SAND or WINTER VETC 
(Vicia 
villosa) 
SUI ees ON SOS: OF. THE LOWEST. FERTILITY 
jot HE. BDEST LEGUME FOR. SANDY: SOILS 
REMAINS 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 will 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 31, tons of cured hay per 
acre. 
greatly relished by both horses and cattle. 
AS A SOIL ENRICHER 
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 
The field was afterwards turned into pasture,- which was | 
| 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 COVER. 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 Joose sloping lands which 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 cut.) 
Sow one bushel per acre, with one-half bushel of Rye or Wheat. 
Price, 15c. per lb.; $8.25 per bushel of 60 lbs.; 100 lbs., $13.00. 
If by mail, add 8c. per lb. 
For SPRING VETCHES or TARES (Vicia sativa), see page 43 
