VETCHES AND VETCH-LIKE PLANTS 461 



Where the winters are severe, common vetch must be 

 planted in the spring, but it is not often grown. It suc- 

 ceeds wherever field peas do well, but the field peas are 

 usually preferable. 



555. Rate of seeding. Common vetch if sown alone 

 is perhaJ3s most often seeded at the rate of 1 bushel (60 

 pounds) to the acre. This is sufficient to produce a per- 

 fect stand if there is no winter-killing. Thus, in Oregon, 

 it is the common practice to sow 60 pounds of seed to the 

 acre in the foothills where the drainage is good and the 

 amount of winter-killing very small. If a mixture be 

 sown, it varies from 30 pounds of vetch and 20 pounds of 

 oats to double this combined quantity. 



In the low-lying lands, where a certain amount of loss 

 is likely from winter-killing, especially where soils become 

 wet, a larger quantity of seed, namely, from 70 to 90 or 

 even 120 pounds, is sown. If sown in combination with 

 oats, 60 pounds of vetch and 40 pounds of oats are most 

 commonly planted. The same rate of seeding is used as 

 a rule whether the crop is grown for hay or for seed. 

 Should the prospect be good for a high price for seed, the 

 crop may be left to mature ; otherwise it is cut for hay. 



Some growers plant as high as 2 bushels of vetch to the 

 acre when grown for seed alone. Such thick plantings 

 stand up somewhat better, but it is doubtful whether 

 any material gain results. 



In California, when common vetch is planted as a green- 

 manure crop, the usual rate of seeding is 60 pounds to the 

 acre, but as low as 40 pounds are sometimes sown. 



In the Southern States there is nearly as much varia- 

 bility in the seeding rate as in Oregon, but usually less 

 seed is sown, about 40 or 45 pounds of vetch and 8 to 10 

 of oats. 



