Charlevoix county herald., 1914-09-19

DNS L-hAh, AiASis
! the last cultivation one of the best
and most common practices. Sow at
| the rate of fifteen pounds per acre.
More often from twenty to thirty
! pounds of seed are recommended, but
| if good Seed is used, this is more than
necessary. Fifteen pounds of seed to
the acre is at the rate of about five
seeds per square foot. Like any
other new legume, it is necessary to
inoculate the seed the first year, if a
uniform stand and growth is to be
! secured. Culture may be secured at
cost from the meteorological Depart
ment Of the Michigan Agricultural
college, East Lansing, for 25 cents
per bottle, which is enough for sixty
pounds of seed. Directions for use
accompany each bottle. 1t is well to
sow about three pecks of rye with
( the vetch, as it increases the amount
of feed, makes it easier to turn under
and to cut by holding up the vetch,
which has tendency to lay close to
the ground. The seed may be sown
either broadcast ahead of the cultiva-
tor or drilled in with the one-horse
! grain drill. If rains come right after
wards the first method will give prob
| ably as good results as when drilled.
! A higher per cent of termination is
| secured when the seed is drilled
! Seeding should be done before the
middle of August. Earlier is usually
| better
Vetch grows late in the fall and
starts early in the spring. Frost as
a rule will not injure it. The growth
in the fall will depend upon several
factors but largely upon how soon the
corn is removed and the moisture
conditions. With average conditions
it should furnish some fall pasture
especially when sown before the first
! of August. Vetch makes its most
vigorous growth in early spring At
this time it may be pastured some
without detriment 20 the hay crop
which is usually taken about the first
/ of July. When harvested for seed it
! is cut somewhat later. When the Cb-
ject is a crop Of green manure the
/ less pastured the more there will be
to turn under. If the growth is heavy
! it will be necessary to use a rolling
coulter in order to pillow it under A
chain will seldom do the work.
Vetch FOrerunner for Alfalfa.
1t is not advisable to SOW vetch in
the corn where small grain is to be
grown the second year following, as
vetch reseeds very easily and some
times becomes a nuisance, especially
in wheat, but it is easily controlled
when cultivated crops follow. The
first year, il will not be noticed as
the seeds have been turned under too
deep to terminate. 1t is when the
ground is turned back again the sec
ond year that trouble may be expected
with grain crops. Where potatoes,
beans, cabbage, beets, in fact any in
terrified crops follow the first two
years, vetch gives greater promise
as a green manure than any other of
the legumes. When a field is to be
seeded to alfalfa, it is well to sew
vetch as it puts the ground in better
shape for the alfalfa. In fact, mix
ture of alfalfa and vetch makes the
finest of hay Vetch alone is relished
by all kinds of livestock, both as for
age and hay, but its greatest value
is as a green manure crop. A good
growth of vetch in the corn. plowed
under the following spring will do the
work of year to clover and no time
is lost Corn may be grown continu
ously without decreasing yields if a
crop of vetch is pl"wed under each
spring. Another use of vetch in
Michigan is in times of wheat failure
when vetch may be sown with the
oats for hay crop. When sown in
the spring, vetch will not ripen seed
but will live through the winter and
produce hay or seed the following sea-
son, if permitted. When grown for
seed, the crop is not turned under in
the spring but let stand. 1t is har-
vested and threshed at the usual time,
and, in the usual way, of handling rye
or wheat. 1t takes a special machine,
however, to separate the vetch seed
from the rye. Quite a few farmers
have grown vetch for pasture during
the usual midsummer drought with
excellent results. Vetch is not as deep
rooted as alfalfa, but is almost as
drought resistant and it can with
stand great deal of tramping. AS
a cover crop for orchards vetch prob
ably has not superior. Many ways
of utilizing this crop will suggest