SEVERAL botanical features are a bane and a boon in the production of seed of the legumes.

The growth of legumes generally is indeterminate—growth continues from the terminal and axillary buds while flowering and formation of seed are both in progress. Mature seed therefore is ready to harvest on the lower part of the plant while new flowers are still forming at the top. The decision as to when to harvest always is arbitrary. Cutting too late permits ripe seed to shatter to the ground and be lost. Cutting too early means an excessive amount of green, shriveled seed.

In some species, such as the trefoils, the pods open and the seed drops as soon as it is ripe. In others, special equipment is needed to remove the pods from the seeds. Strawberry clover is unique in that it has an inflated calyx, which lets it float on water. Such characteristics sometimes may complicate the harvesting.

The size of the seed—about 3 thousand seeds in a pound of field peas to about 2.5 million in a pound of large hop clover—affects many of the cultural practices, especially the rate and depth of planting and methods of harvest.

Most of the small-seeded legumes have hard seed and so cannot take up water promptly. The proportion of hard seed varies in species. The percentage of hard seed of most species is reduced by aging. In harvesting and cleaning operations, some of the seeds are scratched. The seedcoats of some species, such as sweetclover, are so hard that scarification is necessary before the seed will germinate.

Longer lived species tend to spread. Whiteclover and kudzu spread by stolons. Rambler and some other varieties of alfalfa spread by creeping roots. Crown vetch, Kura clover, big trefoil, and zigzag clover spread by rhizomes.

All of these species, except alfalfa, spread vigorously and are hard to maintain in rows for seed production. Cultural practices are affected.

The seed of many legumes need to be inoculated. Bacteria must be applied to the seed to insure the development of the symbiotic relationship in which nitrogen from the air is fixed in the plant. The inoculum varies from one species to another. Most seed dealers can supply the proper inoculum with seed that requires it.

The variability of legumes applies to genera, species, varieties, and to plants within varieties. Cultural practices for the production of legume seeds have distinctive features for each species.

PERENNIAL legumes include alfalfa (Medicago sativa), red clover (Trifolium pratense), alsike clover (T. hybridum), white or Ladino clover (T. repens), birdsfoot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus and tenuis), Kura clover (T. ambiguum), strawberry clover (T. fragiferum), zigzag clover (T. medium), sericea lespedeza (Lespedeza cuneata), big trefoil (Lotus uliginosus), crown vetch (Coronilla varia), and kudzu (Pueraria lobata).

ALFALFA for seed usually is planted on a firm, well-prepared seedbed in spring or fall, depending on the location, at a seeding rate of two-thirds to 4 pounds of seed per acre in rows 22 to 40 inches apart or as much as 15 pounds per acre in solid stands.

M. W. Pedersen and associates at Logan, Utah, used a four-dimensional scheme to explain the relationship between density of stand and production of seed. The space between rows and the distance between plants within the row are the first two dimensions. Plant height is the third dimension. Pollination is the fourth.

The best plan probably is to space the plants equally within and between rows on about 2-foot centers. From a practical standpoint, however, it is better to have enough plants in the rows to crowd out weeds and volunteer alfalfa plants. A greater stand density can be tolerated if the plants are short and if pollination is rapid. Generally, however, seed setting is better on thin stands.

At Logan, Utah, the best yields have been obtained on 24-inch rows planted at 1 pound of seed per acre. The average annual production in a 4-year period was 211 pounds of seed per acre from a stand planted in 8-inch rows at a rate of 12 pounds of seed per acre, and 385 pounds from a stand planted in 24-inch rows at a rate of r pound of seed per acre.

When the forage stand was thinned, the yield of seed was increased to a level equal to or better than that from a stand that was originally thin. For example, a yield of 183 pounds of alfalfa seed per acre was obtained from a dense stand in 1955, compared to 427 pounds when the stand was thinned to 12-inch hills in 24-inch rows.

In the Delta area of Utah, thicker stands were better. In California, 40-inch rows planted at about 1 pound of seed per acre have given good results.

Solid-seeded stands often have given good results, but only when pollination was good. Much of the alfalfa seed is produced on stands that are utilized for both hay and seed.

At Logan, the yield of seed from the first crop is nearly twice the second, but about one-half of the seed produced in the State nevertheless is grown on the second crop. Governing factors include the relative values of hay and seed, date of the first frost, synchronization of bloom with the activity of pollinators, and weeds.

Fertilization with phosphorus is necessary in many sections. An application of 200 pounds of triple superphosphate often is used when the need is established.

