n / / • f • '" +- U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. BUREAl 01 PLANT INDUSTRY Circular No. 102. D. i i; ai.i.i'W \y i . au. THE PRODUCTION OF HAIRY 7ETCH SEED. BY 0. V. PIPER, Agrottologui m Chargt oj Forage-Crop I ■' < : on», A\l> EDGAR BROWN, botuio St ill < I '.ISO '— lo WASHINGTON : GOVERNMENT PfllNTINO OfFlCE : l.lt BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY. Chie/ 0/ Bureau, Beverly T. Galloway. Assistant Chief 0/ Bureau, William A. Taylor. Editor, 3. E. Rockwell. Chiej Clerk, James E. Jones. M !• I :- THE PRODUCTION OF HAIR7 VETCH SEED INTRODUCTION. During the past seven years the culture of hairy retch baa increi in the I'm i cd States al least tin fold. The crop is constantly growing in favor m the Southern States for winter cover and bay. In the North it is being used more and more on sandy lands and also w other soils when- red clover do longer gives satisfactory returns. This rapid increase bas been in spite of the fact that the seed lias he. -n relatively costly, the farmer rarely purchasing it as low as $6 a bushel, while in the la>t three year- the seed bas commanded |fl in $9 a bushel. This increase in price seems to be due mainly to the increased American demand, a- the actual supply grown in Europe is not large and thus far hut little bas been produced in thr United State-. The higher prices will doubtless tend to stimulate the growing of this/eed in Europe, hut il can he profitably produced in many parts of tin- country. Undoubtedly it will he economical for American farmers to grow the hairy vetch seed needed locally. and any surplus can always he -old at good prices. In good Vetch- seed sections a crop of 5 bushels of hairy vetch and 20 bushels of rye to the acre can reasonably he expected, and under favorable conditions lo to L2 bushels of hairy vetch seed to the acre can ho <;ro\vn. Kven at So or * I a hushel such crop- are very profitable, and at this price the demand for the seed would certainly increase enormously. In view of this increasing demand. American farmers are urged to grow seed of tlii- crop, at least for their local use, and also where the conditions prove very favorable to supply the general market. Satisfactory machine- are now available to separate hairy vetch siM-tl from rye. SOURCES OF SEED. At present practically all the seed used in this country i- imported from Russia and Germany. Table i. showing the quantity of seed imported each fiscal year ended June :•>() since 1 905, together with the import prices, is based on the record of customhouse samples. It will he noted that the quantity of -eed imported ha- increased very rapidly, especially since 1908. 3 PRODUCTION OF HAIRY VETCH SEED. Table I. — Hairy vetch seed importations. Fiscal year. Quantity (pounds). A verage price per pound. Fiscal year. Quantity (pounds). A verage price per pound. 1905 73,245 68,354 20S. 100 294,896 542.948 $0. 040 .055 .04H . 042 . 039 .041 mil .. 954 025 • (5 47' i 1,947.1dm 2,181,000 4i,1.73« SO 059 1900 1912... 087 1907 L913 045 1908 1914 .. 049 1909 July 1, 1914. to Mav 30. 1915 ' 1910 .061 The average price is considerably lower than the average price for a good quality of seed, because in these lots are included many which are low in quality, both on account of adulteration and low vitality. EUROPEAN METHODS OF GROWING HAIRY VETCH SEED. In the Baltic Provinces of Russia hairy vetch occurs as a more or less persistent weed in grain fields, and practically all of the supply of the seed from that region is secured by separation from the rye seed. In Prussia, especially in the provinces of East and West Prussia and Pomerania, there is extensive production for seed, but in Ger- many generally more hairy vetch is raised with rye for green fodder than for seed. The rate of seeding used in Germany is considerably heavier than that which has been found advisable for seed purposes in this country. The German Agricultural Society recommends sowing 53 pounds of hairy vetch and 72 pounds of rye to the acre, but the average rate of seeding is somewhat less, though the crop is usually grown on light, sandy soil where a comparatively heavy seeding is needed. Hairy vetch seed is universally sown with winter rye and usually with the variety known as Johannesroggen, or St. John's rye. This variety of rye is peculiar in that it can be sown as early as June and at any time thereafter until the latter part of September. It is a very free-stooling variety and makes a large leaf growth close to the ground. This rye supplies excellent pasturage iu the fall, and the date of maturity is 10 to 15 days later than common rye. SEPARATION OF HAIRY VETCH SEED FROM RYE. As hairy vetch is usually sown in combination with rye it is not necessary to separate the mixed seed as harvested when about one- third of the mixture is vetch. Such mixed seed is far more economi- cal to use than to pay the present high price for imported seed. When a separation of the seeds is desirable it is easily and effect- ively accomplished by the use of a spiral separator, known in Europe as "Schncckentrieur," which requires no power, being operated by gravity. This apparatus is covered by United States Letters Patent PBODU< I [OS OP il UB1 \ I iiii m.i i). 5 ■70, dated Julj 1. 