468 FORAGE PLANTS AND THEIR CULTURE 



length of 12 feet, but on account of the weakness, the mass 

 of plants seldom exceeds 4 feet in height ; herbage hairy 

 and somewhat silvery; leaflets narrow, 11 to 17; flowers 

 blue-violet, rarely white, borne on a long stalk in dense 



one-sided clusters of 

 about 30 ; pods pale 

 colored, smooth, each 

 containing two to 

 eight small, globose, 

 nearly black seeds. 



The root system is 

 richly branched and 

 extends deep into the 

 soil. At the Cornell 

 station plants from 

 seed sown July 10 

 had roots by Novem- 

 ber 10 which pene- 

 trated 3 feet 8 inches 

 in tough clay. The 

 young plants go 

 largely to root devel- 

 opment, so that the 



FIG. 55. Hairy vetch. top growth is slow 



at first. 



At the Delaware Experiment Station the tops were 

 estimated to produce 3064 and the roots 600 pounds dry 

 weight to the acre. 



566. Botany. Hairy vetch is found wild in Russia, 

 Germany and Hungary, in which countries it is apt to 

 occur as a weed in grain fields. It was cultivated in Eng- 

 land in 1815, in Scotland in 1833, and in Germany in 1857. 

 Its first introduction into America was about 1847, but 



