O72 FORAGE CROPS 
BROAD OR HORSE BEAN 
This plant (Vicia Faba, or Faba vulgaris), 
probably native to northern Africa and south- 
west Asia, is often mentioned in American writ- 
ings, but it has never made much headway here. 
It is a stiff, erect-growing plant, wholly unlike 
the common bean in appearance. It grows two 
to four feet high. It produces large pods and 
big usually flat or flattish seeds. It is more like 
the pea than the bean in its relation to climate, 
as it withstands some frost. It has been cultivated 
from prehistoric times and its nativity is in 
doubt. It is much grown in Europe, primarily 
for forage purposes, although the seed may be 
used, both full grown and immature, for human 
food. It demands a cool climate and a long 
growing season and does not do well under the 
hot, dry summers of the United States. It is 
grown successfully in parts of Canada, where it 
has been used somewhat with corn and sunflower 
to make silage; this combination is known as the 
“Robertson mixture.” This mixture does not seem 
to have made much headway. Frequently the 
plants are grown to full maturity and a meal made 
from the bean. 
Planting may be made early in spring in 
clay loams. The seed is sown in rows, twenty to 
twenty-eight inches apart, so as to allow for 
