WINTER GREEN-MANURE CROPS. 23 
Fenugreek does best on a good, deep loamy soil, but such a soil is 
not necessary for success, as the plant does quite well on a gravelly 
or asandy soil. It is not adapted, however, to a soil that will become 
hard, like heavy clay or adobe. The crop should be sown either 
broadcast or in close drills. Thirty pounds of seed per acre is neces- 
sary for a green-manure crop, while less is best for a seed crop. Care 
should be taken not to plant the seed too deep. 
SEED PRODUCTION. 
The fenugreek seed handled by American seedsmen is almost 
entirely imported. The demand for it has been so slight that only 
small stocks are handled. The imported seed comes from the Medi- 
terranean countries, chiefly from Egypt and Palestine. The seed 
of fenugreek used in the orchard green-manure work in California is 
grown almost entirely in Orange and Ventura counties, in which 
localities a good crop of fine seed can be produced. 
Possibly the only sections where fenugreek can be grown profitably 
as a seed crop are where the winters are very mild, having at most light 
frosts, so that with late fall seeding there will be a sufficient growth 
made during the winter months. An ordinary grain drill is the best 
implement to use in seeding. From 15 to 20 pounds of seed per acre 
are sufficient. After seeding, nothing is done with the crop until it 
is harvested. In the interior valleys an irrigation at the time of 
seeding is necessary. 
The crop can be cut with an ordinary mower, and after a short time 
should be raked into windrows. Here it should be allowed to cure 
for several days before thrashing, which can be done with an ordinary 
thrashing machine. In so far as possible the crop should be taken 
from the windrows in the early morning, there being less shattering 
of the seed when handled at this time. The pods when very dry 
drop from the stem and dehisce, or break open slightly, although 
the loss of seed from this cause is not great. 
The quantity of seed produced per acre varies as with any other 
crop, and while there are few definite figures as to yields, in Ventura 
and Orange counties, where the best fenugreek seed crops are produced, 
probably 1,500 pounds per acre is an average yield. At Chico, in 
northern California, plantings in ;';-acre plats yielded at the rate 
of 490 pounds of seed per acre, while one smaller plat yielded at the 
rate of 1,315 pounds per acre. The Chico plantings were made with 
irrigation the first half of October, 1908. The crop was harvested 
the Ist of June, 1909. 
HAIRY VETCH. 
The hairy or winter vetch ( Vicia villosa) is not so well adapted for 
green-manure purposes as is the common vetch, and it has not been 
used except in a very limited way. Under California conditions it 
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