At the Mississippi Agricultural Experiment Station seed of this 

 vetch was sown in October, 1888, and since that time has given 

 heavy annual crops on the same ground, although receiving no 

 attention. Its seeds germinated with the first autumn rains, and 

 covered the ground bj- the first of January, furnishing good grazing 

 until April or May. If the stock is taken off the field in March the 

 plants will mature and reseed the ground freely for the next year. 



FORAGE VALUE. 



Hairy vetch is eaten with relish 

 by all kinds of stock. If properly 

 cured it makes good hay, though 

 on account of its habit of growth 

 the process is difficult. It has been 

 tested in the silo in alternate layers 

 with green corn and also alone. 

 The former method is the one to be 

 used if the best ensilage is desired. 

 It is a most excellent forage plant 

 for soiling purposes. On account 

 of the difficulty of cutting it prop- 

 erly, it will give the most satisfac- 

 tory results fed in this way. 



The seed is as yet very expensive, 

 being about $4 per bushel of 70 

 pounds. As soon as its cultivation 

 has increased to such an extent that 

 the seed may be obtained at prices 

 less prohibitive, this vetch will un- 

 doubtedly occupy a permanent 

 place in American agriculture. 



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 termi- 

 nated with :> 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. 3). 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 fodder crop. In Italy it has been grown 

 continuously up to the present 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 



Fig. 3. 



-Spring vetch or tares {Vkia satira): 

 rt, pod. 



