Vetch, "the king of soil builders,"

Front matter

THeKinadf SoUBmaers

How-When-Where to Grow It

How It Builds Up Sandy Soil

CHAPTER I. Hairy Vetch A Great Forage Crop

DESCRIPTION — DISTRIBUTION — SOIL REQUIRE- MENTS—PREPARING THE SOIL— SOWING— GROWING SEED FOR HOME USE— FEEDING VALUE— ITS CHIEF USES AS FEED— SPRING PASTURE— ENSILAGE— FOR SOILING— FOR HAY— FOR MILK COWS— FOR HORSES- CHIEF CAUSE OF FAILURE.

KINDS OF VETCH

The reader will not care to learn particulars about all the different kinds of vetch. He will be chiefly interested in the varieties best

known in this country. Hence the facts set forth in this little booklet deal mainly with hairy and commjon vetch, with but little space — far less than they deserve — devoted to the other varieties, such as black bitter vetch, scarlet vetch, purple vetch, and woolly-podded vetch. There are about 120 kinds of vetch. In the United States, where some twenty wild kinds are found, they are commonly knoAvn as wild peas. Many of these different vetches are comparatively unknown to the American farmer, while others are growing in favor and covering greater areas every year. But, as I have said, the varieties of vetch best known to American farmers are common vetch, or tares, and hairy vetch. As the latter is of much greater importance, particularly as a soil-builder, I will discuss it first.

HAIRY VETCH is also known as sand vetch, Russian vetch, Siberian vetch, and villous vetch. Its seeds are small and somewhat resemble sweet pea seeds. The growing plant, until it blossoms, looks like the sweet pea; when in full bloom the field is a sea of beautiful, bluish-purple clustered flowers. The plant is a branching, climbing vine, a great many of its branches reaching the length of seiVen to ten feet. A full grown crop forms a dense mat, completely covering the ground to the depth of one to two feet. When grown in combination with some strong growing plant, say wheat, rye, or oats, it is supported and kept entirely above the ground. The main stem of the hairy vetch is soft and spongy and slightly ridged, the entire plant being covered with very fine hairs.

DESCRIPTION OF HAIRY VETCH

6 VETCH: "THE K I \ U OF SOIL BUILDERS"

DISTRIBUTION

A Hfliry Vetch Plant. (From Bui. No. 149, Conn. Agr. Experiment Station.)

Hairy vetch is, very hardy and is therefore adapted to a wide range of distribution. It has been successfully grown in nearly all

parts of the United States; it succeeds well wherever the Common vetch will grow, and it will withstand the . winters of eastern Washington, Michigan, New York, and even of New England. It succeeds especially well on sandy soils, but it can be grown on any well-drained land. It is a common thing to see it grow and thrive and make a good crop under dry conditions that would kill off the common vetch.

The question of what soils are most suitable for vetch is not particularly important, for it is a very democratic plant ; it will grow and

thrive on most any soil.

It will grow on rich fertile fields and it will make its home on poor, thin, sandy soils. While it is grateful for what moisture is given it the first few weeks of its growth, when it is once established its ability to resist drought is astonishing. Another thing in its favor is the fact that it is quite resistant to alkali and will germinate well in soils tooalkaline for most legumes. ■

Although hairy vetch is no respecter of soils and will grow almost

SOIL EEQUIREMENTS

VETCH: "THE KING OF SOIL BUILDERS"

PREPARING THE SOIL

SOWING HAIRY VETCH anywhere Avithont any special preparation of the soil, provided the

seed is well inoculated, it is always a wise practice tb give it as firm a seed bed as possible.

It is an easy matter to do this on light

soils, but snch soils should also be firmed by

running the roller over them before sowing

the seed.

Sown in early spring, when the ground is moist and the conditions

generally favorable for growth, hairy vetch will develop rapidly. It

will be in full blossom by the middle of August and will continue to grow and remain green until the ground freezes in the winter. A fcAv seeds will be found in the late fail, but spring sowing is not advisable if one wishes to harvest a crop of seed.

Sown in the fall, that is, any time between the first of August and the first of October, it will germinate after the first good rain and grow very rapidly before winter sets in. By the time the coldest weather appears the plants are well rooted and able to withstand the freezes. In the following spring it will continue its marvelous growth, developing blossoms by the first of June and ripening its seeds by the middle of July.

