New England, New York, northern Michigan, Wisconsin, and lower 

 Canada. They were very largely grown throughout the New Eng- 

 land and Northern States during the period from 1805 to 1S85, 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 com- 

 pared 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. 



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 

 per acre will not warrant the use of so much seed at the present high 

 prices. Vetches should be sown in April or May. They will be 

 ready to cut by the middle of June or the first of July, from full 

 bloom until the pods are half formed. When sown alone the vines 

 lodge and make a dense mat, and the object of the nurse crop is to 

 furnish a support to lift the vines up off the leaves. The vines are 

 very difficult to harvest when sown alone, on account of the tangled 

 mass of stems, but may be easily cut with a pea harvester. An 

 acre of vetch and oats yields ordinarily from G to 8 tons of green 

 forage. Where it can be grown, its chief value arises from the fact 

 that it is ready to cut between the first and second crops of red clover, 

 thus filling a gap in the series of early summer soiling crops. Spring 

 vetches are also used for hay. To make hay, more care is required 

 than with red clover. Two crops are sometimes cut in one season, 

 and where this is possible the second is the one to be saved for seed. 

 The first crop ripens very irregularly, and some of the pods will be 

 shelled before the rest are ripe. Where they can be grown they are 

 a very good summer feed for horses, but must not be fed earlier 

 than full bloom, on account of their diuretic action. They are good 

 for soiling sheep and milch cows, and are said to very materially 

 increase the flow of milk. 



FEEDING VALUE. 



The percentage of digestibility of spring vetch forage has not been 

 determined in this country, but analyses show a high food content 

 comparable with alfalfa rather than the clovers. The average sample 

 of vetch hay contains 11.3 per cent water, 7.9 per cent ash, 17 per 

 cent crude protein, 25.4 per cent fiber, 30.1 per cent nitrogen-free 

 extract, and 2.3 per cent fat. The flat pea and the soy bean are 

 the only leguminous fodders which exceed this in the crude protein 

 content. 



FERTILIZING VALUE. 



At the time when ready to cut for hay the vetch contains about 

 20 percent of dry matter,^ and in this 20 per cent there are contained 



'Third Ann. Kept. Conn. (Storrs) Agr. Expt. Sta. (1890). 



