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From PETER MEHDERSOM @. CO., MEW YORM 39 



SAND or WINTER VETCH SIS 



SUCCEEDS ON SOILS OF THE LOWEST FERTILITY 

 THE BEST LEGUME FOK SANDY SOILS 



KEMAINS GREEN ALL WINTER, FURNISHING ABUNDANT PASTURAGE 



Although Sand Vetch succeeds, and even 

 produces good crops on poor sandy soils, it is, 

 naturally, more vigorous on better land. Under 

 such conditions the plant produces numerous 

 branches 3 to 6 feet long. Both leaves and 

 branches are covered with fine hairs, hence it 

 is sometimes called "Hairy Vetch." The seeds 

 are black, small in size, and when the crop is 

 not pastured too closely, the ripened pods 

 burst open and re-seed the field. Sand Vetch 

 is hardy all over the United States, and in most 

 places remains green all winter. The crop may 

 be seeded, either from the middle of August to 

 the middle of September, or in the spring from 

 the middle of April to the middle of May. 



Sown in the fall it should be mixed with 

 Mammoth Red Clover or Rye to serve as a 

 support for the vines, thus keeping the forage 

 off the ground. 



If sown in the spring it may be mixed with 

 Oats or Barley. Fall sown crops furnish some 

 forage before winter comes, and as growth 

 starts very early in the spring it can be pastured, 

 cut for hay, or turned under to renovate the soil. 



FOR PASTURE 



Sand Vetch is also of great value for the 

 pasture it furnishes, as well as for hay. It is 

 as rich and nutritious a fodder as Alfalfa, 

 Clover or Cow Peas, forms an excellent food for 

 growing animals, and encourages milk produc- 

 tion. 



All stock relish it, whether fed as green forage 

 or cured hay, and it may be fed to them with 

 perfect safety. Sand Vetch is decidedly the 

 best forage crop to grow in the Northern states, 

 instead of Scarlet Clover, which winter kills in 

 those latitudes. Every dairyman and stock- 

 breeder in the United States should grow this 

 valuable crop, for there is no doubt that once 

 they try it, they wiU never be another season 

 without it. 



AS A HAY CROP 



Sand Vetch is the earliest crop for cutting, being at least a month 

 earlier than Scarlet Clover, so that it is possible to harvest a full 

 crop of Vetches, and yet have the land ready in time for spring 

 crops. It is especially valuable in the South and in dry western 

 regions, as it may be sown in the fall, making a luxuriant growth 

 during the fall and spring months, yielding a heavy crop, which can 

 be cut and stored before drought sets in. Sand Vetch sown at the 

 Colorado Experiment Station, June 10th in rows 40 inches apart, 

 using 30 pounds of seed per acre yielded SJ/g tons of cured hay per 

 acre. The field was afterwards turned into pasture, which was 

 greatly reUshed by both horses and cattle. 



AS A SOIL ENRICHEK 



As its name would imply, there is no plant that succeeds better 

 on poor, sandy, or other soils low in fertility, and it is undoubtedly 

 the best legume for enriching such lands, having the power of 

 accumulating large quantities of nitrogen in the soil. Although 



succeeding on such soils without fertilizer, the Alabama Experiment 

 Station found it profitable to add 240 pounds of acid phosphate and 

 40 pounds of muriate of potash per acre when grown on such lands. 



AS A COVEK CROP 



The foremost orchardists highly recommend Sand Vetch as a 

 cover crop. Soluble plant food in porous soils leaches away in 

 considerable amounts during the late fall and early spring, when 

 the roots of trees are not actively foraging for it. Especially is 

 this the case on loose sloping lands v/hich often suffer severely from 

 erosion. Fertilizing elements which would otherwise be wasted are 

 caught by the cover crop, and when it is plowed under and rotted 

 become available food for the trees in the spring. 



Owing to the fact that it grows late in the fall, and to its ability 

 to live over winter, Sand Vetch is certainly the best cover crop 

 for orchards. {See engraving.) 



Sow one bushel per acre, vvith one-half bushel of Rye or Wheat. 



Price, 25c. per lb.; $13.75 per bushel of 60 lbs.; 100 lbs., $22.00. 



For SPRING VETCHES or TARES (Vicia sativa), see page 45 