When sOwn in the fall, September is considered the ideal month. If sown alone, about 40 poimds of good seed to the acre are sufficient, though as high as 50 pounds are frequently used. As a general practice it is best to sow it in conjunction with a small-grain crop, such as oats, winter wheat, or rye. Oats are usually used in the South, but in the North wheat or rye must be used. Rye is generally the choice, but if intended for hay the wheat combination is more nutritious. "When growing such mixtures for seed, enough grain is used to make about two-thirds of a stand and twenty pounds of the vetch seed are added. Such a mixed crop is easily cut with a mower having a swather attachment, or even with a binder. If more vetch is used it is liable to lodge, especially in spots where the vetch is thick, and the moAving is therefore rendered more difficult.

If its seed could be obtained anywhere' near as cheaply and abundantly as most other seeds, hairy vetch would quickly take a very important place in American agriculture. In spite of the high price of seed, the crop is constantly growing in favor and its area rapidly extending. More and more the southern farmer is growing vetch for winter cover and hay, while the northern farmer is becoming alive to its superior qualities as a soil builder, especially on sandy lands and on soils where red clover no longer thrives.

GROWING SEED FOR HOME USE

This increase in the American demand for vetch is the principal reason for the high price of its seed ; the actual supply in Europe is not large, and thus far very little vetch seed has been produced in this country.

I often wonder why the American farmer does not grow his own vetch seed. He can economically grow it for home use in most any State in the Union, and if he has any surplus can always sell it at good prices.

No, there is not the least doubt but that a good crop of seed may be grown in most any part of the country. The largest crops have been grown on the Pacific Coast. The northern States also produce big crops, while in the South the seed crop seems to vary with the season, but often yielding good returns.

Hairy vetch is a winter annual, behaving much like winter wheat. If planted in the spring it may produce a few blossoms the same season, but will make little or no seed until the following season. If planted in the fall it ripens its seed crop the following July. Hence it follows that spring sowing for a seed crop is seldom advisable except on the Pacific Coast and in the arid regions. When vetch is spring-sown for seed it is best to pasture the crop the first season.

The most successful seed growers plant in the fall, using from 30 to 45 pounds of seed to the acre, together with about one peck of rye. The rye holds up the vetch, so that it can be easily harvested. When seed is ripe it is cut and threshed Avith the ordinary threshing machine, the seed separated with fanning mill.

Hairy vetch ripens its pods over a period of two or three weeks. The best crops are obtained when the first pods are fully ripe and the upper pods well filled. The upper pods will ripen in the shocks, and if carefully handled comparatively few of the ripe pods will shatter. It is always best to cut the crop early in the morning or on a cloudy day. At all events, the vetch, whether cut in bundles or otherwise, should be put into shocks at once and left till threshed. As already stated, the important thing is to handle the cut crop quickly and just as little as possible.

Under favorable conditions 10 to 12 bushels of hairy vetch seed to the acre can be grown. Even at $3 or $4 a bushel, such crops are very profitable, and at this price the demand for the seed would increase enormously. A home-grown supply of this seed is badly needed and it is to be sincerely hoped that American farmers will take advantage of this fact, and that such source of seed will soon be available.

VETCH: "THE KING OF SOIL BUILDERS"

Feeding Value Of Hairy Vetch

One can more readily appreciate the increasing importance of vetch, as a farm crop if he realizes, not alone its fertilizing value to the soil, but also its value as a feed for animals.

It is generally conceded that hairy vetch is our richest legume. It makes hay of fine, digestible quality, it provides excellent pasturage, and it is used very profitably as a soiling crop. Since these qualities depend largely upon the amount of digestible nutrients in the plant, I give below a table showing that in this respect hairy vetch ranks very high — in most instances pre-eminently so — when compared with other forage crops. This table is taken from Henry's Feeds and Feeding, pages 585-6. It also gives the fertilizing constituents of the respective plants, and in this connection you will note that none of these plants ranks as high in its protein (nitrogen) content as hairy vetch.

TABLE 1— DiaESTIBLE NUTRIENTS AND FERTILIZING CON- STITUENTS.

Total dry matter in 100 lbs. -

Digestible nutrients in 100 lbs.