Scientists at the Utah Agricultural Experiment Station noted, however, that seed yield of alfalfa dropped when the soil phosphorus content exceeded 17 parts per million. This depressing effect would probably be most apt to occur when stands are dense, irrigation is excessive, and pollination is slow.

Until more exact information is available, caution should be exercised in the application of phosphorus for the production of alfalfa seed.

Potash and such minor elements as boron, zinc, sulfur, and molybdenum also are required in some places.

The results of several years of study of irrigation in the production of alfalfa seed in Utah showed that when the root zone contained 15 inches of available water when flowering began, no benefit was derived from additional irrigation. When the soil contained only 7 inches, however, irrigation following full bloom was considered to be of value.

An advantage of 22 percent for furrow irrigation over sprinkler irrigation for alfalfa seed production also was reported.

Weeds must be controlled. If the seed is to be certified, the volunteer alfalfa plants (plants developed from shattered seed of the harvested crop) must also be killed.

Cultivation is done by row machinery, spring-tooth harrows, disk harrows, and tillers. Once a stand is established, it is necessary sometimes to cultivate across the rows to kill volunteer plants and weeds in the row.

Scientists at Oregon State College reported the effective use of diuron [3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1, 1-dimethylurea] and IPC [isopropyl N-phenylcarbamate] or CIPC [isopropyl N-(3-chlorophenyl) carbamate] for the over-winter control of weedy annual grasses and broad-leaved weeds. A combination of dalapon and 4-(2,4-DB) [4-(2,4-dichlorophenoxy) butyric acid] was also suggested for establishing weed-free stands. EPTC [ethyl N, N-di-n-propylthiolcarbamate] was suggested as a preplanting treatment.

Contact weedkillers of the Dow general type [dinitro ortho secondary butylphenol] can also be used on established stands.

Harmful insects must be controlled without killing a disproportionate number of beneficial ones. Many beneficial and harmful insects are present in alfalfa.

Serious pests include the alfalfa weevil (Hypera postica), lygus bugs (Lygus species), pea aphid (Macrosiphum pisi), clover seed chalcid (Bruchophagus), spotted alfalfa aphid (Therioaphis maculata), and spider mites (Tetranychus).

A treatment of DDT (dichlorodiphenyl-trichloroethane) or dieldrin in the bud stage followed by toxaphene in the bloom stage controls lygus bugs. Demeton can be added to control mites and aphids.

One to five colonies of honey bees per acre are needed for pollination if enough native pollinators are not present to pollinate the crop.

Harvesting can be done by combining from cured windrows or from the standing crop. If combined direct, a defoliant spray (such as a dinitro product of the Dow or Sinox-general type) often is applied.

RED CLOVER is grown in all sections of the United States where there is sufficient rain or irrigation.

A fine, firm seedbed is essential to good stands of red clover. The surface should be firmed by settling by irrigation or rain, cultipacking, or rolling before seeding.

A medium soil of the loam, sandy loam, or clay loam type is preferred. Alkaline and extremely sandy soil should be avoided.

Red clover is planted between September and November and in February in California. In other areas, it is planted in the spring and late summer except in the Southeastern States, where fall plantings are made.

Broadcast seeding requires 10 to 20 pounds per acre; 8 to 10 pounds is enough when drill seeded. One or two pounds make satisfactory stands in row plantings. Spacings from 20 to 30 inches result in maximum seed yields in row plantings.

Tests in Minnesota indicated that red clover in 18-inch rows, planted at a rate of 2 pounds of seed per acre, and broadcast stands, planted at 4 pounds per acre, were superior to stands in 18-inch rows planted at a rate of 4 pounds and 36-inch rows planted at 1 or 2 pounds per acre.

Investigations in Kentucky led to recommendations of fall plantings, broadcast at the rate of 6 pounds of seed per acre.

The seed should be sown at a depth of about one-half inch or less.

Seeding rates are usually 8 to 10 pounds when drill seeded and 10 to 12 pounds per acre when broadcast. Red clover commonly is seeded in established stands of small grain or in grain stubble.

Inoculation is often necessary. Red clover will thrive only if enough legume bacteria are present. These may be lacking in soils where true clovers (Trifolium) were not grown a year or two previously.

Red clover needs more moisture than alfalfa. For maximum yield of seed, the plants should be kept growing vigorously throughout the growing and seed-setting period.

