18 FARM PRACTICE WITH FOEAGE CROPS IN OREGON, ETC. 



all that has been said regarding the seeding of red clover applies 

 equally well to alsike clover. 



COMMON VETCH. 



The common vetch (Vicia sat? '-a) is perfectly adapted to condi- 

 tions west of the Cascade Mountains in Oregon and Washington and 

 thrives even on very poor soil. It has been grown in the Willamette 

 Valley for many years, and is rapidly replacing red clover in many 

 localities. It is an annual legume of great value as a nitrogen 

 gatherer, as a green manure, and as a soiling, hay. and pasture plant. 

 It is also a very valuable cover crop in orchards when sown in the 

 early fall. It makes excellent ensilage, and dairy cattle prefer the 

 hay to that of red clover. The yield of cured hay is from H to I 

 tons per acre. A seed crop yields from 15 to 30 bushels per acre, the 

 yield depending quite largely upon the efficiency with which the seed 

 is saved. A bushel of clean seed weighs a little more than 60 pounds. 



METHODS OF SOWING. 



Common vetch stands the winters admirably in western Oregon 

 and western Washington, and is sown in the autumn from the last 

 of August to the last of November. It is sown also in the early 

 spring, but fall seeding usually gives the largest yields. The stems 

 of this vetch are not strong, and heavy crops are inclined to flatten 

 out on the ground. When in this fallen condition it soon begins to 

 mold and is very difficult to harvest. To furnish support for it and 

 keep it up off the ground a bushel of oats, wheat, or rye. and a bushel 

 of vetch per acre are usually sown together. Oat hay. especially for 

 dairy purposes, is usually preferred to that of wheat or rye. and for 

 this reason oats are usually sown with vetch, winter oats being sown 

 in the fall and spring oats in the spring. It is a common practice 

 with vetch growers to sow winter oats and vetch broadcast in the 

 early fall on land that has raised a spring crop and to cover the seed 

 with a disk harrow. If the land is loose and easily worked, this 

 method gives good results, but like most other crops vetch gives much 

 better yields if sown on a well-prepared seed bed. If the ground is 

 packed, or if the seeding is done in the spring, the land is usually 

 plowed and a good seed bed prepared. 



SOILING. 



Sown with rye the last of August or early in September, common 

 vetch should be ready for soiling, i. e.. feeding green, from April 15 

 to May 1 : sown with winter oats or wheat October 1. it should be 

 ready about May 1 : sown with winter oats or wheat in the late fall, 

 it should be ready about June 1 : sown with oats in February, it 



