a 
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
DEPARTMENT BULLEHN% 1289 
Washington, D. C. 
anuary 26, 1925 
COMMON VETCH AND ITS VARIETIES 
By Roland McKee, Agronomist, and Harry A. Schgth, Assistant Agronomist, 
Office of Forage-Crop Investigations, Bureau of Plant Industry 
CONTENTS 
Page 
Introduction 1 
Area adapted to common vetch 2 
Common names - 3 
Description of Vicia sativa 3 
Described botanical varieties or subspecies. . 3 
Numbers classified 5 
Varietal variation 6 
Description of the varieties -■ 7 
Nonshattering varieties 9 
Winter hardiness 9 
Viability of seed 10 
The relation of tripping to seed setting 12 
Page 
Insects visiting flowers of common vetch and 
its varieties 13 
Seed and straw yields of varieties 14 
Rate of seeding n 
Time of seeding 17 
Method of seeding 17 
Depth of seeding 18 
Continuous cropping and rotation with oats 
compared 18 
Rotations with various crops 19 
Literature cited 20 
INTRODUCTION » 
Common vetch (Vicia sativa) is a very variable species. Many of 
its variations have been described as species, others as botanical 
varieties. Vicia angustifolia, which is sometimes considered a sub- 
species of Vicia sativa, is here regarded as a distinct species. It is 
distinguished by its smaller flowers, which are 1.8 centimeters or less 
long, and pods without constrictions between the seeds and smooth 
and black at maturity. 
The early use of common vetch as an agricultural crop antedates 
historic records. According to De Candolle (I) 2 , the earliest refer- 
ence to its culture was by Cato, about 60 B. C, when it was grown 
for both seed and fodder. It is native to the Mediterranean region 
and is now cultivated over a wide range of European territory. The 
oldest records indicate that it was introduced into the United States 
as early as the eighteenth century. Thomas Walter lists it in his 
Flora Caroliniana, 1788 (9). Later references to its presence in the 
United States are by Torrey in his Catalogue of Plants (7), which 
indicates that it was growing spontaneously in New York in 1819, 
1 All forage-crop work at Corvallis, Oreg., is conducted in cooperation with the Oregon Agricultural 
College and Experiment Station, and credit for the results obtained is hereby acknowledged as jointly due 
that institution. 
2 The serial numbers (italic) in parentheses refer to "Literature cited," at the end of this bulletin. 
2025°— 25t- 