Fertilizing Constituents In 100 lbs.

Name of Feed

Crude

protein

Lbs.

Carbohydrates Lbs.

Fat Lbs.

Nitrogen Lbs.

Phosphoric Acid Lbs.

Potash Lbs.

Dried Roughage.

Cured hay from the

grasses, etc.

English hay

86.0

85.0

85.8

4.5

3.4

2.5

2.1 4.9 4.8 4.4 5.0

7.1

6.2

8.4

11.5

10.5

8.2

11.4

6.7

10.4

11.1

11.9

44.0

43.3

39.2

1.2

1.4

1.5

1.1 1.4 1.0 0.7 1.1

12.6

9.6

9.1

8.0 12.9 12.6 12.5 12.1

3.2

5.0

3.7 3.6 4.0 4.3

5.5 5.2 5.0

7.8 4.0

7.4 3.2 5.0 6.1 9.7

16.1

Timothy, cut in full bloom

14.1

Timothy, cut soon after bloom

Timothy, cut nearly ripe

Orchard grass :

Red top

Kentucky blue grass. .

Hungarian grass

Cured haj- from legumes : Red clover

16.9

10.2 15.7 15.4

18.7

Mammoth red clover. .

Alsike clover

White clover

Crimson clover

Bur clover

11.6 13.9 13.2 13.1

Serradella

26.3

Peanut vine

11.6

Sainfoin

14.7

17.9 24.4

From the above table it will be seen that, hairy vetch is remarkably rich in digestible protein and protein is "the substance in foods that goes to build red flesh and blood and to make nerve and brain. ' ' The

chief component of protein is nitrogen, costliest of the plant foods, concerning which the reader will find some interesting facts in Chapter II of this booklet.

It is well to state here, however, that it is the protein in foods that costs so much, and it is protein that is generally needed so badly. Your cows need it when they make milk, your chickens when they make eggs, your young animals need it to make them grow. Unless there is an abundant supply of protein in the ration there will be few eggs, little milk and slow animal growth.

What nearly all farms are short of is this precious nitrogenous compound, protein. It is mainl}^ for this reason that the vetches — with a greater nitrogen content than even alfalfa — are coming into such prominence as food for animals.

Its Chief Uses As Feed

Vetch is being largely used for pasture because, when sown in the fall, it makes a crop when green forage is scarce, before spring

and summer grasses come in. Early fall growing, sown alone or with rye, barley, or oats, makes a pasture very valuable for livestock during April and May, and if planted in August it will be ready in February and ]\larch. Just how long it will provide pasture depends a great deal on the seasons and whether it is seeded lightly or heavily ; also, whether it is desirable to have the vetch reseed itself or not.

The demand for early spring grazing crops is growing steadily, due mainly to the increasing interest in dairying and the beef industry. The regular pasture crops supply needed forage from early summer until autumn, and ensilage tides over late autumn and winter. But on nearly every farm there is a period of shortage of succulent forage from March until grass starts, and this period may be bridged over very profitably by growing vetch for spring pasture.

It is not a good plan to commence grazing the vetch too early. For best results the stock should be kept off the field until the vetch has made considerable growth. It also should be remembered that if the vetch is to reseed the land the stock should be taken off before they graze too closely.

HAIRY VETCH FOR SPRING PASTURE

HAIRY VETCH FOR THE SILO

FOR SOILING

VETCH: 'THE KIXG OF SOIL BUILDERS" 11

"While the principal means of utilizing hairy vetch as feed have been, thus far, in the form of soiling, hay and pasture, this rich legume

is often profitably used as silage. The Michigan Experiment Station recommends ensiling it in alternate layers of corn. Considering its high protein content this practice ought to be a desirable one.

But while it is being proved that siloing hairy vetch can be made a profitable farm practice on many farms, in many different states, it is not rational to expect that it will ever compete, as ensilage, with the great silo crops, such as corn and alfalfa. When sown alone, hairy vetch is not likely to prove a very popular soiling crop. It is difficult to cut. But if sown as a mixed crop,

either with, oats or some other kind of

grain, it makes a very profitable soiling feed, and may be cut with a grass blade or mower and fed green to stock at most any stage of its growth.

