2 BULLETIN 1174, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
34372. There have been no noticeable differences in the plants from 
the different introductions. At the present time (1923) a few farmers 
in western Oregon have Hungarian vetch planted in commercial 
acreages. Seed has not been available previously for large acreage 
plantings. 
DESCRIPTION. 
Hungarian vetch is much less viny than common vetch or hairy 
vetch. The plants are semidecumbent or ascend with support. 
Both the stems and the leaves have a covering of medium-long hairs 
which give the plants a decided grayish color. Under average con- 
ditions the stems attain a height of 2 to 2\ feet. The leaves have 
three or four pairs of linear leaflets, which are from three-fourths to 
1 inch long. From one to six, usually three or four, cream-colored 
flowers are borne in a cluster. The standard, or largest, petal has a 
few brown-colored stripes, and the keel, or smaller and inner petals, 
is usually greenish brown. The plump pubescent or hairy pods con- 
tain an average of four seeds each. These are mottled grayish brown 
and are round or somewhat flattened on account of being compressed 
in the pod. (Figs. 1 and 2.) 
LONGEVITY AND HARD SEED. 
Seed of Hungarian vetch retains its vitality under average condi- 
tions for a number of years. Germination tests made at Corvallis, 
Oreg., show that locally grown seed of different years germinates 
well in all cases and that it retains its vitality with little or no decrease 
through a five-year period. A test in 1921 of seed grown in 1912 at 
Chico, Calif., gave 60 per cent germination and no hard seed. In 
the tests at Corvallis even the 1 -year-old seed never contained more 
than 1 per cent of hard seed. Table 1 gives the results of these tests. 
Table 1. — Percentage of germination and hard seed in Hungarian vetch' 1 grown at 
Corvallis, Oreg., and Chico, Calif., in various years from 1912 to 1921. 
Age. Dates. 
Germination test. 
i Seed - *»**• nSloi Hard ' 
1 year 1919-20 
3 years 1917-1920 
4 years 1916-1920 
5 years 1915-1920, 
9 vears 1912-1921 
Per cent. 
Per cent. 
100 
21 
99 
h 
Corvallis, Ores 
100 
21 
98 
1 
Do. 
100 
21 
98i 
i 
Do. 
100 
21 
97' 
1 
Do. 
50 
7 
GO 

Chico, Calif. 
i Tests were made in duplicate. 
CLIMATIC REQUIREMENTS. 
An equable and comparatively cool growing season is essential 
for Hungarian vetch to attain its maximum development. It 
should be sown in the fall in regions having a winter temperature 
not lower than 10° F. above zero as the usual minimum. In colder 
areas it should be grown as an early-sown spring crop. Hungarian 
vetch can not stand hot weather at anv time. In its earlv stages 
