26 CULTIVATED FORAGE CROPS OF THE NORTHWEST. 



Vetches. — In the Willamette Valley, Oregon, spring vetch {Vicia 

 sativa) is commonh^ grown for hay and annual pasture. Mr. T. H. 

 Cooper, of Corvallis, uses vetch for his silo, after which he uses green 

 corn. He sows the seed in the fall with w4ieat or oats, 2 bushels of 

 the mixture containing about a peck of grain. The crop is cut in 

 June. Spring vetch is cultivated here and there in the cooler parts 

 of the Northwest, but the crop as a whole is very insignificant when 

 compared with the staple forage crops of the region. The plant is a 

 legume, and can gather nitrogen from the air in a manner similar to 

 clover and alfalfa. Hence it furnishes forage rich in protein and at 

 the same time acts as a soil renovator. While spring vetch can not 

 be successfullj^ grown over much of the area under consideration on 

 account of the heat and drought, yet it is to be highl}' reconnnended 

 for those localities having a cool, moist growing season. In the upper 

 coast region it can be sown in the fall. In the mountain regions it 

 should be sown in spring. It is best to sow with grain, as the latter 

 tends to hold the vetch upright, and it can thus be handled for hay 

 more easily, and also because the grain mixture produces a more 

 evenly balanced feed. After the mixture of grain and vetch is cut, a 

 second crop of vetch will usually appear, which can be saved for seed. 



Hair}^ or sand vetch ^^ ( Vicia villosa) has been tried to a limited extent, 



but the results over most of the region described are not promising. 



It thrives, however, in the Palouse region and tends to become a weed 



in wheat fields. 



BALING HAY. 



As in other parts of the United States, it is customary to bale hay 

 for convenience in transportation. Most of the hay consumed in the 

 larger cities is of this kind. The baled ha}-^ upon the markets of the 

 Northwest is for the most part restricted to alfalfa, clover, timoth}', 

 grain, and wild or native hay. In San Francisco and other cities of 

 California, grain hay takes the lead, while at Seattle and the cities of 

 the Sound, timothy is most used, the kind depending in part on the 

 availability and in part on the demand of the market. Alfalfa is, in 

 many cases, as available as timothy, or more so; but the latter is used 

 in the cities in preference because it is believed to be more suitable 

 for horses. In fact, timothy hay is taken as the standard upon the 

 citv markets. The type of press used at San Jose, Cal., is shown in 

 PI.' VIL fig. 1. 



The item of freight often enters greatly into the market price of baled 

 hay. For example, during the summer of 1901, grain hay was worth $8 

 per ton at Raymond, a town upon the railroad, while at Yosemite the 

 freight charges brought it up to $10 per ton, and at the same time the 



«For further information upon the vetches, see Circular No. 6, Division of Agros- 

 tology, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, "The Cultivated Vetches." 



