March. 
84 THE CULTIVATOR. 
VETCHES OR TARES. 
Ralph R. Phelps, Esq., of Manchester, Ct., re¬ 
quests information in regard to the culture of vetches 
or tares. There are, it is said, no less than ten spe¬ 
cies of vetch indigenous to Britain, and one of these, the 
tufted vetch, is believed to be indigenous to the Uni¬ 
ted States. Several kinds are cultivated in England, 
the principal of which, according to C. W. Johnson, 
are the tufted vetch, wood vetch, common vetch, and 
bush vetch. Some of the species are perennial, and 
others only annual. The “ winter vetch,” (Vicia sali¬ 
va,) is most approved in England, but we believe it has 
not succeeded in this country—or at least in the northern 
portions of it—not surviving our severe winters. The 
spring or summer vetch has been tried here and found 
to succeed very well for the production of forage, but 
does not seed as well as in England. It is, how¬ 
ever much prized as a substitute for hay, and for this 
purpose, and as a preparatory crop for wheat, has been 
sometimes cultivated in this country. 
In the “ Transactions ” of the old Agricultural Socie¬ 
ty of this state, we find an interesting paper on the cul¬ 
tivation of the vetch, by Robert R. Livingston. He 
gives the result of trials made with this plant, in 1794, 
and ’95. His first experiment was with spring vetches, 
of which he sowed one acre of rye-stubble —“ the soil 
sandy and much worn out.” He sowed the crop about 
the first of May, with three bushels of seed to the acre. 
When the vetches were up, they were dressed with a 
bushel of gypsum. They were cut when in full blos¬ 
som, and “ yielded two large wagon loads of hay.” 
The fodder is said to have been 11 remarkably succulent, 
and extremely well calculated for cows and sheep.” 
His next experiment was equally favorable as regards 
the value of tares as a forage crop, but they failed in 
seeding. 
From the result of his trials, Mr. Livingston con¬ 
cludes that vetches would be the best of all prepara¬ 
tions for wheat. 11 The ground,” he says, “ is so well 
covered that every weed is stifled: the air at the foot is 
stagnant, and the plant being of that succulent kind 
which feeds much on the atmosphere, I think it cannot 
fail to enrich the soil. Mine appeared so mellow and 
free from weeds when the vetches came off, that I was 
tempted to sow the piece to lucerne.” It can be taken 
from the ground in time for the sowing of winter wheat 
In addition to the above, we give the following commu- 
eation. The writer is practically acquainted with the 
culture and uses of vetches, both in England and in this 
country. . 
Messrs. Editors —Vetches are grown in England to 
a Very great extent, with much profit to the farmer, and 
with great benefit to the soil. They will grow on any 
kind of land without manures, if it is not very much ex¬ 
hausted, and are excellent food for all kinds of animals. 
I consider them the very best food for fatting sheep, as 
those animals will thrive faster on them than on any other 
kind of green food. The farm horses are principally 
kept upon them, more especially on light soils. In some 
instances, when their day’s work is done, they are all 
tied by the leg with a long chain, and thus eat them off* 
the field where they grew; but the more regular prac¬ 
tice is to draw them home to the stables, or a large 
yard, surrounded with sheds with side mangers, to feed 
them in. This yard is kept well littered to absorb all 
the moisture made by them. Cows are very fond of 
them, and in dry seasons when pastures are short, they 
are often fed to them morning and evening while milk¬ 
ing. And I may here remark that I believe it to be an 
excellent practice to feed cows while they are being 
milked, as they let down their milk more freely. But 
it is dangerous to feed the green vetches to excess; they 
will cause bloat, and very much injure a cow that is 
pregnant. I have known many cows to slink their 
calves from being overfed with vetches. 
Store hogs are kept in thriving condition with them 
through the summer. This crop, when fed off* on the 
land, is next to the turnep, the most renovating one to 
the soil, more especially on light soils, where a seven 
field system is pursued; and that being my practice, 
while with my father in England, I will state it, to show 
the advantage of the vetch crop. 
I winter-fallowed for turneps, in the way I described 
in the Jan. number of the Cultivator, and was generally 
successful in obtaining a good crop. The turneps 
were fed off* by the sheep in the winter, the ground 
plowed once, sowed with barley, and laid down with 
clover, rye grass, and trefoil. This was a very stony 
soil. The next year mown for hay; the following one 
pastured until August, plowed once, and sowed wheat. 
As soon as the wheat was off, part of the field was 
plowed once, and sowed to winter vetches. Early ia 
the spring another portion was sown to spring vetches. 
The sowings were continued until the whole field was 
sown. The object in the different sowings was to have 
one come in after the other, so that they may be fed 
off by the sheep before and when they are in blossom. 
The fall sowing will be ready to feed the sheep in June, 
and will force them for market much sooner than any other 
kind of summer food. In this way nearly all the ram- 
breeders force their sheep to the extent they have done. 
Some of them mow them and feed in racks, giving a 
fresh piece of ground from which the vetches are mown 
every day, and on which the sheep are certain to lie and 
leave their manure regularly over the field. Others 
give them a fresh piece daily; about as much as they 
will eat up clean, and the sheep eat them from the land 
as they grew; but I think they do enough better when 
kept clean for them in the racks, to pay the extra labor. 
These small divisions are made by hurdles used for 
that purpose. When the vetches are fed off, the land 
is in a good state for oats, and plowed once in the 
spring for them, coming in for turneps again the fol¬ 
lowing year. By this mode of culture, and a strict at¬ 
tention to clean seed, the land is kept free from refuse, 
and two white crops in succession are avoided, which I 
consider of much importance. 
I have grown a small quantity of vetches in this 
country. The spring vetch has done as well as in Eng¬ 
land, but the winter one will not stand the severe win¬ 
ters in this northern climate. I have seen several small 
fields of the spring vetch grown by others, with very 
good success. The seed of the winter one is much 
smaller than the spring; the latter will not stand the 
winters in England. I have a more favorable impres¬ 
sion of Indian corn for soiling, but whether it will an¬ 
swer for feeding sheep in the way I have described, is 
doubtful. My opinion, however, would be favorable. I 
think if sheep were put on it while the plant is young, 
they would eat the whole of it, and when it failed, it 
could be sown a second time. Wm. H. Sotham. 
Mr. Colman, in his last no., says—‘‘ This plant is 
extensively cultivated in England, and considerably in 
Scotland ; and in my opinion its cultivation may be 
strongly recommended in the United States.” 
