6 PRODUCTION OF HAIRY VETCH SEED. 



nutritious. In growing such mixtures for seed, enough grain is used 

 to make about two-thirds of a stand and 20 pounds of the vetch seed 

 are added. Such a mixed crop is easily cut with a mower having a 

 swather attachment, or even with a binder. If more vetch is used 

 it is liable to lodge, especially in spots where the vetch is thick, and 

 the mowing is therefore rendered more difficult. 



Where hairy vetch is planted alone, it nearly always becomes more 

 or less lodged, and should be mowed, if possible, against the direction 

 in which most of it is lying. After cutting the first swath, it should 

 be rolled upon the uncut vetch before cutting the second swath. The 

 two swaths should then be rolled out clear from the uncut vetch. 

 Sometimes three swaths are combined in this way. The cut vetch 

 should not be handled more than is necessary in curing, and care 

 should be taken in shocking to cover the pods as much as possible. 

 Hay caps are very desirable for this purpose. In thrashing pure 

 vetch it is sometimes desirable to have sharpened teeth on the con- 

 caves, as long vetch is inclined to wrap about the cylinder. 



If hairy vetch is pastured rather late, the subsequent growth will 

 not be tall, but often is heavily set with pods. The same result can 

 be obtained by cutting the vetch early and feeding it green or putting 

 it into a silo. Such a second crop is much more easily mowed than 

 tall vetch, and in some instances excellent seed crops have been thus 

 secured. 



Some farmers obtain their own supply of seed by cutting hairy vetch 

 for hay rather late, i. e., after some of the pods have ripened. Much 

 of this seed will rattle to the bottom of the mow, especially if a little 

 care is taken to shake each forkful as it is being used for feed. Such 

 late cutting reduces slightly the value of the hay, but the seed obtained 

 often justifies the practice. 



Hairy vetch ripens its pods over a period of two or three weeks. 

 The best crops are obtained when the first pods are fully ripe and the 

 upper pods well filled. The latter ripen in the shocks, and if carefully 

 handled comparatively few of the ripe pods shatter. It is best to cut 

 the crop early in the morning or on a cloudy day. In any event the 

 vetch, whether cut in bundles or otherwise, should be put into shocks 

 at once and left thus till thrashed. The most important rule is to 

 handle the cut crop rapidly and as little as possible. 



An incidental advantage to the use of locally grown hairy vetch 

 seed is its much better germinating quality. Old seed has a large 

 percentage of hard seeds, which lie in the ground a long time without 

 sprouting and which are practically valueless to the farmer. Fresh 

 samples collected in Europe in 1911 gave a uniformly high germina- 

 tion, only one testing below 91.5 per cent. Imported seed, which is 

 usually 1 year old, frequently shows a hard-seed content of 10 to 40 

 per cent. 