In Europe where vetch is cultivated extensively for forage purposes it is regarded equal to clover in nutritive qualities. Over there

it is sown in late summer or early autumn, and harvested the next year. If sown in spring it is cut the same year. ■

There is no doubt but vetch makes excellent hay, though it is somewhat difficult to mow. "When planted in the spring it will permit a large amount of grazing the first season and a full crop of hay the next. "When soAvn in the fall with winter wheat for hay, the crop makes an excellent substitute for red clover and is ready to harvest as hay by the middle of June.

Vetch is often grown for hay in combination with oats, using one and one-half bushels of oats to 15 to 20 pounds of vetch to the acre. Many growers prefer smooth headed wheat to any other grain for sowing with vetch, more particularly where a hay crop is desired. They figure that there is less danger of the wheat being winter killed, and, moreover, wheat makes a valuable hay, and the two are most always ready to cut at the same time. This is the combination most used in Europe, where the greater part of our hairy vetch seed is procured. The wheat offers a support for the slender vetch plants and makes easy the harvesting of the seed and hay. "When sown with wheat, 15 to 20 pounds of vetch should be used to the acre and three-fourths to one bushel of wheat.

FOR HAY

VETCH: "THE A'/2VG OF SOIL BUILDERS"

The great feed value of hairy vetch hay may be better realized when we compare it with that of wheat bran. In the following figures taken from Henry's Feeds and Feeding the almost parallel analyses of the digestible nutrients of the two are shown:

Total dry

matter in

Digestible nutrients

Name of feed

Crude protein

Carboiiydrates

Fat

Wheat bran

88.1 88.7

11.9 11.9

42.0 40.7

2.5

1.6

From the above figures it can be seen that, pound for pound, vetch hay as a ration for livestock is very nearly equal in nutrient value to wheat bran. Other things being equal, it should be worth as much for feed, and the average price of wheat bran is about $20 per ton. Furthermore, it is as palatable as it is digestible, and livestock as a rule eat it greedily.

The yield will run from 6 to 10, and sometimes, on very rich soil, from 12 to 15 tons of green forage per acre. The yield of dry hay, taken on this basis, would be l^/o to 4 tons per acre, the yield depending on the fertility of the soil.

In the June 28th (1912) issue of Hoard's Dairyman, ex-Governor Hoard, the well known authority on dairy subjects, says:

"Hairy vetch compares very favorably with alfalfa and clover hay as a feed for milk cows. The vetch hay is considerably richer in protein than clover hay and contains a little more digestible protein than alfalfa, but not enough to be considered in practical feeding operations. So far as composition is concerned, it is not very far from correct to say that alfalfa and vetch hay are practically the same," Rye makes a satisfactory mixture with vetch, although it is more particularly recommended when pasturage or soil improvement is the

chief end in view. Under most conditions, a better combination is wheat or oats. Yet rye and vetch as feed for horses can be successfully grown, as shown by the following letter from L. R. Johnson to the Breeders'^ Gazette, Sept. 11, 1912:

"We are pleased with our first experience with winter vetch. Our first cutting was made towards the end of May, while the rye was still green and the grains

HAIRY VETCH FOR MILK COWS

HAIRY VETCH AS FEED FOR HORSES unformed. The object was to have it succulent enough for horse feed. At this time the vetch had grown up to a height of about four feet and was intermingled with and supported by the rj^e. Although the horses had never before tasted vetch, they ate it with the rye with good relish. After this first cutting the vetch again began to grow and soon was in flower.

"Vetch is one of the legume family, all of which are endowed with the power of storing the free nitrogen of the air in tubercles on their roots and thus enriching the soil without expense to the farmer. Another point in favor of vetch is that it matures, in less than a year, while red clover requires a full year and three or four months of the second year, thus extending over two seasons.

* ' Sow vetch in September and cut it or turn it under the next

; May. This would be in time to use the ground for planting

, corn. It grows as rapidly as the cowpea, but occupies almost

exactly the months in the year which the cowpea does not. Thus

it fills an unoccupied place."