The border or furrow methods are satisfactory for applying irrigation water to red clover. Sprinkler irrigation may have limited use. Repeated wettings may promote deterioration of the heads and lead to shattering after the seed heads begin to mature.

Clipping is not generally recommended in the West, although clipping may help control weeds, diseases, and insect pests. If clipping is necessary, it should be done at about the time of the first bloom. The first crop is always clipped or grazed in the Midwest. The highest yields were obtained in Kentucky when the first crop was cut about June 1.

Because the red clover flower is practically self-sterile, cross-pollination is essential for a commercial seed crop. Two hives of domestic bees per acre usually are enough in the West. Better yields are obtained with three to four colonies per acre in the Midwest. They should be placed in the field when the plants begin to bloom.

Fertilizers often increase yields. Phosphorus, potash, and sulfur should be applied if they are deficient in the soil.

Two insects that must he controlled if seed of red clover is to be produced satisfactorily are the clover seed midge (Dasyneura leguminicola) and the clover seed chalcid.

Other pests that may cause damage include lygus bugs, grasshoppers, armyworms (Prodenia), spider mites, and clover root borer (Hylastinus obscurus).

Land relatively free of weeds should be used for producing seed of red clover. Cultivation generally is the most economical way to kill weeds where it is possible, as in row plantings. In excessively weedy, close-drilled or broadcast stands, it may be necessary to use herbicides or pull the weeds by hand. If weedy winter annual grasses are a problem, pelleted or granulated IPC—isopropyl N-phenylcarbamate—is effective. In California, the IPC material should be applied on wet soil in December and January when the soil is cold.

Harvesting methods are similar to those for alfalfa, except that red clover is not usually combined standing and is harder to thresh.

ALSIKE CLOVER is used in hay and pasture mixtures in the eastern half of the United States and in the higher elevations of the Western States. It is especially useful in wet meadows and acid soils where other clovers do not thrive.

Like red clover, alsike is a perennial that generally behaves as a biennial.

The seedbed for alsike clover should be firm, uniform, and well drained. Fall and spring plantings are common in the Klamath Basin of Oregon. It usually is seeded in early spring in the colder regions. It may be broadcast, drill seeded alone, or drill seeded into established stands of small grain in early spring or grain stubble in the fall.

Broadcast plantings take 8 to 12 pounds of seed; 6 to 8 pounds is adequate when it is drill seeded. Alsike generally is grown in solid stands.

Under irrigation, the management of water is important. Alsike seedlings are slow to establish roots and require an abundance of water. The soil should not be allowed to dry to a depth greater than 1 to 2 inches until 2 or 3 weeks before harvest.

Alsike clover will thrive only if proper bacteria are present. Its seed should be inoculated when it is planted for the first time in a field.

Alsike plantings usually respond to phosphorus or sulfur or both in the Klamath Basin. Applications of 300 to 400 pounds of single or ordinary superphosphate at planting time may increase yields of seed.

The best yields are produced on early growth. Cutting back to condition stands for seed production therefore is poor management.

Pollination requirements are similar to those of Ladino whiteclover.

The major pests of alsike are the clover seed weevil (Miccotrogus picirostris), the clover root curculio (Sitona hispidula), and several species of lygus bugs. The pea aphid and clover aphid (Anuraphis bakeri) may also require control.

Rodents, field mice, and gophers often are problems in seed fields. Excellent control of field mice has been obtained by using toxaphene, which is applied in water at the time the field mice are feeding on the plants above the ground.

Harvesting is done much as with alfalfa, but alsike seed is small and shatters if it is not handled carefully.

LADINO CLOVER will do best on heavier clay or loam soils. It does well on shallow soils underlain by a tight clay layer or hardpan, even if the restricting layer is within 12 to 18 inches of the soil surface. Ladino clover does not thrive on saline soil. Seed production is seldom successful on deep, open, friable, fertile soils, because plants fail to produce an abundance of seed heads unless they are irrigated frequently.

Ladino clover grown for seed requires irrigation every 7 to 12 days during the 60 to 80 days required to set a seed crop. Careful preparation of the land to provide economical and uniform application of water and to facilitate other cultural operations is essential. The border system of land preparation is in general use.

A fine, firm seedbed is recommended. The surface should be firmed by cultipacking, rain, or irrigating before seeding.

Seeding can be done in September or November or in February. Spring seeding is preferred if fields are foul with winter weeds.

The rate of seeding is 4 to 6 pounds per acre when broadcast or drill planted. The seed should be covered to a depth of one-fourth inch or less.

