16 BULLETIN 876, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
Probably the advantages of the two methods are very nearly 
equal, and the decision as to which to use depends on the kind of 
harvesting machinery available. 
In seasons of plentiful rainfall, hairy vetch is sometimes pastured 
early in the season or harvested for hay and a second crop secured for 
seed. The second crop is rather uncertain and only rarely produces 
more than half as much seed as the first crop would have done, 
although the combined value of hay and seed may exceed that of 
seed alone. The seeond crop consists of one or two straggling stalks 
from each root. These stalks usually lie so close to the ground that 
special knife guards on the mowing machine are necessary to pick 
up the prostrate vines. (Fig. 5.) 
«IG. 5.—A mowing machine equipped with lifter guards and a side-delivery bunching attachment for 
harvesting lodged vetch. 
METHODS OF HARVESTING. 
When hairy vetch is harvested in the semigreen stage it can be 
cut only with a mowing machine or by hand. Neither the binder 
nor the self-rake reaper can be used in green hairy vetch, as the 
knives and elevators become hopelessly tangled and choked, while 
the bundles hang together in strings and can hardly be discharged 
from the machine. Even with a mowing machine the task of har- 
vesting green hairy vetch is not easy, and the driver must expect to 
stop frequently to clear away the vines from the cutter bar. In 
cutting green hairy vetch a mower with a short cutter bar, 44 or 
5 feet long, is easier to operate than a larger machine, and because of 
the less frequent stops it covers quite as much ground in a day. 
Some kinds of mowers can be equipped with a short, stout, double- 
bladed bar, known as a brush-cutting bar, which has been found very 
satisfactory in a heavy growth. Hairy vetch which is badly lodged 
can be mowed only in the direction opposite to that from which the 
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