150 AGRICULTURE 



2. The Vetches 



The vetches are another group of legumes, grown most 

 extensively on the Pacific Coast, less commonly in the South, 

 and hardly at all in the North. Although more than one 

 hundred different varieties of vetch are known, but two are 

 commonly grown in the United States, common vetch and 

 hairy vetch. 



Common vetch. Common vetch is an annual, closely 

 resembling the garden pea. Its stems are very slender, 

 and grow from three to five feet or more in length. There 

 are many different varieties of common vetch, of which the 

 gray-seeded is most commonly grown in this country. 



Low temperatures are fatal to common vetch ; it can not 

 be successfully raised in regions where the thermometer 

 goes lower than about fifteen degrees Fahrenheit. Since the 

 vetches have a long weak stem, they are usually planted 

 with a crop of small grain to support them. Common vetch 

 is largely grown for hay in the extreme West, where it is 

 sown in the fall with wheat or oats. In the South, oats, 

 rye or barley often are grown with vetch. 



Hairy vetch. Hairy vetch is much more hardy than 

 common vetch, and may be raised in almost any portion 

 of the United States. It finds its greatest use in supplying 

 a legume for forage and improving the soil where red clover 

 or alfalfa does not succeed, or where a short rotation crop 

 is desired. 



Hairy vetch has great power to resist drought, and 

 does well on a sandy soil. It will also thrive on a soil so 

 alkaline that most legumes refuse to grow on it. 



3. Soy-Beans 



Soy-beans are native to Asia, where they have been 

 grown .from time immemorial. In China, India and Japan, 



