 New Jersey. 
 
 The Experiment Station of the Agricultural College 
 of New Jersey reports as follows: 
 
 "Would advise you that we have no special publica- 
 tions on winter vetch. We have had, however, consider- 
 
 136 
 
able experience with this crop as a green manure. It is 
 the rule at the College Farm to seed in our corn, at the 
 time of the last cultivation, a cover crop mixture consist- 
 ing of forty to fifty pounds of winter wheat, eighteen to 
 twenty pounds of winter vetch and five to six pounds of 
 crimson clover. A similar mixture, consisting of one 
 bushel of winter wheat or rye, and one-half bushel of 
 winter vetch is used as a cover crop for seeding in the 
 corn, or after early potatoes, in Middle and North Jersey. 
 Occasionally the mixture consists of winter wheat, winter 
 vetch and mammoth clover. Winter vetch is also used 
 to a considerable extent by fruit growers in the state. It 
 is then seeded either alone or together with barley or 
 oats. The barley or oats die in the late fall, while the 
 vetch continues its growth and the entire cover crop is 
 plowed under the following spring." 
 
 Nevada. 
 
 The Experiment Station of the College of Agricul- 
 ture of Nevada reports as follows : 
 
 "We have experimented with the vetch plant very 
 little at this station. We have grown it at times as a 
 cover crop, but have not kept any data on the crop." 
 
 North Dakota. 
 
 The Experiment Station of the North Dakota Agri- 
 cultural College reports on vetch as follows: 
 
 "Our publications on vetch growing are scattered 
 through a number of reports, all of which are now out of 
 print. We have not attempted growing winter vetch 
 and have had only fair success with the spring and sum- 
 
 137 
 
mer vetch. From the struggle that all of the field grains 
 have here to survive the winter, I have not expected that 
 there was a chance of winter vetch surviving," 
 
 New York. 
 
 Prof. T. S. Hunt, of the Cornell Experiment Station, 
 found that three months' growth of hairy vetch produced 
 6,824 pounds of air dried forage to the acre, which con- 
 tained 240 pounds of nitrogen, fifty-three pounds of phos- 
 phoric acid and fifty-two pounds of potash. Calling the 
 nitrogen fifteen cents a pound, it is plain that the vetch 
 was a most efficient fertility gatherer. 
 
 Nebraska. 
 
 The Experiment Station of the University of Nebras- 
 ka reports on vetch as follows: 
 
 "We have no published results on this plant though a 
 few plats have been sown from time to time. The variety 
 used has been the ordinary hairy vetch (vicia villosa). I 
 remember on one or two occasions it has cut about two 
 tons of hay to the acre." 
 
 Ohio. 
 
 We have no official reports from the Experiment 
 Station of the Agricultural College of Ohio. Joseph E. 
 Wing, an authority on alfalfa, living in Ohio, writes of 
 vetch as follows: 
 
 "As to vetches, I have not seen them much used as 
 far north as this, although I believe they have much merit 
 and some day will be more employed than they are now. 
 The winter vetches are assuredly hardy and make large 
 
 138 
 
growth when well established, but without inoculation 
 they amount to very little. For soil building I should 
 sow them in the corn at the time of last cultivation or 
 after oats or wheat, thoroughly disking or plowing the 
 ground and mixing with them a light seeding of wheat 
 or rye to help hold them up. A bushel of vetch seed is 
 required for an acre. The seed must be inoculated, being 
 .mixed with soil taken from a successful vetch field or 
 else a larger quantity of the soil may be drilled in where 
 the vetches are to be sown. As vetch seed is worth now 
 about ten cents a pound it occurs to me that there might 
 be good profit in growing it." 
 
 The Livingston Seed Company of Columbus, Ohio, 
 say: "We have been using this plant quite liberally on 
 our grounds for several years with most satisfactory re- 
 sults." And in a circular on sand or hairy vetch, which 
 they are sending out to the trade, they say regarding this 
 plant as follows : 
 
 "As our country grows older our lands become more 
 and more impoverished by constant cropping, the ac- 
 cumulated humus of past ages is used up, the land be- 
 comes hard and unfriable, will not hold moisture, and as 
 a result we are reaping small crops, and occasionally a 
 total failure. 
 
