1912. 
THE RURAE NEW-YORKER 
811 
THE WONDERFUL VETCH. 
Growing the Seed. 
I have been much interested in the vetch subject in The 
It. N.-Y. under date of May 4, 1912. I would like to ask 
Prof. A. D. Shamel or other experienced vetch growers the 
following questions : 
1. IIow early in this part of the State, namely, Easton, 
Pa., and vicinity, can or should Spring vetch (Yicia sativa) 
together with oats, be sown so as not to injure the vetch 
seed or plants any? Some people say that it is a tender 
plant, and could not be sown as early as oats on account 
>f being injured by frost. 
2. When cut for hay what is the best method to cure 
same for the best nutritious hay? 
3. IIow late can it be sown and give a valuable crop of 
hay? E. f. k. 
Easton, Pa. 
1. My impression is that the proper time to sow 
vetch, Vicia sativa, with oats, is at the regular time 
for oat seeding. While I have not had experience in 
this matter in the vicinity of Eastern Pennsylvania, 
I have used this method with perfectly satisfactory 
results in Connecticut under somewhat similar cli¬ 
matic conditions. It might be well to try this plan on 
a small scale at first, but if it were my crop I 
should not hesitate to sow the vetch and oats seed 
together at the regular oat sowing period. There is 
one other factor, viz., the source of Vicia sativa seed. 
If produced in a hot country it is more likely to be 
injured by early seeding than when grown under the 
cooler climatic conditions of our own Pacific North¬ 
west. I am under the impression that Washington, 
Oregon, Idaho or Utah grown seed, the 
principal sources of American grown 
seed, is safer for this purpose than im¬ 
ported seed, provided local home-grown 
seed is not available. At the same time 
I have known of splendid results from 
the use of V. sativa seed imported from 
Germany, and this seed is usually of 
reasonable price. 
I would like to urge as strongly as 
lies in my power the home growing of 
V. sativa seed as well as V. villosa in 
the districts where the seed is to be 
sown. Owing to the upright habit of 
growth of Vicia sativa plants it is a com¬ 
paratively simple matter to grow seed 
crops of this vetch species. Again, the 
seeds are comparatively large and are 
easily separated from grain crops, such 
as oats, by means of proper screens. 
Wherever seeds set of this vetch the 
growing of seed crops will be found to 
be highly profitable, and the effect in the 
soil where the vetch crops are grown 
will be beneficial. In seeding for this 
purpose I would suggest trying about 
one-half bushel of vetch seed and one 
and one-half bushels of oats per acre. 
The vetch seeds will not ripen probably 
until after the oat crop is ripe, resulting 
in some loss of oats, so the late matur¬ 
ing varieties of oats are usually prefer¬ 
able for this purpose, when the vetch 
is grown for seed purposes. Sow in the 
usual manner for oats. When the vetch 
seeds are ripe, cut with a mower and 
pile in small cocks to cure thoroughly. 
If possible protect these cocks with caps 
of some kind. The mixed seed can be 
thrashed out in the ordinary grain or other thrasher, 
adjusting the sieves to separate the vetch and oat 
seeds. It is usually desirable to run the thrasher as 
slowly as is consistent with good thrashing. After 
thrashing run the seed through a fanning mill to re¬ 
move dirt, chaff, light seeds and weed seeds. If 
the separation of seed oats and vetch cannot be done 
effectively or easily in the thrasher, it can be accom¬ 
plished by adjutsing the screens in the fanning mill. 
If a thrasher is not available the seeds can be thrashed 
out with flails. In this case, the crop, after curing in 
the field, can be stored in barns until it is convenient 
to flail out the seed. After the seeds are flailed out, 
the seed should be cleaned by the use of the fanning 
mill, and the oat and vetch seed separated at that time. 
Barley will be found to be a satisfactory nurse crop 
for V. sativa; in some cases where barley is the 
leading crop perhaps it will be found to be more suit¬ 
able for this purpose than oats. 
If the farmers of this country realized the tremen¬ 
dous value of the vetches, V. villosa and V. sativa. for 
soil improvement purposes and for forage, they would 
universally begin experiments in raising an adequate 
supply of homegrown seed. The enormous increase in 
the use of these crops in the past three or four years 
has resulted in a continual advance in the price of 
seed, until in some cases it is almost prohibitive. In 
the writer’s opinion there is no more important prob¬ 
lem in American agriculture at the present time than 
the economical growing of vetch seed both for home 
use and for sale. If I could have the farmers, read¬ 
ers of this paper, take a trip with me in Southern Cali¬ 
fornia for one day, where I could show them some of 
the most productive Citrus groves in the world, where 
little and in some cases no commercial fertilizer has 
been used, where but little manure is available at pres¬ 
ent, and where the productiveness of the groves has 
been maintained by the use of vetch cover crops for 
years, I feel sure they would give this subject the at¬ 
tention and thought it really deserves. Again I could 
show them in the corn belt where the yield of corn has 
been improved one hundred per cent by the use of 
vetch crops in corn lands, and immeasurably more than 
by the use of any or all commercial fertilizers used 
up to this time on these farms. 