Inoculation of Ladino seed is recommended, particularly on new lands not previously in clover.

The production of seed in stands or pasture plantings will benefit from liberal applications of phosphorus and sulfur if the soil is low or deficient in those elements. New seedings of Ladino in California respond to nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur. Many growers broadcast 200 pounds per acre of 16-20-0 and 100 pounds of agricultural sulfur before seeding new stands.

Grazing or mowing seed fields in late April or early May helps control weeds. On stands of seedlings, dinitro selective sprays are effective against young broad-leaved weeds. The dinitro selective sprays should be used with extreme caution in seedling Ladino if the air temperature is above 75° F.

In established fields, when properly used, 2,4-D (2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid) has proved effective against such troublesome weeds as dock, buckhorn, plantain, chicory, and dodder.

When 2,4-D is used, time of application, type of material to be used, and the rate of the application are important.

In irrigated areas, fields sprayed with 2,4-D should be kept well watered for 3 to 4 weeks following treatment.

Weedy grasses, particularly winter annual species, can usually be controlled by applying granulated or pelleted IPC. The IPC material should be applied when the ground is wet and cold.

Because daylength affects flowering of all whiteclover and may influence setting of seed, the time of cutting back or grazing preparatory to seed production is important.

The recommended time to condition the stand for Ladino seed production in California is May 5 to 20. The regrowth of plants to full bloom requires 25 to 30 days. Therefore seed setting would start about June 30 to July 20 and continue to August 20 or September 10. Harvest is 15 to 20 days later.

Ladino clover plants are extremely variable. Locality, time of seed setting, and plant differences may affect the genetic composition of strains or varieties that are grown under different environments.

E. H. Stanford and his coworkers at the University of California studied the effects of harvest dates and location on the genetic composition of the Syn. 1 generation—the first generation produced by the interpollination of a group of plants in isolation—of Pilgrim Ladino clover.

They concluded: "Parental clones of Pilgrim Ladino clover differ in their seed-producing ability. The relative amounts of seed produced by individual clones varies with harvest dates and areas of production. Pollen contribution of individual clones also differs. If genetically uniform lots of breeder seed are to be produced, they must be produced under similar environmental conditions."

Daylength also governs the area where seed of Ladino clover can be grown. South of about 32° north latitude the daylength is too short to promote profuse formation of flowers.

Investigations in California indicated that time of harvest in relation to cutting back is important. Tests showed these yields: 180 pounds per acre, when harvested in 52 days after cutting back; 280, in 66 days; 298, in 75 days; 407, in 96 days; 380, in 110 days; 298, in 120 days; and 280 pounds in 130 days.

The loss of seed, as indicated by harvests after 110 days of production, were due to deterioration of pedicels, heads, and pods, which led to shattering of seed, dropping of heads and pods, and germination of seed after irrigation.

The flowers must be cross-pollinated. Wind and rain are not effective carriers of pollen. Bumble bees and many other wild bees are useful and effective, but usually there are so few of them that one cannot rely on them for effective pollination. Honey bees therefore generally are used. An average of 1 or 2 strong colonies to the acre is enough for complete pollination.

Lygus bugs, grasshoppers, cutworms (Chorizagrotis auxiliaris), armyworms, and spider mites (red spider) must be controlled to produce Ladino seed.

The crop is ready to cut when about 90 to 95 percent of the seed heads are brown and the flower stems have started to dry (usually 90 to 110 days after cutting back). The crop is usually harvested by one of three methods—direct combining, following spray curing; combining from the windrows; and by stationary threshers.

To cure, Ladino is cut as close to the ground as possible. The mower is equipped with a curler to windrow, or a side-delivery rake is used for windrowing following mowing. Sometimes it is dried in the swath and windrowed at night before threshing. Desiccation or chemical curing also is used. Curing usually takes 4 or 5 days.

THE SEED HABITS of birdsfoot trefoil are such that sometimes much seed is lost.

The seed ripens unevenly. The ripe pods pop open, and seed shattering may lead to a complete loss of the crop.

Localities that have relatively cool summer temperatures and moderately high daytime humidity (40 to 60 percent) are best suited to seed production. Seed is produced in Oregon, California, North Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Vermont, and New York.

A firm seedbed is essential. Seed fields should be relatively free of weeds.

Birdsfoot trefoil is normally seeded in California in October and November or in February. The stand then becomes established under normal rainfall over most of the area.

