172 AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION. [Jan. 



the black variety but one day later. The foliage of the 

 white variety was darker green than that of the black, 

 throughout the season. Both stood the drought well. The 

 roots had apparently no tubercles. The white variety 

 matured sooner than the black one. The soja bean promises 

 to be a valuable addition to the leguminous fodder crops in 

 New England. Two acres have been pointed with soja 

 beans during the past season, on the grounds of the station. 

 The growth of one acre has served, in its semi-matured 

 state, as green fodder during the autumn (see summer feed- 

 ing experiment on previous pages of this report) for milch 

 cows ; and that of the other has been put in a silo as an 

 admixture to corn ensilage (see statements on silos). 



Scotch Tares (a coarse variety of vetch). — The seed was 

 kindly furnished by Mr. James Cheesman of Southborough, 

 Mass., who had imported some for his own experiments. 

 It was planted May 23, was above ground June 3 ; had 

 reached a height of twelve inches, July 18, before it began 

 to spread. The plants began blooming J.uly 23. The crop 

 was cut for hay August 2. One acre has been planted on 

 another part of our farm during the past season, to serve 

 as winter fodder for cattle. 



Common Vetch (Vicia sativa). — The seed was planted 

 May 23 ; the young plants were above ground June 1. 

 They began to bloom July 12, when twelve inches high. 

 The plants formed subsequently a rank, thick growth. This 

 variety of vetch has been raised for several years very suc- 

 cessfully on our farm, either by itself or as an admixture of 

 oats and barley, for green fodder, toward the close of July, 

 when they begin to bloom. It is one of the earliest annual 

 leguminous fodder crops at our disposal, and has rendered 

 us for several years past excellent services as green fodder 

 for milch cows. It can be used green or in its dried state, 

 as circumstances advise. An admixture of oats and barley 

 renders the crop very acceptable to dairy stock. 



White Lupine (Lupinus alba). — This was planted May 

 23 ; appeared above ground June 1 ; began to blossom 

 July 7, and reached a height of twenty-five inches. The 

 crop became infested with insects, and proved no success 

 during the past season. The best services we have thus far 



