ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA
ELEVENTH EDITION
VOLUME XXVIII
VETCH, in botany, the English name for Vicia sativa, also known as tare, a leguminous annual herb with trailing or climbing stems, compound leaves with five or six pairs of leaflets, reddish-purple flowers borne singly or in pairs in the leaf-axis, and a silky pod containing four to ten smooth seeds. The wild form, sometimes regarded as a distinct species, V. angustifolia, is common in dry soils. There are two races of the cultivated vetch, winter and spring vetches: the former, a hardy form, capable of enduring frost, has smoother, more cylindrical pods with smaller seeds than the summer variety, and gives less bulk of stem and leaves. The spring vetch is a more delicate plant and grows more rapidly and luxuriantly than the winter variety.
The name vetch is applied to other species of the genus Vicia. Vicia orobus, bitter vetch, and V. sylvatica, wood vetch, are British plants. Another British plant, Hippocrepis, is known as horseshoe vetch from the fact of its pod breaking into several horseshoe-shaped joints. Anthyllis vulneraria is kidney-vetch, a herb with heads of usually yellow flowers, found on dry banks. Astragalus is another genus of Leguminosae, and is known as milk vetch.
Vetches are a very valuable forage crop. Being indigenous to Britain, and not fastidious in regard to soil, they can be cultivated successfully under a great diversity of circumstances, and are well adapted for poor soils. By combining the winter and spring varieties, and making several sowings of each in its season at intervals of two or three weeks, it is practicable to have them fit for use from May till October, and thus to carry out a system of soiling by means of vetches alone. But it is usually more expedient to use them in combination with grass and clover, beginning with the first cutting of the latter in May, taking the winter vetches in June, recurring to the Italian ryegrass or clover as the second cutting is ready, and afterwards bringing the spring vetches into use. Each crop can thus be used when in its best state for cattle food, and so as gratefully to vary their dietary.
Winter Vetches.—There is no botanical difference between winter and spring vetches, and the seeds being identical in appearance, caution is required in purchasing seed to get it of the right sort. Seed grown in England is found the most suitable for sowing in Scotland, as it vegetates more quickly, and produces a more vigorous plant than that which is home-grown. As the great inducement to cultivate this crop is the obtaining of a supply of nutritious green food which shall be ready for use about the 1st of May, so as to fill up the gap which is apt to occur betwixt the root crops of the previous autumn and the ordinary summer food, whether for grazing or soiling, it is of the utmost importance to treat it in such a way that it may be ready for use by the time mentioned. To secure this, winter tares should be sown in August if possible, but always as soon as the land can be cleared of the preceding crop. They may yield a good crop though sown in October, but in this case will probably be very little in advance of early-sown spring vetches, and possess little, if any, advantage over them in any respect. The land on which they are sown should be dry and well sheltered, clean and in good heart, and be further enriched by farmyard manure. Not less than 3½ bushels of seed per acre should be sown, to which some think it beneficial to add half a bushel of wheat. Rye is frequently used for this purpose, but it gets reedy in the stems, and is rejected by the stock. Winter beans are better than either. The land having been ploughed rather deeply, and well harrowed, it is found advantageous to deposit the seed in rows, either by a drilling-machine or by ribbing. The latter is the best practice, and the ribs should be at least a foot apart and rather deep, that the roots may be well developed before top-growth takes place. As soon in spring as the state of the land and weather admits of it, the crop should be hoed betwixt the drills, a top-dressing at the rate of 40 bushels of soot or 2 cwt. of guano per acre applied by sowing broadcast, and the roller then used for the double purpose of smoothing the surface so as to admit of the free use of the scythe and of pressing down the plants which may have been loosened by frost. It is thus by early sowing, thick seeding and liberal manuring that this crop is to be forced to an early and abundant maturity. May and June are the months in which winter vetches are used to advantage. A second growth will be produced from the roots if the crop is allowed to stand; but it is much better practice to plough up the land as the crop is
