VETCHES AND VETCH-LIKE PLANTS 459 



food. Sardinian vetch has the seeds brown ; gray vetch 

 is another name for the commonest variety with grayish 

 seeds. 



553. Culture. The seed-bed for common vetch should 

 be quite firm. For this reason it is a common practice in 

 Oregon to broadcast the seed in wheat or oat stubble and 

 then go over it with an ordinary disk harrow, or if the land 

 is fairly loose the seed is simply sown in the stubble with a 

 disk drill. This method gives satisfactory results, espe- 

 cially if the previous small-grain crop has been spring sown 

 and if the vetch is sown quite early in the fall. If the 

 planting is done later or if the previous grain crop was 

 fall sown, the land is usually too compact, and thorough 

 preparation of the soil is advantageous. 



In the South special preparation of the soil before plant- 

 ing vetch is usually necessary. But few successes have 

 thus far been noted by planting in cotton or other culti- 

 vated crop, but where the soil is thoroughly inoculated 

 this method has given excellent results. 



Common vetch seed may be sown either broadcast or 

 by drilling. Broadcasting is the older method and per- 

 haps still the most common, but the use of the drill has 

 greatly increased in recent years, especially in Oregon. 



Vetch may be sown alone or with one of the small grains 

 as a supporting crop. To sow with grain has been and 

 still is the commoner practice where the crop is grown 

 mainly for hay, as the grain furnishes a support for the 

 weak stems of the vetch and prevents lodging to a con- 

 siderable extent. Oats are the favorite grain to use in 

 combination with vetch, though rye, wheat and barley 

 may be used. Oats are preferred, not only on account 

 of the superior quality of oat hay, but from the fact that 

 where a seed crop is grown the oat seed can be readily 