As already stated, unless vetch is grown as a cover or green-manure crop, some grain should be sown along with it. Such a combination offers many advantages, chief among which are: (1) The grain supports the vetch vine, making the harvesting of the hay a simpler matter; (2) it is easier to cure vetch hay when there is mixed with it the hay of one of the grains; (3) the yield is increased by the addition of the grain, and there is greater certainty of obtaining satisfactory returns in either hay or pasture from the mixture than from vetch alone; (4) it is cheaper to sow vetch for hay, in combination with some grain, since it reduces the amount of vetch seed needed, an important item so long as the price of hairy vetch seed remains as high as it is at present.

The greatest care should be taken when handling the crop to prevent loss of leaves by shattering. When cut, the vetch should be at once cocked up in rather large cocks, so that the pods will be as little exposed to the sun as possible. "Where there is room it is a good practice to remove the vetch to the barn to finish curing. Light should be excluded as much as possible without sacrificing the needed ventilation. After the hay is thoroughly cured it should be baled or closely stored in bulk.

"Where a mixture of hairy vetch and grain is harvested the curing is more easily accomplished and with less danger of loss of leaves to the vetch.

In considering the feeding value of a crop we look first to the amount of digestible protein, or nitrogen, it contains, and then to its percentage of carbohydrates and fat. A crop which contains a low percentage of protein, like corn, for instance, is usually rich in carbohydrates; whereas, clover, alfalfa, and vetch contain a large percentage of protein, while their percentages of carbohydrates are relatively low. A proper combination of two crops — one rich in protein, the other rich in carbohydrates — results in a far more economical feeding for livestock than the, use of either one or the other in too great proportion. The trouble is that in compounding rations for the various feeding purposes, it is, on most farms, much more difficult and far more expensive to procure the necessary amount of nitrogen, or protein, than it is to procure the carbohydrates and fat. This fact alone gives great prominence to the feeding value of inoculated legumes, such as alfalfa, the clovers, and the vetches ; for all inoculated legumes are richer in nitrogen than cereal grains or hay from grasses ; and the astonishing part of it lies in the fact that all these inoculated legumes get their nitrogen from the air, while all other plants get their nitrogen by robbing the soil.

When we consider the adaptability and usefulness of vetch for pasture, for a soiling crop, for hay and silage, when we learn that its food is richer in the costly nitrogenous nutrients than any other legume, if we except sweet clover, that it can be successfully grown in almost any state in the Union, we cease to wonder why it is that this marvelous legume is being recommended more and more for its feeding value.

The failures in vetch growing are mainly due to lack of inoculation. No one should attempt to plant vetch without providing the necessary inoculation to produce the nodules on its roots. Failure follows where vetch is not inoculated. Just wbat inoculation means is clearly shown in the following chapter.

CHIEF CAUSE OF FAILURE

CHAPTER II. Hairy Vetch King of Soil Builders

SOIL— HUMUS— TWO CHIEF SOURCES OF HUMUS— THE HUMUS REQUIRED FOR SOIL BUILDING— NITRO- GEN — LEGUMES — INOCULATED LEGUMES— LEGUME GERMS— LEGUME GERMS VARY IN POWER— HAIRY VETCH A GREAT HUMUS MAKER— A GREAT NITRO- GEN-GATHERER—THE ROOTS OF HAIRY VETCH— ITS MASSIVE FOLIAGE— HAIRY VETCH FOR WORN-OUT SOILS— WIND-BLOWN SAND— PLOWING SANDY LAND —THE ROLLER ON SANDY LAND— THE DISK HARROW —THE TIGHT HARROW— PLANT INOCULATED SEED^ SEEDING SANDY LANt)— BARN MANURE ON SANDY LAND— LIME ON SANDY SOIL.

In the preceding chapter it was shown that hairy vetch is a forage crop that ranks very high in feeding value: It provides excellent pasturage at the most grateful time possible, early spring; it makes very good ensilage; it provides a soiling crop that is growing in favor every year; and it makes a digestible, palatable hay that is as rich and nutricious as alfalfa or clover. Nevertheless, the feeding value of this remarkable legume is of secondary importance when one realizes its fertilmng value. This latter value is so marked that many enthusiastic vetch growers give hairy vetch first place among all green-manure crops for increasing soil fertility.

As alfalfa is unquestionably the most valuable forage crop ever discovered, so hairy vetch, it is claimed, is the most valuable fertilizing

VETCH: "THE KING OF SOIL BUILDERS"

plant ever discovered. If this is true every farmer in America should know it.