1899, and is now manufactured for sale in the United States. The machines seen in Russia had a capacity <>f ")D to 75 bushels a day. \ satisfactory separation of vetch seed can also be made by use of a cloth-hell apparatus l>\ means of which the rye <>r other i seed is carried up and away mi b belt, while the vetch seed falls over t h<> belt to the bottom. A number »>f forms <>f this machine are patented, designed especially for the separation of buckhorn from clover -d for preparing mixed rye and vetch seed fm- -air local]} can be obtained by letting the mixed -red run over a Beriea of inclined I oards eat 1. given angle and a slighl distance apart, -■> thai the vetch Beed will run from one board to another and the rye seed, which does nut run so readily, will drop through between the boards. This can easily be made by anyone for home use and requires no power to run, as the seed is simply allowed to fall over a series of steps. GROWING HAIRY VETCH FOR SEED. Hairy vetch will produce a good crop of seed in mosl States. The Urges! crops have been grown on the Pacific coast, but those produced in the Northern States are hut lit tie smaller. In the Southern States the Beed crop seems to vary greatly with the season, hut good yields have been obtained. Hairy vetch i- a winter annual, behaving like winter wheal. I 1 ' planted in the srping, it ma\ produce a few blossoms the -aim- leason, but will make little or no seed until the following 9eason. If planted in the fall, it ripens it> Beed crop the following duly. Spring sowing is seldom advisable, and then only on the Pacific coast and in tiie arid regions. When spring -own. it i- besl t<> pasture the crop the first season. In the Eastern and Northern States spring seeding should never be practiced, a- the plant- seldom survive the humid heat of summer. Through the lack of the proper nitrogen-forming bacteria, hairy vetch frequently fails to produce a crop on land where it ha- not pre- viously been grown. It is therefore advisable, whenever hairy vetch ded on land for the first time, to inoculate the -<■« d with a pure culture of the nitrogen-forming bacteria, or to inoculate the -oil with Boil from a field where hairy vetch is being grown. The seed may be sown from the middle of AugUSl till November, September being the best month. If -own alone. 10 pounds of good seed to the acre are sufficient, though 60 pound- are frequently used. A- .■>. genera] practice, however, it is better tu bow it in conjunction with a small-grain crop oats, winter wheat, or rye. Oat- are often u-ed in the South, but in the North wheat or rye inu-t he used. Rye is the favorite, but if intended for hav the wheat combination l- more 6 PRODUCTION OF HAIRY VETCH SEED. nutritious. In growing such mixtures for seed, enough grain is used to make about two-thirds of a stand and 20 pounds of the vetch seed are added. Such a mixed crop is easily cut with a mower having a swather attachment, or even with a binder. If more vetch is used it is liable to lodge, especially in spots where the vetch is thick, and the mowing is therefore rendered more difficult. Where hairy vetch is planted alone, it nearly always becomes more or less lodged, and should be mowed, if possible, against the direction in which most of it is lying. After cutting the first swath, it should be rolled upon the uncut vetch before cutting the second swath. The two swaths should then be rolled out clear from the uncut vetch. Sometimes three swaths are combined in this way. The cut vetch should not be handled more than is necessary in curing, and care should be taken in shocking to cover the pods as much as possible. Hay caps are very desirable for this purpose. In thrashing pure vetch it is sometimes desirable to have sharpened teeth on the con- caves, as long vetch is inclined to wrap about the cylinder. If hairy vetch is pastured rather late, the subsequent growth will not be tall, but often is heavily set with pods. The same result can be obtained by cutting the vetch early and feeding it green or putting it into a silo. Such a second crop is much more easily mowed than tall vetch, and in some instances excellent seed crops have been thus secured. Some farmers obtain their own supply of seed by cutting hair}- vetch for hay rather late, i. e., after some of the pods have ripened. Much of this seed will rattle to the bottom of the mow, especially if a little care is taken to shake each forkful as it is being used for feed. Such late cutting reduces slightly the value of the hay, but the seed obtained often justifies the practice. Hairy vetch ripens its pods over a period of two or three weeks. The best crops are obtained when the first pods are fully ripe and the upper pods well filled. The latter ripen in the shocks, and if carefully handled comparatively few of the ripe pods shatter. It is best to cut the crop early in the morning or on a cloudy day. In any event the vetch, whether cut in bundles or otherwise, should be put into shocks at once and left thus till thrashed. The most important rule is to handle the cut crop rapidly and as little as possible. An incidental advantage to the use of locally grown hairy vetch seed is its much better germinating quality. Old seed has a large percentage of hard seeds, which lie in the ground a long time without sprouting and which are practically valueless to the farmer. Fresh samples collected in Europe in 1911 gave a uniformly high germina- tion, only one testing below 91.5 per cent. Imported seed, which is usually 1 year old, frequently shows a hard-seed content of 10 to 40 per cent. PRODI CTION ui H \li;\ VETCH SI I 1>. 8 PRODUCTION OF HAIRY VETCH SEED. EXPERIMENTS IN GROWING HAIRY VETCH SEED IN AMERICA. While hairy vetch for hay or green manure has long been grown successfully in nearly all parts of the United States and Canada, there has been relatively little investigation made of its seed produc- tion. Table II is a compilation of published American data in seed production, together with unpublished results obtained by the Department and its cooperators. These results show yields ranging from 3 to 15 bushels per acre, with an average of 6^ bushels for all the trials. Such a yield makes a decidedly profitable crop. Where vetch is grown alone the seed yields are heavier, but this is largely counterbalanced by the diffi- culty of harvesting, so that it is advisable as a rule to grow it in combination with rye. Approved: James Wieson, Secretary of Agriculture. Washington, D. C, August 7, 1912. [Cir. 102.] ADDITIONAL COPIES OF THIS PUBLICATION MAT BE PROCURED FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT OF DOCUMENTS GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE WASHINGTON. D. C. AT 5 CENTS PER COPY