VOL. XVHI. NO. 3*. 



AND HORTICULTURAL REGISTER 



289 



From Low's Pr:ictical Agriculture. 



THE TARE. 

 The Tare, T'ida saliva, is one of the most e^- 

 imed of the logiuni^ious forage plants of this coiin- 

 (England.) It is an annual plant, indigenous, 



1 hardy. There are several varieties of it, one 

 which is distinguished by producing yellow 



ids. 



rhe tare, by being sown in autumn or in sprin;;-, 

 [uires habits so ditferent, tliat many have sup- 

 ed the spring and winter tares, as they are called, 

 1)6 different species. Tliey are, however, the 

 le species, and do not even constitute botanical 

 ieties ; but, from the different habits of ripening 

 ich they acquire, they should be always sown at 



periods to which they are respectively suited ; 

 t is, the winter tarns shou'd be sown in autumn 



the spring tares in spring; for experiments 

 e shown, that the spring tares sown in autumn 

 ! frequently perish in the first frosts, while the 

 ter tares will continue uninjured. This re- 

 •es the more attention, as the seeds of the two 

 ia are so similar that no means of discrimina- 

 ■ them exist. 

 Vhen tares are cultivated for green food at a 



season, they are to be sown in spring ; and in 

 ;r to procure a succession of cuttings during 

 months of sunmier and autumn, portions of the 

 Jnd should be sown at intervals from the middle 

 larch to the end of Alay. 



Vhen tares are to be sown in autumn, for early 

 ling in the ensuing season, the land frequently 

 iives only one ploughing, after wliich the seeds 

 sown in the usual manner, and harrowed. A 

 3 further tillage, however, would be beneficial, 

 s thoroughly to prepare the ground. 

 Vhen tares are sown in spring, the land should 

 ive a ploughing before winter, as in the case of 

 !e and beans. It should be cross-ploughed 

 in in spring, and well harrowed, and receive a 

 ind ploughing, if possible; for it is always well 

 repare the surface carefully for Ihe seeds of 

 plant. After they are sown, the land should 

 oiled, to facilitate the subsequent action of the 

 he. If manure had been required for the crop, 

 ould have been applied in the previous autumn, 

 ares should always be sown on land which is 

 ood condition and clean. It is a groat error to 



tares on Ian. I which is not in this stale. The 

 s are considered in many places as a kind of 

 crop ; hence they are left to struggle with 

 ds, and made important advantages attending 

 r cultivation are lost. The management of the 



in England is much superior to that pursued in 



land. 



he quantity of seeds sown may be from .3 to 4 



els to the acre. When tlie crop is sown for 



Beds alone, a smaller quantity will suffice, as 



2 bushels to the acre. 



is common to mix a portion of some of the ce- 

 grassos with the tare, the effect of which is to 

 ;ase the quantity of fodder; the stems of the 

 ies rising above the foliage of the tares, and 



growing without interrupting each other. For 

 er tares rye is best suited, for spring tares oats 

 irley. 



ares, when used as green forage, arc cut after 

 )ods are formed, but long before the seeds be- 

 ; ripe. Tares, therefore, being in the class of 



3 not allowed to mature their seeds, are not ex- 

 ting to the soil. On the contrary, with rela- 



I 



tion to tlie farm, they arc to be considered as re- 

 storative crops, from the .piantity of manure which 

 the consumption of them affords. They arc ex- 

 ceedingly nutritious, and supply a larger quantity 

 of food for a limited period, than almost any other 

 forage crop. 



The usual mode of sowing tares is broadcast, 

 tliough they are better sown in rows, like the pea 

 and the bean. This, indeed, is by no means so es- 

 sential to the success of the crop as in the case of 

 the bean and pea, for the produce of the tare is 

 chiefly the stem and leaves, and the pods and seeds 

 are of little comparative importance; the admission 

 of air, therefore, for the swelling ofpoda and seeds 

 is not necessary. The plants, too, cover the inter- 

 vals of the rows quickly, and so do not admit of 

 much time and opportunity for tillage during their 

 growth. 



Tares are chiefly cultivated for green forage; 

 but they may be also cultivated partially for their 

 seeds. In this case, the mode of culture is the 

 same as that of the pea. The land should not be 

 too rich, so as to cause them to run to straw instead 

 of producing pods; and it is a good practice to 

 mix a small quantity of beans with them, to sup- 

 port and keep them from trailing on the ground. — 

 The beans, from their difference of size, are easily 

 separated by riddles from the tares. In the prac- 

 tice of the far.m it is common to cultivate tares for 

 green forage, and merely to resqjrve that part of the 

 crop for seeds which is not used in this manner. 

 '! hey are then reaped, stacked, and dressed, like 

 pease. 



When the tare is cut very early, it may rise 

 again and produce a second crop; and even a third 

 cutting is sometimes obtained. In the northern 

 parts of the island, the farmers scarce ever attempt 

 to produce more than one crop in the season. 



