HAIRY VETCH 435 



fall-sown grain crop. The time of sowing varies from September to 

 November. When sown alone, about one bushel of seed per acre is 

 required,, but under unfavorable conditions this may be increased 

 as high as two bushels per acre. In mixtures it is most commonly 

 sown with oats at the rate of thirty to sixty pounds of vetch seed 

 with equal weight of oats. The oats and vetch will mature at about 

 the same time the following season, and can be cut together for forage 

 or permitted to ripen and threshed together for grain. 



Harvesting. Vetch sown in pure culture is very difficult to 

 harvest, as it forms a dense, viny mass not easy to separate. When 

 allowed to ripen for the seed crop, it shells so easily that the horses 

 or machinery should not run over the cut vetch. It is the general 

 custom to have two men follow the mowing machine and roll the cut 

 swath out of the way. 



For hay or forage, it should be cut in full bloom. It is not at 

 all difficult to cure, though some difficulty is experienced in handling 

 it, due to its viny nature. It is for this reason that it is so com- 

 monly grown with a grain crop. The grain crop not only supports 

 the vetch vines, making the crop much easier to handle and cure, but 

 almost as good yields of vetch seed will be secured in the mixture as 

 when sown alone. 



Pasture. Vetch makes an excellent winter pasture. If desired, 

 the animals may be taken off in the spring and the crop harvested, or 

 they may be continued on the pasture till midsummer. Vetch and 

 burr clover probably make the two best winter pasture plants for the 

 southern States. 



Vetch makes an excellent cover crop, either to be plowed under 

 as green manure or in orchards. It can usually be plowed under 

 early enough in the spring to replant the land to another crop, such as 

 corn or cotton. 



Vetch seed (Fig. 186) is produced extensively in western Oregon. 

 The average yield is about twelve bushels per acre, but yields of 

 twenty to twenty-five bushels are not uncommon. At present about 

 half of the seed used in this country is imported from Europe. 



Hairy vetch is also known as Russian vetch, sand vetch, and in 

 the United States very commonly as winter vetch. Hairy vetch is a 



