140 



THE (;i;ni:s[-:f: FARifER. 



CULTIVATION OF TARES AND VETCHES. 



To those acquainted witli Emopean agiicultmv 

 and tlie importance attaclied to the vetch, it is a 

 matter of surprise that this best of all crops for 

 Boiling purposes has received so little attention in 

 the United States. In C:viia<]a it is grown to some 

 extent, but with us it is almost unknovpn 



The commoa vetch, ( Vicia saliva,) is of two 

 kinds — winter and spring. Like winter and spring 

 wheat, they are not distinct varieties. They de- 

 rive their characteristics 8imi)Iy from cultivation. 

 The spring variety is more succulent and less hardy 

 than the winter variety, and grows more rapidly ; 

 but if it is sown for a few years in the winter, it 

 loses its rapid power of growth and becomes 

 hardy. On the other hand, by sowing the winter 



THB COMMON TARE OR VETCH (viCIA BATIVA.) 



kind in the spring for a few consecutive seasons, it 

 loses its hardiness and acquires the rapid growth 

 and succulent character of the spring variety. 



Tlie vetch, like peas, beans and clover, belongs 

 to the order Leguminosoe. In appearance it does 

 not differ greatly from the pea — more especially of 

 the sweet pea, cultivated in our gardens 113 flowers. 

 The leaves are smaller and more numerous, and the 

 leaf-stalk ends in a point or tendril, which always 

 seeks some erect body to which it can cling for 

 support. The pods are much smaller than the 

 pea. We annex a drawing of the plant. 



Tlie principal use of the vetch is as a soiling 

 crop for hoises; but sheep, cattle and pigs eat 

 tiiein with great relish. There is no crop which 

 will afford moi-e milk than green vet(;hes. On an 

 English farm it is usual to sow both the winter and 

 t^pring variety. Those sown in the fall can be cut 

 in May and June, and the land afterwards sown to 

 turnips. Those sown in the spring come later, and 

 thus a succession of green crops can be kept up. 

 When the land is in good condition and the season 

 is favorable, an immense crop is obtained. It is 

 usual to sow a little rye or oats with the vetches, 

 their stiff straw serving as a support to the vetch. 

 A peck of oats or rye, and six pecks of vetches, is 

 about the proper quantity of seed per acre. 



Like peas, beans and clover, the cultivation of 

 vetches ad"d3 greatly to the fertility of the farm; 

 and it is on this account, as well as on account of 

 their nutritious qualities and great productiveness, 

 that we have so frequently called the attention of 

 our readers to this crop. If adajited to our cli- 

 mate, their introduction and extensive cultivation 

 would prove of the greatest value to American 

 agriculture. 



PIG PROTECTOES. 



The following method of preventing sows from 

 lying on their young has been given in the Gen- 

 esee Farmer^ but we find it so well described in 

 the Ohio Farmer that we transfer it again to our 

 columns : 



"One of the troubles in a pig-nursery is the 

 over-laying of the- juvenile swine by a careless 

 maternal hog. It is not at all agreeable to the 

 proprietor of such stock, when he lias progressed 

 so far as to count his chickens after they are 

 hatched, on visiting his pig-nursery in the morn- 

 ing, where he had left, the night before, a dozea 

 of the cunning little juveniles, to find hnlf of his 

 pets flat and stiff as a cold johnny-cake, I'rom hav- 

 ing been lain upon by their mother. To secure the 

 little porkers in their inalienable rights to life, lib- 

 erty, and the pursuit of happiness, we have seen a 

 plan of this sort: Against the walls of the apart- 

 ment devoted to the pig bedroom, fix a jihink like 

 a shelf, about a foot wide and some eiglit or ten 

 inches from the floor, so that when the female 

 swine lies down to rest, or give sustenance to her 

 little folks, there will be a space between her and 

 the sides of the pen, which she can not occupy, 

 and into wliich the pigs can retreat in case of a 

 pressure. Sows over-lay I'iga from their backs, 

 not from the side where the pigs get their dinner, 

 and by this contrivance the pigs are shelved away 

 from harm, and the mamma may roll about upon 

 her bed with impunity, whereas, if siie could press 

 her brood to the •v<u\\, there would be a smart 

 diance for a pig-funeral, and many of the hopeful 

 flock would never arrive to the years of discre- 

 tion." 



