176 AGRICULTURE 



ber, 2 to 4 pecks of vetch seed per acre being mixed with 

 the usual amount of seed of wheat or oats. Vetch has an 

 advantage over crimson clover, for, unlike clover, it can 

 re-seed the land. If the farmer will let vetch plants form 

 seed, these seed, dropped in May, will remain sound in the 

 ground all summer while a crop of cowpeas or sorghum is 

 growing on the field. In the fall they sprout and grow 

 without requiring that the land be plowed. To make sure 

 that seeds are dropped on the ground, vetch should not be 

 closely grazed after the middle of April in the Gulf states. 

 If it is mixed with an early variety of beardless wheat, the 

 hay may be mown so early that enough second growth of 

 vetch will afterwards be made to mature seed. Vetch may 

 be inoculated either with soil from a field of any kind of 

 vetch or with soil from a spot where garden peas have 

 grown. This is because vetch and garden peas are very 

 closely related. 



Alfalfa. This is a clover-like legume, the roots of which 

 may live for many years. Alfalfa seed may be sown in 

 the cotton belt either early in the fall or early in the 

 spring. Three to five cuttings of hay can be made each 

 year. It is, therefore, the most valuable of all forage 

 plants for soils that suit it. Unfortunately, it does not 

 generally do well in most sandy soils in the Southern states. 

 Sometimes fertile, sandy land will grow it well if the farmer 

 can get rid of the seeds of crab grass and weeds, and if he 

 uses much lime, besides manure or fertilizer. Favorite 

 soils for alfalfa are the stiff, waxy lime lands of Alabama, 

 Mississippi, and Texas, and stiff, rich, but well-drained 

 river bottom lands. 



