566 FORAGE PLANTS AND THEIR CULTURE 



years. At the Michigan Experiment Station one acre 

 yielded in its second year two cuttings ; the first cutting, 

 June 29, weighed 23,997 pounds green and 5431 pounds 

 dry; the second cutting, September 16, weighed 17,188 

 pounds green and 3636 pounds dry a total yield of 20.5 

 tons of green matter and 4.5 tons dry hay. Cattle ate 

 the green forage readily. 



At the Vermont Experiment Station the second year's 

 crop was 6J tons green matter or If tons hay to the acre, 

 and the third year's crop fully as large. 



At the Pennsylvania Experiment Station, flat peas 

 gave in two years an average yield to the acre of 17,700 

 pounds green herbage of 3700 pounds of hay, but the crop 

 is not recommended, because of the difficulty of securing a 

 stand, and its unpalatability. 



The flat pea has nowhere in America attained any 

 definite status as a field crop, but where a long-lived 

 perennial legume is needed in the Northern States, prob- 

 ably no other species is better adapted to the purpose. 



682. Kidney vetch (Anthyllis vulneraria) is native to 

 much of temperate Europe, Asia and North Africa. It 

 was first brought into cultivation in Prussia about 1859. 

 Two varieties are cultivated, one with pale yellow and 

 the other with reddish flowers, but otherwise they scarcely 

 differ. 



The plant is a perennial with roots 3 feet or more long. 

 The basal leaves are simple, but the cauline are pinnate. 

 The stems are stout and erect, not at all viny as in the true 

 vetches, to which it is not closely related. 



Kidney vetch is most important on sandy and calcareous 

 soils in North Germany, but is grown to some extent in 

 other European countries. It is especially valuable where 

 clover and other legumes do not thrive. In all respects 



