Newark post. (Newark, Del.) 1910-1969, 1916-03-22

should be added, generally half
bushel to the acre. No special
preparation of the land is neces-
sary for hairy vetch, but the seed
bed should be we'll firmd. In per-
iods Of drought the seed will re-
main a long time in the soil and
then terminate. The so-called
hard seed, a small percentage of
which is nearly always present,
will remain year or more in the
soil without terminating.
incubation
incubation of the soil when
hairy vetch is planted for the first
time is matter of prime import
ance, as failures due to lack of
the proper germs in the soil are
a common experience. The surest
method is to bring the soil from
an old field of vetch, either hairy
or common, and scatter over the
field at the rate of 800 pounds to
the acre and Immediately harrow
it in. If screened, it may be sown
with a drill. Where soil is not
available, the artificial cultures
may be used, but in this event
only a small field should be plant
ed, as the cultures do not always
succeed and the risk is too great
to warrant a farmer in planting
a large field on land not inoculat-
ed. Where incubation has once
been successful, the land will re-
main inoculated indefinitely. A
partially inoculated field often
has a spotted appearance when
young, the healthy plants being
green and the uninoculated ones
yellow. If such a spotted field is
planted again the following sea-
son it is practically certain that
all the plans will be inoculated
Hairy vetch seed is nearly all
obtained from Russia and it is
now very scarce and high so that
Delaware farmers are strongly
advised to save their own seed
this year if they have any vetch
now growing. Under very favor.
able conditions yields as high as
II bushels to the acre have been
obtained, but as a rule only 3 tc
bushels are obtained. There is
no standard method of harvest
ing. The principles applied tc
common vetch applies to hairy
vetch, except that greater care i:
essential, because it skaters
much more easily. At the Missis,
, sippi experiment station hairy
: vetch was harvested from the
same piece of land five years ii
: succession wi h out resolving
enough seed shattering during
harvest to produce a perfect
stand. The only treatment has
been to pillow the land after har
vesting the vetch and then SOW
the cowpeas. The cowpeas were
cut for hay, after which the vetcf
| quickly made stand. Hairy
vetch, when cut after some of tn,
seed has matured, if not thrashet
for seed, should be put in a barn
with tight floor, where much O.
the sand will rattle to the bottom
Vetch that is cut so late is not O.
, high feeding value, but the stool
will eat much Of it and the res
IL can be used as bedding. In tax
ing out the straw from the NOV
care should be exercised to shak
out any loose seeds it may con
tain. BY this simple method
farmer can easily grow his sup
ply of vetch seed at a low cost.
s. Uses of the Crop
e Hairy vetch is adapted to near
= ~ as wide a range of used as re,
Y clover, and in regions where RET
4 clover for any reason does no
l.. succeed it is the best substitute
a 1t makes excellent hay, though
: is rather difficult to NOV. 1t fur
| nishes pasturage of high qualit
e and may be grazed somewhat i,
j the spring without materially re
r ducing the hay crop. When plant
f ed in the spring it will permit
;, large amount of grazing the frs
i season and full hay crop tn
next. AS a winter cover crop i
/ gives satisfaction if sown early
S but it makes a slower growth il
l cold weather than common vetch