Tares are sometimes consumed by penning sheep 

 upon them ; but the better practice is to feed the 

 sheep from racks. When the larger animals are 

 fed on this food, it sliould always be supplied to 

 them from racks in houses or yards. 



All the animals of the farm are fond of this le- 

 gume, and all thrive upon it in an eminent degree. 

 Hogs may be fattened entirely upon it. It is suit- 

 ed to milch cows, causing them to give more but- 

 ter than any other species of food, and it is em- 

 ployed extensively in the feeding of horses. All 

 the English agriculturists are impressed with a 

 high opinion of the value of tares. They are not 

 only casually employed, as in Scotland, to fill up 

 the intervals between the cuttings of clovers, but 

 they are often the principal source of feeding from 

 the month of May to November. 



There are several species of vicia, with broad 

 leaves, resembling those of beans, cultivated in 

 Germany for the same purposes as the tare : 

 1. Vicia narbonnensis — Narl~6iine Vetch. 

 9. Vicia platycarpos-^Broad-podded Vetch. 

 •i. Vicia serratifolia — Saw-leaved Vetch. 

 Hut none of these species is equal in productive- 

 ness to the common tare. 



Another of the genus vicia is Vicia pseudo-crac- 

 ca, Annual Tufted Vetch. This species is of very 

 luxuriant growth, but flowers at a late season. !t is 

 as yet untried in the agriculture of this country. 

 It might, perhaps, supply a desideratum, namely, 

 the affording of a large quantity of green forage 

 afler the pastures have begun to decay in autuum, 

 and before the turnips and similar plants are ready 

 for use. 



Vicia biennis, Biennial Vetch, is a native of Si- 



beria. This species is of luxuriant growth, and 

 conies early in spring. It was cultivated by Mil- 

 ler so long ago as 175!), and reconnnended by him 

 as a plant of great promise; but no experiments 

 upon it on the large scale are recorded. Its stems 

 have a certain degree of hardness, and its loaves a 

 somewhat insipid taste. 



Vicia syhntica, Wood Vetch, is perennial. It 

 grows in woods with a stem from 3 to r> feet high, 

 climbing by its tendril.^, and bearing beautiful little 

 flowers streaked with bluish veins. The wood 

 vetch, as its name denotes is truly the inhabitant of 

 woods, and, when removed to exposed situations, 

 its size and productiveness diminish. For this rea- 

 son, perhaps, it is not adapted to cultivation. 



Vicia Crncca, Tufted Vetch, grows in hedges 

 and bushy places, climbing' also by tendrils, and 

 bearing numerous purple flowers. It is, like the 

 last, perennial,- but is more productive when remov- 

 ed from its natural habitat. It is, however, Lite in 

 growing, and appears to be much inferior in useful- 

 ness to the clovers. It grows on soils of low fer- 

 tility. 



Vida septum, Bush Vetch, is a plant growing 

 also in hedges and bushy places. It is peiennial, 

 flowers early, and yields a good weight of jiroduce. 

 Although its natural habitat is bushy and shady pla- 

 ces, it grows in cultivated fields, and has a some- 

 what wide range of soils. From these characters, 

 and the trials that have been made, there is rea- 

 son to infer that the bush vetcit would be a benefi- 

 cial addition to the cultivated herbage plants of this 

 country. There is great difiiculty in procuring its 

 seeds in its wild state, from its dispersing them as 

 soon as ripe ; a character, however, which would 

 probably be changed by cultivation, as happens in 

 the case of otlier wild plants. 



Of the important genus Vicia, about 100 species 

 have been enumerated by botanists, and many of 

 them seem to be highly deserving of experiment 

 for their economical uses. 



[Communicated.] 



ROHAN POTATOES. 



Mr Breck — Having grown the Rohan potatoes 

 for the two years past, I would suggest, from my 

 observation, that they should be planted early, on 

 rich, moist land, with not more than two eyes to a 

 hill. On dry land 1 should fear the bone manure. 

 In fact, I have not succeeded with bone, with any 

 potatoes or corn. My yield in the garden without 

 forcing, and with barnyard manure, has been about 

 136 per cent. : in a poor field, where the crop 

 was overtaken by the frost, with the vines rank and 

 green, and of course not at maturity, was 50 per 

 cent. But in any case I have no doubt they will 

 come into general culture, and when we have been 

 fully advised of their habit.s, they will prove them- 

 selves a cTent favorite of the farmer. F. 



Avarice. — ••Never has the avaricious man enough 

 and never is he happy. He has no relish for the 

 enjoyments of life, and deprives himself of its neces- 

 saries to increase his riche.s. He fancies himself 

 indigent, and trembles with the apprehension that 

 he will yet have to beg' his bread. By degrees he 

 withers away, without having confHrred a single 

 benefit upon his species, and the fruits of his sel- 

 fishness are left to his heirs, who do not even re- 

 spect his memory. 



