SPRING VETCH, OR TARES. 

 ( Vicia sativa. ) 



Spring vetch is a leafy, annual, trailing herb, 1 to 2 feet high, with 4- 

 to 5-angled stems, simple or branched from the base. The leaves are 

 compound and are terminated with 3 or 4 tendrils. The 5 to 7 pairs 

 of leaflets are broadest above the middle, blunt or notched at the end, 

 and tipped with an abrupt point (fig. 2) . The flowers are rather large, 

 deep purple, one or two together in the axil of the leaf on a very short 

 stalk. The plant is soft and hairy all over. 



HISTORY. 



This old-world forage plant has 

 been cultivated in Europe for 

 nearly twenty centuries. It is a 

 native of western Asia and of all 

 Europe except Lapland. It was 

 cultivated by the Romans, and was 

 esteemed by them a valuable fod- 

 der crop. In Italy it has been 

 grown continuously up to the pres- 

 ent day. It is one of the many 

 soiling crops in use in northern 

 Europe and the British Isles. 

 Spring vetches were introduced 

 into the United States in a casual 

 way nearly a hundred years ago. 

 They have been tried in nearly all 

 the States and have proved very 

 unsatisfactory, except for certain 

 districts in New England, New 

 York, northern Michigan, Wiscon- 

 sin , and lower Canada. They were 

 very largely grown throughout the 

 New England and Northern States 

 during the period from 1865 to 

 1885, but their cultivation there 

 has now almost ceased, it having 

 been found that the yield of hay or of green fodder is not a profitable 

 one compared with that of the red and crimson clovers and field peas. 

 The principal drawback to their more extensive cultivation is the high 

 price of the seed ($2.50 to $3 per bushel of 70 pounds) and the fact 

 that they can not withstand even temporary drought or hot weather. 

 In England, where they are extensively used, the growing season is 

 much cooler, with more rain and an equable temperature. 



Fig. 2.- 



-Spring vetch or tares (Vina aativa): 

 a, pod. 



CULTIVATION. 



Spring vetches seem to be adapted more particularly to northern 

 countries, where the season is short and the rainfall abundant. 

 The seed should be sown at the rate of 5 to 8 pecks per acre, with 

 one bushel of rye or oats as a nurse crop. As high a seeding as 3 

 to 3i bushels per acre is sometimes recommended, but the product 



