145 
Kidney vetch is best sown in a cereal crop, such as oats or rye, which succeeds a ‘Sowing. 
manured root-crop. If the rye is sown early in autumn, kidney vetch may be sown in the 
same season. For a pure crop, it should be sown as early in the spring as possible, 
about the end of March, or the beginning of April. Concerning preparation of soil, mode 
of sowing, and covering the seed, the reader is referred to the remarks under these heads 
in the article on red clover. 
Kidney vetch is used to the greatest advantage in mixtures; it is especially suited Mixture. 
for grass and clover mixtures — whether for pasture or hay — of short duration; the 
most appropriate associates are sheep’s fescue, timothy, trefoil, meadow brome, and, in 
certain circumstances, false oat-grass. Such mixtures are not only more productive, but 
also more lasting than a pure sowing. 
As kidney vetch has a much branched underground stem and is deeply rooted, it leaves behind Succeeding 
in the soil more residues than even yellow lupine itself. Within a depth of ten inches from the sur- crop. } 
face, according lo Werner, the following amounts per acre of vegetable and mineral matter are left 
behind: — 
Kidney vetch. Lupine. 
Residues left in the ground (free from walter) 4925 Ibs. 3470 Ibs, 
Containing: Nitrogen ; , ~ 400 ,, nh 6 d 
Mineral matter cee kG 542 =, 
The mineral matter contains: — 
Phosphoric Acid ; ‘ ; ; A ae 2h. 5, ; 
Potash ; ; ; , : . 20 ,, 17 ,, 
Soda ; d ‘ : ; ; ; Om 43 des, q 
Magnesia , + ; ’ ‘ Bet re ay 7 
Lime . . ; i » BCR x a0 ; 
From these results if follows that kidney vetch has no inconsiderable influence in ameliorating . 
any soil in which it is grown. It is then an excellent preparation for colza and rape, as it can be cut : 
sufficiently early to allow plenty of time for sowing the succeeding crop. It is also a good preparatory 
crop for cereals. 
—— 
XXVII. Lucerne. 
Medicago sativa, L, 
=] 
ss 
a) 
Upper part of a plant in flower. Explanation 
A two-headed stock or rhizome. A sel of branches is seen springing from each head, 0° plate. 
The flower side-view. 
The wing (ala). 
The keel (carina) and the stamen-tube, set free and bent upward. 
The pistil. 
The legume, side-view. 
The legume, from above, 
The seed, side-view. 
The seed from the hilum-bearing surface. 
* 
* 
SHEP wwe Be 
19 