 "Even when we reap moderate crops, it has been at a 
 heavy cost of time and labor, and the result unprofitable 
 as well as unsatisfactory, all because we have failed to 
 note nature's methods. We think this condition can be 
 improved upon if we would take advantage of some of 
 the more modern methods, and use one or more of the 
 lately introduced leguminous plants ; at present we have 
 in mind sand or hairy vetch. 
 
 139 
 
"This plant was introduced originally from Russia, 
 where it seems to be a native, and has been used as a 
 hay and fertilizer crop for a great many years. Since its 
 introduction a few years ago it has steadily grown in 
 favor wherever tried as a cover crop, especially for win- 
 ter covering. 
 
 "The plant belongs to the pea family, is very hardy 
 and can be grown throughout the United States. Creep- 
 ing in habit of growth, when young especially, the 
 tendrils hug the ground very closely, and are tiny and 
 spindling at first, but later grow very rapidly, and will 
 throw up eight to a dozen or even more runners from 
 each plant, that often reach a length of six to fifteen feet, 
 where plants have been well grown. Each runner pro- 
 duces numerous side shoots or tendrils that run from two 
 to five feet in length, these being so twisted and entwined 
 that it is next to impossible to take a single complete plant 
 from the mass. 
 
 "As its name implies, the sand vetch seems to be es- 
 pecially adapted to light sandy soils too poor to pro- 
 duce good crops of cow peas, soybeans or crimson clover, 
 but of course will respond much more liberally on strong- 
 er and better lands. 
 
 "The vetch, like clover, alfalfa and other legumes, is 
 a nitrogen gatherer and will respond much more liberally 
 after the land has become inoculated with the bacteria 
 peculiar to this plant. 
 
 "The seed-bed for vetches should be made fine and 
 then well firmed before sowing. This is not usually very 
 difficult as they nearly always follow a hoed crop of some 
 sort. As a cover crop, we have used them on our Kirk- 
 ville farm after potatoes, corn, tomatoes, or any other 
 
 140 
 
cultivated lands that we wished to cover for winter, to ba 
 followed by a hoed crop the following year. 
 
 "We sow any time from August 1st to October 15th 
 (would, however, prefer not later than October 1st), and 
 use from thirty to forty-five pounds to the acre. 
 
 "The growth that it will show in the fall will depend 
 very largely on the time of sowing, the nature of the 
 land, and the amount of rainfall. We have had the seed 
 lay in the ground all winter and then make a fair crop 
 to turn under by May 10th, so rapid is its growth in the 
 spring. 
 
 "Where conditions of soil, time of sowing, and rain- 
 fall have been favorable, it will make from ten to fifteen 
 tons of green top to turn under by the first to the fifteenth 
 of May, or in plenty of time for a crop of corn or other 
 late planted crops. 
 
 "The root system is quite heavy and like all legumi- 
 nous plants, bears, to a greater or less extent, nitrogen 
 galls or nodules according to the season, land and inocula- 
 tion. Where the crops are heavy it will be found advan- 
 tageous and often necessary to use a sharp rolling cutter 
 on the plow in order that all the top be turned under. 
 
 "If the crop is to be used for hay it will be well to 
 sow forty-five to sixty pounds of vetch, and with it one- 
 half bushel of rye to the acre, the nurse crop in this case 
 helping to hold the vetch upright and off the ground, 
 making it much less trouble to harvest. 
 
 "We have faith in this plant and we believe those of 
 our customers who have tried it have also, as our sales 
 last season were more than three times that of the year 
 before. We would suggest if you are located some dis- 
 tance from a large city or where stable manure is hard 
 
 141 
 
to secure, that you should by all means try vetch to re- 
 plenish your failing supply of humus that is so essential 
 to growing crops, and also save much valuable time and 
 labor, that is now spent in hauling manure." 
 
 Oklahoma. 
 
 The Experiment Station of the Agricultural College 
 of Oklahoma says of vetch as follows : 
 
 "We can find no records of the experiments which 
 have been conducted here with vetch. We can find fre- 
 quent statements regarding this crop, but are unable to 
 get any definite information regarding yields, hardiness, 
 etc. Vetch does not offer any great possibilities in this 
 state. Of the different varieties the hairy or winter vetch 
 is the best. It is, however, so inferior to cowpeas and 
 other leguminous crops which can be grown here that the 
 subject is dismissed without much discussion." 
 
