128 FODDER AND PASTURE PLANTS. 
cutting the plants should have time to produce a reasonable growth 
for winter protection. 
Pasture: Sainfoin starts very early in the season and can 
therefore be pastured at least as soon as Alfalfa. It makes an ex- 
cellent pasture, especially liked by sheep. It does not cause bloating 
and is therefore preferable to Alfalfa for cows and sheep. When 
grown for hay or pasture, three to five bushels of seed should be sown 
to the acre. 
Seed growing: Old fields which give a comparatively small 
yield of hay give the best crop of seed. It is ready to cut when the 
pods are bright brown. Late cutting causes considerable loss as 
the old pods easily fall off, even with the most careful handling. 
Quality of seed: Commercial seed is almost always unshelled; 
that is, the seeds are enclosed in the pods. The pods are almost 
semi-circular and somewhat flattened, about an eighth of an inch 
long and a little less in width. Their surface is covered with a mesh- 
like netting, which stands out in bold relief and is frequently armed 
with scattered spines. The outer edge of the semi-circle is flattened 
into a well-defined rim with strong, sharp teeth. Well-ripened pods 
are reddish-brown and have a characteristic metallic lustre, espec- 
ially when not too old. The unshelled seed weighs about twenty-six 
pounds per bushel. The real seeds, of which there is only one in 
each pod, are kidney-shaped and olive-brown to chestnut. 
COMMON VETCH (Vicia sativa L.) 
Plate 24; Seed, Plate 27, Fig. 38. 
Other English names: Tare, Spring Vetch. 
Botanical description: Common Vetch is an annual plant 
closely related to peas. The stems, which generally branch from 
near the base, are on an average from two to three feet high, angular 
and more or less hairy. The leaves are numerous and compound, 
consisting of a number of separate leaflets arranged in pairs along 
the midrib; in the upper part only the midribs of the leaflets are de- 
veloped. They are transformed into sensitive threads called tendrils, 
which wind themselves round any object they come in contact with 
and thus help to support the weak stems of the plant. The leaflets 
are oblong, square at the end, with a minute narrow point. The 
