to have his fields disturbed, the labor of hauling and the replacing 

 of the soil taken away are the chief hindrances. Where vetch is to 

 be grown extensively it is advisable to sow a small area first on good 

 well-manured land, treating the seed with one or another of the com- 

 mercial cultures now on the market and using the soil from this area 

 for larger plantings. 



The rate of seeding varies considerably. Where there is apt to 

 be danger from winter killing, heavy seeding is desirable. One hun- 

 dred and twenty pounds per acre under poor conditions .of soil and 

 climate to as low as sixty pounds per acre under favorable conditions 

 are necessary. The same holds true when sown with oats, a heavy 

 seeding being ninety pounds of vetch and seventy pounds of oats. As 

 low as forty pounds of vetch and ten pounds of oats have produced 

 good crops. The present price of common vetch seed is about five 

 cents per pound. Seed one year old will probably germinate better 

 than fresh seed and little difference is noted up to three years, when 

 it rapidly deteriorates. In many coast sections vetch that has proved 

 a failure the first year has produced large yields the second year. 

 Thousands of acres in California now producing a scanty weedy 

 pasture or a poor crop of oats could be sown to vetch or vetch and 

 oats, with the result that there would be more and better feed for 

 stock and the soil greatly benefited. Dairy farmers not growing 

 alfalfa should utilize their farm manure for growing large crops of 

 vetch. 



The seed may be drilled or broadcasted in a similar manner to 

 that described for field peas. The crop may be used as pasture, cut 

 and fed green daily, put into the silo, or made into hay. Stock eat 

 vetch with relish. Vetch should be pastured only when the land is 

 dry, as otherwise much of the feed is destroyed by trampling and the 

 soil unduly packed. As in the case of peas, the vines should be cut 

 when the first blossoms have formed pods and the new growth still 

 well in bloom. An ordinary mower may be used, with two men fol- 

 lowing the mower to fork it out of the way of the next swath. It is 

 more satisfactory, however, to use a swather attachment which takes 

 the place of the men. The hay should remain for at least a day 

 before being bunched and shocked, but care must be taken that the 

 leaves do not get too dry. From two to four tons of hay may be 

 expected. A fair pasturage is produced at the base of the stems after 

 soiling. By sowing at different dates, from October to February, a 

 succession of green feed may be secured. Because of the palatability 

 of the vetch hay and its high protein content, averaging 15 per cent, 