 Oregon. 
 
 The Oregon Agricultural College and Experiment 
 Station reports on vetch as follows : 
 
 "Publications on vetch are out of print at this time — 
 will have a new bulletin out this winter. Vetch is the 
 most commonly grown hay crop of the Willamette Val- 
 ley.' The vicia sativa, smooth vetch, is the variety 
 used altogether here, and since it endures our mild win- 
 ters perfectly, it is seeded nearly altogether in the fall, as 
 it gives a heavier yield. We drill the seed in any time 
 from September 1st to December 1st at the rate of a 
 bushel of vetch to the acre, mixed with a bushel of either 
 oats, rye or wheat. It is mixed with rye where the earliest 
 
 142 
 
possible crop of green feed is desired the next spring or 
 where it is desired to have a cover crop to be plowed 
 under as green manure in the spring. It is mixed with 
 oats where it is to be used for cow hay and with wheat 
 where it is to be used for horse hay. It yields from three 
 to six tons of hay to the acre. Thousands of acres are 
 devoted to this crop as it produces excellently on our 
 heaviest and poorly drained land where the red clover 
 will not prosper. We also produce thousands of bushels 
 of the vetch seed, which is one of our most profitable 
 crops, giving returns of $60 or $70 an acre. 
 
 "The seed crop is generally handled and threshed 
 much as any other crop, such as peas, for instance. It 
 is mowed when the lower pods are ripe, cocked and al- 
 lowed to cure, then hauled to the thresher and threshed 
 by removing some of the concaves and substituting 
 blanks and running the cylinder more slowly, much as is 
 done for peas. 
 
 "The great features of this crop here are, its value as 
 a cover crop, a rich green manure, and early and exceed- 
 ingly palatable and nutritious green feed, an excellent 
 and very heavy yielding cow or horse hay, a very profit- 
 able and easily handled seed crop, and last, a first-class 
 legume in short rotations especially adapted to cur poor- 
 est, heavy, wet land." 
 
 They also report that the smooth vetch (vicia sativa) 
 is very much superior in mild winters in western Oregon 
 Oregon to the hairy vetch, outyielding it and being free of 
 hairy covering, which makes it much more palatable. 
 the hairy covering, which makes it much more palatable. 
 This smooth vetch, however, will not stand the winters in 
 eastern Oregon, where they must use the hairy vetch. 
 
 Park B. Beatty writes of Oregon vetch as follows: 
 
 143 
 
"I live in the heart of the Willamette Valley, the 
 natural home of the vetch, and we are raising vetch and 
 clover seed quite extensively. And the only thing that 
 prevents us going into it more so, is the want of a market 
 for the seed. Some years we have received as much as 
 $3.50 for one hundred pounds of vetch. Last year (1910) 
 it was slow sale at $2.00 to $2.50. At about $3.00 for one 
 hundred pounds, F. O. B., there is very good money in 
 raising the seed. If the seed could be laid down in the 
 Mississippi Valley for around four cents a pound and we 
 were assured of a steady market for the seed, we could 
 supply any amount of seed. 
 
 The kind of vetch principally grown here (Halsey, 
 Oregon) is vicia sativa. It has been grown principally 
 for hay and green forage. Has not been used extensively 
 as a green manuring crop, but where it has been plowed 
 under, the improvement of the soil is very marked in- 
 deed. Our lands have not reached the point yet where 
 such practices seem necessary, but are fast reaching that 
 point. Our principal market for vetch seed has been for 
 the cover crop in California orchards, and in the cotton 
 states, where it is used somewhat as you are using it in 
 restoring the impoverished cotton land. 
 
 "The variety vicia zillosa is not grown extensive- 
 ly here, but we could grow it quite as well as the other 
 variety. All varieties of vetch grow to perfection here 
 and are hardy on well drained land. Ten degrees above 
 zero is about the minimum winter temperature here, but 
 it has been as low as four degrees below without injury 
 to vetch, except where the land was full of water, or win- 
 ters are open — no snow to speak of. 
 