I consider that The R. N.-Y. is doing a great work 
for our agriculture in promoting an interest in these 
wonderful legumes. We know hardly anything about 
them yet, but the thousands of intelligent farmers who 
are now experimenting with these crops will soon 
evolve methods of growing, seed production and use in 
feeding that will make the growing of these crops 
universal. The chief cause of failure that I have 
investigated in the case of both V. sativa and V. villosa 
is poor seed, and that comes from a section that is 
not suitable for producing seed for the region where 
it is to be used, and seed of low vitality. This trou¬ 
ble can be eliminated by sending samples of the seed, 
before sowing, to the local State experiment stations 
or to the Bureau of Plant Industry of the U. S. De¬ 
partment of Agriculture at Washington. D. C., for 
analysis. In this way an expert and reliable opinion 
of the character and quality of the seed can be ob¬ 
tained without cost, that may save much trouble and 
disappointment and loss. The writer discovered last 
Summer near Plartford, Connecticut, in the Connec¬ 
ticut Valley, that one seed dealer had sold Dwarf 
Essex rape seed for vetch seed (V. sativa). When I 
discovered accidentally this condition and called tho 
farmer’s attention to it, he was naturally angry. Pie 
got his money for the seed back, but could not recover 
the use of the land for that season. 
2. Cut the oats and vetch crop when the oats are 
in the dough stage. Cut with a mower exactly as 
cutting the oat crop for hay. Rake into windrows, 
pile into small cocks, and cure in these cocks. This 
crop can then be baled, or piled loosely under shelter 
in the ordinary manner. If in a rainy season it is 
desirable to protect the cocks with covers of some 
kind if possible. I am confident that the resulting crop 
will be found to be one of the most nutritious that 
can be grown on the farm. 
3. This question can only be determined by actual 
trial under local conditions. T do not think that air? 
general answer can be given to this question, and each 
locality must determine this matter individually. I am 
not sure, but would recommend trying it whenever it 
is convenient to sow it. It must be kept in mind that 
V. sativa will winter-kill in the North. If a hardy 
crop is wanted use Hairy vetch, V. villosa. 
A. D. SHAMEL. 
SOY BEANS AT THE N. J. STATION 
This Spring a farm of about 100 acres, adjoining the 
State College lands, was purchased and turned over to 
Dr. Lipman, the Director of the State Experiment 
Station. Dr. Lipman and his assistant, Mr. I. W. 
Owen, have been convinced from their past experi¬ 
ence that Soy beans are a profitable crop for this 
section. It was decided to put 40 acres of this new 
farm into this crop and grow them for seed. The 
land was plowed and well limed. Then a fertilizer 
containing 220 pounds of acid phosphate and 70 pounds 
of muriate of potash was applied at that rate per acre 
broadcast. Several times over with a smoothing har¬ 
row put the land into good shape to receive the seed. 
Mr. Owen comes from the bean growing section of 
Western New York, and has gone at the proposition 
from a practical standpoint. He has secured the latest 
improved machinery, such as a two-row bean-planter 
and a two-row .bean-harvester. The beans were all 
sown 28 inches apart and from three to six inches 
asunder in the row. The first were planted the first 
of June and the last the twentieth. They are all up 
at the present time, and the cultivators are busy. A 
few points have interested me in the developments so 
far. A corn planter is the worst thing 
that could be used for Soy beans. In 
fact a heavy rain that forms any consid¬ 
erable crust before the beans break 
through is very detrimental to a good 
stand. As with all beans the large co¬ 
tyledons appear above ground first with 
two leaves. Any packing or hardening 
of the soil acts as a check to their com¬ 
ing through. In one plot all planted the 
same day, a distinct line runs across the 
field, showing where home-raised, hand¬ 
picked seed was finished with and New 
York State poorly cleaned seed was sub¬ 
stituted. 
In the planter soil from a small field 
where Soy beans have been raised for 
several years was sown instead of fertil¬ 
izer. It is expected that no hand-work 
will be necessary. The main crop is of 
the Ito San variety. Two acres are 
used for a variety test of the Wilson, 
which is a black variety, M.ongol, a yel¬ 
low kind, Brownie, a small brown bean, 
and Baird, which has a yellowish brown 
color. I am sure the farmers of this 
section of the country will await with 
interest the results obtained from this 
commercial planting of a very promising 
forage crop. 
Other crops of interest which were 
examined by about 500 farmers at the 
recent field day held at the College Farm 
are a field of clean Timothy expected 
to cut four tons to the acre. This piece 
last year went 35 tons on 10 acres, and 
it looks heavier this season. Several 
pieces of oats and peas are proving the 
value of this crop planted in succession 
as a soiling crop for dairy cows. One silo will be 
filled with them also. A fine stand of succotash—rape, 
peas and oats—is nearly ready for the hogs. The 
farm has a large field in Alfalfa which has been down 
three years. This Spring it looked pretty poor, but a 
fair cutting, one ton per acre, was cut June 1. The 
second crop is looking fine. This field is the heavy 
hard baking red shale soil which has made the Col¬ 
lege Farm mud a by-word to visitors. 
Agricultural, educational and experimental work has 
received a decided impetus in New Jersey the past two 
years. A poultry plant, perhaps second to none, has 
recently been established. Six large new commercial 
greenhouses will be used to solve some of the State 
florists’ problems. Two peach orchards in either end 
of the State have done much toward restoring con¬ 
fidence to peach growers, and a new $100,000 short 
course building has been made possible for next year. 
A new $8,000 tile and concrete horse barn has just 
been completed, and a new dairy barn to cost $12,000 
is to be started within a few days. Under the direc¬ 
tion of Dr. Lipman this progress assures the farmers 
of New Jersey that although their rights and demands 
in politics may be ignored or refused, vigorous efforts 
in their behalf are being pushed by the State agricul¬ 
tural workers. a. l. clark. 
He gets up early and stays up late who makes the 
crooks and fakes walk straight. 
SOY BEANS ONE MONTH AFTER PLANTING. Fig. 337. 
A MADISON COUNTY (N. Y.) ALFALFA FIELD. Fig. 338. 
