2 



vetch. Its cultivation was then neglected until its reintroduction 

 about twelve years ago by this Department. It has since been tried 

 in various parts of the United States. Excellent reports as to its 

 drought-resisting qualities and its adaptability to our climate have 

 been received from Washington, Nebraska, Georgia, New Mexico, 

 South Dakota, Minnesota, Montana, and Pennsylvania. It has been 

 grown on the experimental grounds of the Department of Agricul- 

 ture at Washington, D. C, and has proved to be thoroughly adapted 



Fig. 1.— Hairy vetch or sand vetch {Vicia villom): o, cross-section of stem ; b, flower; 



c, stamens ; d, pod. 



to and valuable for this locality. The seed was sown about the 25th 

 of April, and the plants commenced to bloom the middle of July, con- 

 tinuing in flower until the end of November. Sown in August it grew 

 well until the first hard frost and continued an intermittent growth all 

 winter during periods of open weather. By the middle of March it 

 had formed a thick mat of vines over the soil. It blossomed by the 