 "The usual process of sowing for seed is to disc in 
 
 144 
 
on ground where spring grain has been grown, about 
 seventy-five pounds of seed to the acre. One hundred 
 pounds is better. Pasture it off with sheep in the spring 
 if growth seems too rank, cut with a mower early in the 
 morning and rake and shock at once. Thresh in about 
 ten days or more with usual grain thresher. This plan 
 would not v/ork in a country liable to heavy rains, unless 
 covers were provided, as it sheds rain very poorly in the 
 shock. This is our dry season — July 15th to August 
 1st — so it can be left out safely. If allowed to get wet 
 after cutting, it will shatter very badly when drying". 
 
 "Some sow with "half oats and can cut with a binder 
 on light land. On very poor land a dressing of fifty 
 pounds of land plaster to the acre, evenly distributed, will 
 about double the yield of hay or give a considerable in- 
 crease of the seed. 
 
 "I believe there can be something done in arranging 
 to have just the seed grown you need for your country if 
 it could be thoroughly understood just what is wanted 
 and the quantity that could be handled. Twelve hundred 
 to fifteen hundred pounds is considered a good crop of 
 seed here, but I am not posted on the yield of seed on 
 hairy or sand vetch. Our seed is ready for market about 
 August 1st." 
 
 The Star Flouring Mills of McMinnville. Oregon, 
 write of vetch as follows : 
 
 "The vetch is a species of the field-pea. It has been 
 crossed with a number of different varieties at different 
 times, until it has become a splendid stock food. It makes 
 splendid hay for all kinds of stock, and is cultivated to a 
 great extent in the Willamette Valley. It is either sown 
 in the fall or in the spring." 
 
 145 
 
S. E. Hamilton of Newburg, Oregon, writes of vetch 
 
 as follows : 
 
 "The name of the vetch that is grown here is Oregon 
 vetch and is the fall or winter variety. It is planted in 
 the fall with wheat or oats, so therefore it is the cultivated 
 vetch. We have a wild or sand variety which makes 
 good pasture for stock." 
 
 J. P. Logan of King's Valley, Oregon, writes of vetch 
 
 as follows : , i • j 
 
 "The vetch that we have here is the cultivated kmd, 
 both spring and winter, being sown as a forage crop, it 
 being considered the best hay for cows that this part of 
 Oregon produces. 
 
 "Oats are nearly always mixed with the vetch as 
 otherwise the rank growth of the vetch would cause it to 
 break down, and even with the support of the oats it often 
 lodges badly, it being a very rank grower. Two tons ot 
 cured hay to an acre are often cut here." 
 
 Eugene Mills & Elevator Company, of Eugene, Ore- 
 gon, say that the only vetch grown in their vicinity is 
 the German winter vetch. 
 
 D W Crites of Lynn county, Oregon, states that 
 vetch seed is grown in the Willamette Valley very suc- 
 cessfullv, the average crop of seed grown being one 
 housand pounds or more; that the seed ripens from the 
 15th to the 25th of July; that the spring vetch is grown 
 exclusively and fifteen bushels of clean seed to the acre is 
 considered a fair yield; that they can burnish vetch seed 
 F. O. B., Des Moines, Iowa, in car lots for $2.50 a bushel. 
 
 J M Stone, Lodi, California, inventor of the Globe 
 Separator, for separating vetch seed from wheat, oats, 
 etc , says that the large brown vetch imported from Scot- 
 
 146 
 
-a J5 
 1 "5 c o 
 
 ■502 
 
 2 S.-S 
 ^U 3 
 
 C o >> 
 
 s = 
 ° .u. 
 
 <^ u s 
 
 > 3 "J 
 
 -fflZ 
 
 ? a^ c« 
 
 IH 
 
 1 c c . 
 
 u o 
 
 ti-o 
 
 u 
 
 < 
 
land grows the largest plant and the best one for forage ; 
 that there was a man in the Oregon Willamette Valley 
 that paid for his farm in two crops of vetch. 
 
 Prof. H. S. Jackson, of Oregon Agricultural College, 
 says: "I would say that the vetch to which you refer 
 in this state as causing trouble in wheat fields is the 
 hairy vetch (vicia villosa) and is hence an escape from 
 cultivation." 
 
