VETCHES AND VETCH-LIKE PLANTS 



467 



Practically all of the common vetch seed used in the 

 Southern States is from Europe. Its wholesale price at 

 European ports is usually from 2 to 2J cents a pound and 

 the freight to American ports is about one-quarter of a 

 cent a pound. The prices that American vetch seed 

 growers obtain is practically controlled by the price of 

 European seed. 



Common vetch seed retains its vitality well for about 

 three years, after which it rapidly deteriorates. Very 



FIG. 52. Seeds of 

 common vetch (Vicia 

 sativd). (Natural size.) 



FIG. 53. Seed 

 scar of common 

 vetch. (Enlarged.) 



FIG. 54. Types of 

 mottling of seeds of 

 common vetch ; a and 

 b, from light and dark 

 seeds, respectively. 

 (Enlarged.) 



fresh seed of common vetch does not germinate well. 

 A large proportion of the seed is hard, and most of this 

 probably does not germinate until the following season. 

 One pound contains about 8000 seeds. 



HAIRY VETCH (Vitia 



565. Hairy vetch is also known as sand vetch, Russian 

 vetch, Siberian vetch, and villose vetch. In the United 

 States it has also come to be known as winter vetch, 

 a term used in Europe wholly for a winter strain of 

 common vetch. It is a winter annual, but often behaves 

 as a biennial; stems slender, sometimes growing to a 