Therefore, let us ascertain, if possible, just where this plant gets its wonderful reputation for reclaiming poor or worn-out soil.

Hairy Vetch, it is claimed, will build up worn-out soil better, quicker and cheaper than any other green-manure crop; that it best supplies those two great needs of the soil, humus and nitrogen.

That the reader may better realize what these claims imply, I will go over, very briefly, four essential factors upon which they are based: (1) Soil, (2) Humus, (3) Nitro- Hairy Vetch. gg^^ and (4) Legumes.

S()il is a mixture of inorganic and organic material. The inorganic part of soil is composed of rocks or mineral substances broken into

more or less fine particles. The organic part is composed of decayed or decaying material which once had life in the form of vegetable or animal tissue.

The inorganic particles, composed of rock and mineral substance, constitute by far the greater portion of the soil, being 95 to 98 per cent of sandy or gravelly soils, from 80 to 95 per cent of loams and clayey soils and about 80 per cent of muck or peaty soils. This inorganic material supplies the necessary mineral elements of plant food.

The organic portion of the soil furnishes the supply of nitrogen, that expensive element of plant food without which no crop can make any growth. It also supplies the other plant foods which are taken up in the growth of the plant or animal and which by their decay are returned to the soil in a form the plants can use. The organic portion of the soil also makes the mineral elements of the soil available by the action of acids upon the inorganic matter, the acids being produced by the decay of the organic matter.

From the above facts it becomes as clear as day that if you want to make your farm more fertile and improve its physical condition the essential thing to do is to establish and maintain a proper balance between the organic portions (humus) and the inorganic (mineral) portions of your soil.

It is a rare thing to find soil containing too much organic matter, especially if it is well drained. The trouble is usually if not always the other way, the amount of organic matter is too small. All run down, worn out, abandoned farms and sandy soils that are low iu productiveness are lacking in humus. So, also, are all soils that have been misused by improper methods of cropping. The proper way, the only way, and Nature's own way, to restore all such depleted soils to a fertile condition is to feed them an additional supply of vegetable matter. In other words, the thing to do is to restore the proper balance between the organic and inorganic portions of the soil.

When speaking of humus I will refer to the organic portion of the soil although in the strict sense of the term this is not technically correct. Scientific writers usually make the distinction that humus does not refer to organic matter which is decaying in the soil but to that which is already decayed.' I

HUMUS

TWO CHIEF SOURCES OF HUMUS

There are two methods of increasing the supply of humus in the soil ; one is the application of barn manure, the other is to plow under

some farm crop grown for that purpose.

The last method is called "green-manuring".

While stable manure makes very valuable humus, containing some nitrogen and at the same time exercising a most important effect upon the physical feature of the soil, it is not available in sufficient quantities, the demand greatly exceeding the supply.

Not alone is the supply of stable manure insufficient but it is the experience of many farmers that, for reasons they are unable to define, certain green-manure crops, more particularly vetch, make a better quality of humus, bring bigger results, than stable manure.

Whether this be true or not, few farmers can economically secure stable manure in quantities that will suffice to keep up the supply of humus in their soil, to say nothing of any needed increase in the supply. It becomes evident, therefore, that green-manuring is the only available means of supplying soil with the humus it needs.

The kind of crop to plow under depends upon the needs of the soil.

THE HUMUS REQUIRED FOR SOIL BUILDING

When soil is naturally fertile and an increased supply of organic matter

is the chief need, then any rank-growing farm crop may be used. But when the supply of nitrogen in the soil is small and an increased supply of both nitrogen and humus is the chief necessity, then some legume crop must be used. No other crop can increase the nitrogen supply. No other crop can return to the soil any essential element of fertility which it did not draw from it. The legumes are ideal humus makers. As a rule, they are succulent, juicy plants that decay quickly and are easily incorporated in the soil. What is more, they have deep, extensive root systems that bring up from below some of the mineral plant food which is present in the deeper layers of soil. Legumes grow luxuriously and provide vast quantities of vegetable matter which, when plowed under, quickly decay into plant-feeding, soil-building humus. This is the humus required when the end in view is increased fertility. This is the kind, the only kind, of humus that increases the nitrogen supply of the soil.