 Prof. G. R. Hyslop of the Oregon Experiment Sta- 
 tion, Corvallis, Oregon, says : 
 
 "We are very much interested in the various vetches 
 in this section and there are quite a number of them 
 which make a very good growth here. There are some 
 wild vetches which make quite a vigorous growth in the 
 hill and mountain land and also down in the section im- 
 mediately adjacent to the coast. These wild plants that 
 I have observed are frequently quite large and vigorous 
 but thus far I have never identified them, but I think 
 they are not vetches which have escaped from cultivation. 
 The plant which you refer to as coming up in the wheat 
 fields and mixing with the wheat is the common hairy 
 vetch (vicia villosa). This vetch is troublesome in va- 
 rious places since the seed has a diameter which is just 
 about equal to the smallest diameter of the wheat grain, 
 so that it is almost impossible to separate these vetches 
 from the wheat; then, further than this, the hairy vetch 
 disperses its seed before the grain is harvested and the 
 seed may live in the soil for a number of years and then 
 germinate at some subsequent time when conditions are 
 favorable. So that these things make it rather difficult 
 to eradicate in certain sections of our state where crop 
 rotations are not used. 
 
 147 
 
"Mr. Byron Hunter, of Walla Walla, Washington, 
 told me of a spiral arrangement on which the vetch and 
 wheat were poured and the wheat sliding down this 
 spiral would not gain momentum enough to be thrown 
 oft the sides, while the round seeds of the hairy vetch 
 would acquire enough momentum that they would gradu- 
 ally be thrown away from the center by centrifugal force 
 to such an extent that they would be thrown ofif the spiral 
 altogether and a fairly good separation of seed could be 
 made in -this way. Personally, I have never seen this 
 m.achine. 
 
 "We have tried out quite a number of different 
 varieties of vetch at the station, but thus far have not 
 found any which is superior to the common vetch (vicia 
 sativa). A few others have shown considerable promise 
 but mainly from the standpoint of green manuring and 
 cover cropping vetches." 
 
 Rhode Island. 
 
 The Experiment Station of the College of Agriculture 
 of Rhode Island says: "While we have grown winter 
 vetch as well as summer vetch here in the past we have 
 not experimented with either to such an extent as to issue 
 a bulletin on the subject. So far we have found they will 
 thrive here and the hairy, or winter vetch, will endure 
 our winters well." 
 
 South Dakota. 
 
 The Agricultural Experiment Station of the College 
 of Agriculture of South Dakota reports as follows : "This 
 college has raised some vetch, especially as a fertilizing 
 crop, but not very much has been done with it and we 
 
 148 
 
have no results as yet for publication. It is probable that 
 we will have some sometime, but we must complete our 
 experiments first." 
 
 South Carolina. 
 
 The Agricultural Experiment Station of the College 
 of Agriculture of South Carolina reports : "Vetch has 
 given excellent results in this state." 
 
 Utah. 
 
 The Experiment Station of the College of Agricul- 
 ture of Utah reports as follows : 
 
 "This station has had but very little experience in 
 growing vetch and has no published data regarding the 
 same. Our trials have been somewhat fragmentary and 
 have been merely to see whether the plant would grow in 
 this locality. The crop, so far as we know, is not grown 
 to any extent commercially in the state, but our few ex- 
 periments here show that it will grow fairly well under 
 our conditions." 
 
 Vermont. 
 
 The Experiment Station of the College of Agriculture 
 of Vermont reports as follows : 
 
 "This station has made no investigations touching 
 the growth of vetches that are of any importance. 
 Twenty odd years ago we grew them in a small way as a 
 cover crop in orchards. We studied the wild vetch, 
 which is a semi-weed in this state, but further than this 
 we have issued nothing which we think would have any 
 bearing on your subject. We have never grown it for 
 
 149 
 
seed. The wild vetch stands the winters very well in 
 this locality. 1 have not enough data to enable me to say 
 certain whether the tame vetches do or not." 
 
 In the Fourteenth Annual Report of the Vermont 
 Agricultural Experiment Station issued in 1900 and 1901 
 they say of wild vetch the following : 
 
 "The Bird Vetch or Wild Pea. 
 (Vicia Cracca) 
 
 "This plant occurs frequently in the meadows of 
 Vermont, and in some places it is increasing so rapidly 
 as to cause alarm. Frequent inquiries are made of the 
 experiment station regarding its qualities. Farmers hold 
 widely different opinions regarding it. The majority con- 
 sider it to be a troublesome weed, but some regard it as 
 a desirable forage plant. One man said he wished his 
 entire meadow was covered with it, while another corres- 
 pondent says that in his experience this vetch rivals 
 witch-grass for the first place as a weed pest. 
 
 "Description and occurrence. — It is a member of the 
 pea and clover family, with clusters of numenms small 
 blue blossoms, followed by small pea-like pods. It is a 
 close relative of the cultivated vetch (mcia sativa). Like 
 all the clovers and vetches it has root tubercles, which 
 indicate its ability to utilize atmospheric nitrogen and so 
 enrich, rather than exhaust, the soil on which it grows. 
 It passes under a number of popular names — bird vetch, 
 blue vetch, wild vetch, wild pea, French pea. It is a 
 native of the woodlands of Eastern America, but as it 
 now occurs in Vermont it is most common in the 
 meadows and fence rows, and thus appears like an intro- 
 duced plant. It likes best a strong heavy soil, such as 
 favors timothy, and develops most luxuriantly in the 
 
 150 
 
Champlain clays of Addison county. In such soils it 
 establishes itself in meadows and forms tangled circular 
 patches where it smothers out the clover and timothy and 
 each year extends the area of its dominion. In such a 
 patch the growth is most luxuriant at the margins. It 
 spreads by means of creeping stems, and it is this habit 
 which makes it difficult to eradicate. Since it is a mem- 
 ber of the clover family it might naturally have qualities 
 to commend it. The agrostologists of the Department of 
 Agriculture state that this species is cultivated in Europe, 
 both for soiling and for hay, and that it is prized in 
 German sheep pastures. Evidently basing their opinion 
 upon European practices, they recommend its cultiva- 
 tion in low meadows, and especially in open wood- 
 lands. 
 
 "From our own observations and the opinions of 
 farmers it has seemed worth while to learn more ac- 
 curately its value as a forage plant under Vermont con- 
 ditions, since it frequently happens that a plant economi- 
 cally valuable in one country is not so in another. To 
 do this it was necessary to determine its yield, composi- 
 tion, palatability, relation to other foreign plants in 
 mixture and ease of eradication. 
 
 "There was quite a quantity of vetch growing with 
 timothy in 1900 in a field adjacent to the experiment 
 farm. By marking out plots in different parts of the 
 f^eld there was opportunity to compare yields and 
 shrinkage by drying, both of timothy and of vetch, un- 
 der the same conditions of soil and weather. The plots 
 selected appeared to be almost pure vetch, before cut- 
 ting, but, as indicated in the table below, the plant is de- 
 ceptive both in appearance and yield. Plot IV was pure 
 
 151 
 
timothy, plot II before cutting appeared to be nearly 
 pure vetch, but when cut was found to be fully one- 
 half timothy, the vetch having so overrun the timothy 
 as to hide it until cut. Plot I contained the most vetch, 
 but as it was wet when cut the green weight is not 
 strictly accurate. There was less vetch in plot III. All 
 were cut on the morning of July 10. 
 
 "The conditions found are represented below in 
 tabular form : 
 
 PLOTS 
 
 I 
 
 II 
 
 III 
 
 IV 
 
 Actual area. 
 
 13 sq. rods 
 
 6 sq. rods 
 
 14 sq. rods 
 
 1 sq. rod 
 
 Composition cf crop 
 
 75%V.25f<.T 
 
 50% V, 50% T 
 
 30%V,70%T 
 
 I00%T 
 
 Yield persq. rod, green 
 
 43 pounds 
 
 60 pounds 
 
 53H lbs. 
 
 58 pounds 
 
 Yield per sa. rod, dry (hay) 
 
 12 pounds 
 
 Z^H lbs. 
 
 ?A pounds 
 
 3+H lbs. 
 
 Per cent loss in drying 
 
 72% 
 
 61% 
 
 36% 
 
 40% 
 
 "In the line stating composition. \" indicates vetch, 
 and T indicates timothy. 
 
 "Our observations coupled with the.-e results justify 
 the following conclusions: 
 
 "The vetch is a deceptive plant, the yield, green 
 weight, is much less than the appearance of the growing 
 plants would lead one to expect, and the shrinkage in 
 drying is great. Where the vetch occurs in timothy 
 fields it reduces the yield by a large amount, viz : 30 to 
 60 per cent in our plots. Moreover, in the places where 
 it occurs, it forms such a thick mat above that it smoth- 
 ers the leaves below, and at the same time holds mois- 
 ture. As a result, in a vetch-covered area the lower por- 
 
 152 
 
tions of the plants, both of vetch and of clover that may 
 be growing with it, are black and musty, and this in- 
 jures both quality and appearance of the hay. Farmers 
 who use the hay tedder complain that the tangled 
 masses of vetch become a nuisance. 
 
 "These objections would not hold against it as a 
 pasture plant, but it rarely if ever occurs in Vermont 
 hill pastures. The lower, heavier soils where it does 
 occur in quantity are, of course, rarely pastured, so that 
 we have no basis for opinion as to its value for pastur- 
 age. 
 
 "Composition and palatability. — The universal tes- 
 timony of farmers having the vetch in their hay is that 
 it is relished by stock and that it appears to be in no 
 wise objectionable in the hay, except as noted in the last 
 paragraph Some say that they consider it as good as 
 clover for feeding. The hay made from the plots cut in 
 1900 was fed to cows at the experiment farm in com- 
 parison with mixed timothy hay. It was relished by the 
 stock, did not appear to give any bitter taste to the milk, 
 and was considered good hay by those in charge of the 
 feeding. 
 
 "A sample of the vetch hay which was taken from 
 that cut on July 10, 1900, was given to the station chem- 
 ist in February, 1901. The composition was found 
 to be as follows: (For purposes of comparison the 
 composition of an average quality of clover hay is given 
 also.) 
 
 153 
 

 Original 
 
 
 
 
 X 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 substance 
 
 
 
 
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 1 
 
 * 
 
 s 
 
 1 
 
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 3 
 
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 1 
 
 0) 
 
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 St 
 
 St 
 
 *^ 
 
 X 
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 O 
 
 
 o 
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 o 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 a 
 
 4^ 
 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 
 
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 J3 
 
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 Q 
 
 \J 
 
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 ;5 
 
 W 
 
 S5 
 
 P^ 
 
 p< 
 
 
 % 
 
 % 
 
 % 
 
 % 
 
 % 
 
 % 
 
 % 
 
 % 
 
 % 
 
 % 
 
 liird vetch hay ..._ 
 
 7.30 
 
 92.70 
 
 0.33 
 
 12.92 
 
 29.83 
 
 48.72 
 
 2.20 
 
 2.06 
 
 0.42 
 
 1.90 
 
 Iced Clover hay ... 
 
 15.30 
 
 84.70 
 
 7.3a 
 
 14.52 
 
 29.25 
 
 44.98 
 
 3.90 
 
 2.33 
 
 0.45 
 
 2.60 
 
 "Its weedy habits. — The thing that is most against 
 the record of vetch is its weedy habits. It does not 
 mingle peacefully with neighboring plants, but tends 
 to overtop and smother them. This is decidedly to its 
 discredit as compared for example with the related 
 clovers and alfalfa. Moreover, it spreads by under- 
 ground root-stocks and it has the reputation, especially 
 in Addison county, of being difficult to eradicate. Prob- 
 ably tliis depends somewhat on soil conditions, and still 
 more upon the method of crop rotation. 
 
 "There was considerable vetch in two fields of the 
 experiment farm when the land was bought. This soil 
 is a heavy clay loam, and it had lain in grass for a long 
 time. These fields have since been brought under a sys- 
 tem of short rotation of corn, oats and grass, and the 
 vetch has been subdued without special effort, 
 
 "Conclusions. — Our conclusions regarding this vetch 
 as it occurs in Vermont may then be summarized as 
 follows : It is of frequent occurrence in meadows, es- 
 pecially in clay soils. It is a member of the clover fam- 
 ily, has root tubercles, and therefore, tends to enrich the 
 soil where it grows. It is a deceptive plant, since it ap- 
 
 154 
 
pears to form a dense growth and to promise a heavy- 
 yield of hay; whereas it actually gives a much smaller 
 yield than pure timothy, and, of course, still less than 
 the clovers. It tends to make the hay dark colored 
 and musty, and because of the tangled masses bothers 
 with the hay tedder. Where well cured it makes excel- 
 lent hay, comparable to the clovers, both in palatability 
 and composition. It spreads quite rapidly both by seed 
 and creeping rootstalks, especially in clay soils, and 
 smothers the timothy and clover. It is said to be diffi- 
 cult to eradicate in some soils, although on the experi- 
 ment farm it was promptly and easily killed where short 
 rotation and clean cultivation were practiced. On the 
 whole we rate it as a weed rather than as a useful plant, 
 and recommend its eradication rather than its encour- 
 agement." * 
 
 Wyoming. 
 
 The Experiment Station of the Agricultural College 
 of Wyoming reports as follows : 
 
 "There has been but little experimenting done at 
 this station with the vetch plant, and there has been no 
 literature published upon the same. The last two years 
 vetch has been grown in sufficient quantities to show 
 that both the winter and spring vetches are a success 
 here. Our method of threshing is with the small separ- 
 ator, threshing about the same as we would thresh 
 peas. The winter vetch appears to stand the winter 
 very well in this locality. We are intending to make use 
 of both winter and spring vetches, growing with oats 
 in our next year's crop for hay." 
 
 155 
 
Wisconsin. 
 
 The Experiment Station of the Agricultural Col- 
 'ege of Wisconsin reports as follows: 
 
 "We have not as yet issued any bulletins upon the 
 growing of this crop, although we have carried on more 
 or less experimental work during a series of years. We 
 have found one of the best uses of vetch is to grow it 
 with rye as a pasture crop. The vetches do well in 
 Wisconsin even to the extreme northern part of the 
 state. The sand or winter vetch grows luxuriantly. We 
 are recommending several methods of handling vetches. 
 One in particular is to sow the latter part of August as 
 a nurse crop. We usually use one and one-half bushels 
 of rye and thirty pounds of vetch to the acre. The rye 
 and vetch come on nicely in the fall and afford a good 
 late fall and winter pasture. They can also be pastured 
 well down into the spring and then used for hay. The 
 rye acts as a good support for the vetch, keeping the 
 same from the ground. When the vetch is in full bloom 
 the rye and vetch are cut and cured in the same manner 
 as clover hay. We also proceed as above for sowing 
 rye and vetch on sandy land. After pasturing in fall 
 and winter it is left to grow in the spring until several 
 inches high, then the rye and the vetch are both turned 
 under and the ground used for corn or potatoes. Where 
 we have grown the vetch for seed we do not get suffi- 
 cient to warrant continuing the practice; also where we 
 grew vetch for hay alone we found that the vetch would 
 fall over on the ground and rot on the under side. 
 This would give the hay an exceedingly bad smell and 
 it was a hard task to cure it. Another detriment we 
 
 156 
 
found and that was where we grew vetch the plants 
 would continue for years to act as a weed. When wheat, 
 barley or oats were grown on the land which had been 
 seeded to vetch a goodly number of the vetch seeds 
 would get mixed with the grains. The vetches are great 
 nitrogen gatherers and enrich the soil in which they 
 are grown. They appear to develop the nodules readily 
 in Wisconsin." 
 
 A party, under the initials of W. F. A., in Wiscon- 
 sin, writes on vetch as follows : 
 
 "Our First Acre of Vetch. 
 
 "Having experienced a little difficulty in keeping a 
 small tract of rather inaccessible land in the required 
 state of fertility, we tried vetch, both spring and winter 
 varieties. The seedsman instructed us to grow it with 
 a nurse crop of oats. 
 
 "We were told that vetch would not thrive in our 
 Wisconsin latitudes, and for a time we were willing to 
 believe it. The vetch we started with oats did not get 
 a start at all, although the season was comparatively 
 moist. 
 
 "However, one despised acre, an experiment on our 
 own part, which w^e had planted to a mixture of clover 
 and winter vetch, finally rounded in shape. It had 
 lingered long, when suddenly both clover and vetch took 
 a notion to grow. 
 
 "In August there was a magnificent stand of forage, 
 all of which was plowed under. Thus, although we lost 
 a season's crop from that acre, the improvement of tilth 
 and fertility resulting, amply repaid the loss. Next 
 spring we will put in more vetch and clover." 
 
 157 
 
t'lAB 
 
 17