Seeding in standing water on flat lands that are irrigated by contour checks is fairly common. Successful stands are obtained throughout late summer and early fall by this method. After the land is prepared for irrigation, the field is flooded. The seed is broadcast on the water from an airplane. The land is flooded for about 48 hours. By that time, the seedcoat has been ruptured, the cotyledons have emerged, and the primary root has begun to develop. As the water is drained off, or seeps into the soil, the primary root is anchored in the mud. If the water is held too long, the seedlings may be driven to the levee by the wind.

Trefoil generally is seeded in spring in colder parts of the country. The recommended rate of seeding is 3 to 5 pounds per acre drill seeded to a depth of one-fourth inch or less.

Inoculation is essential in places where trefoil has not grown previously. Trefoil bacteria do not occur naturally in most soils.

Soil moisture should be controlled. Irrigation should be frequent enough to keep the ground moist throughout the period of seed setting and ripening. Frequent irrigation also helps to maintain a canopy of new growth above most of the seed pods and to keep the humidity high to reduce seed shattering. Trefoil stands grown for seed on soils low in phosphorus, potash, and sulfur will often benefit from liberal applications of fertilizer containing them.

Birdsfoot trefoil, like alfalfa, responds to thin stands. In replicated tests with row-planted stands of Viking trefoil, rows spaced 6 to 24 inches apart produced 30 to 60 percent more than stands planted by broadcasting. Seed shattering increased sharply in the 24-inch, row-spaced stand.

Weedy grasses, particularly winter annual species, usually can be controlled by applying granulated or pelleted IPC, which should be applied when the ground is wet and cold. Many broad-leaved weeds can be eliminated by spraying with 4-(2,4-DB). The spray should be applied before the trefoil is cut back to start seed production.

Daylength influences blossoming and may influence setting of seed. The time of clipping back preparatory to seed production therefore is important. The recommended time to cut back in California is May 1 to 15; in Oregon, May 25 to June 5.

Regrowth to full bloom requires 30 to 35 days. Seed setting would then start about June 20 and continue to August 1 to 10. Harvest is 20 to 30 days later.

Pollinators are essential during the entire seed-setting period. If wild bees are scarce or absent, one or two strong hives of honey bees per acre should be furnished.

The first crop is usually used for seed in nonirrigated areas. Harvest follows about 25 to 30 days after full bloom.

Harmful insects and mites, such as lygus bugs and stink bugs (Pentatomidae), must be controlled.

We know of no completely satisfactory method of harvesting trefoil. Direct combining after spray curing can be done under ideal conditions. Mowing and drying in the swath for 8 to 24 hours before combining has been a successful method. Mowing and windrowing to cure and threshing from the windrow is commonly used. Mowing trefoil at night and curing it on a hard surface has been tried.

Curing in shocks and bales to be threshed by stationary harvesters and other methods have been tried, but we cannot give a good, general recommendation.

BIENNIAL yellow and white sweet-clovers are grown mainly for grazing and soil improvement. Planting practices are like those for alfalfa.

According to Samuel Garver and T. A. Kiesselbach, who worked in Nebraska, the first year's growth can be grazed or mowed for hay, but grazing gives better seed production the following year.

About 6 inches of stubble or growth should be allowed to remain for the winter. Higher seed yields are obtained when the second year's early growth is not grazed or mowed. Some of the varieties grow so tall if they are not grazed, however, that it is advisable to graze them so that the harvesting machinery can handle the growth. About 10 inches of stubble should be left to insure regrowth.

Thick stands should be avoided when sweetclover is grown for seed. The yield on dry land is reduced because of excessive competition for soil moisture. The seed yield on wetter lands is reduced because of excessive shading.

At least one plant per square foot is required to control weeds and is considered suitable for drier sites for seed production. If there is enough soil moisture, two or three plants to the square foot is better.

Sweetclover is quite drought tolerant when it is established, but it requires favorable moisture conditions in the early stages of seedling development. Moisture is needed for the companion crop as well as the sweetclover. There should be enough soil moisture the second year to provide a good vegetative growth, but drier weather favors flowering, seed formation, and harvesting.

Sweetclover requires readily available calcium. It can grow with lower levels of soil phosphorus than alfalfa.

Weeds are normally controlled by the companion crop in sweetclover the first year. A spring-tooth harrow or similar tool can be used to control annual weeds in the spring of the second year if they are troublesome.

It is sometimes necessary to control the sweetclover weevil (Sitona cylindricollis). Dieldrin can be used for this purpose.

Bees at the rate of two or more colonies per acre must be provided for pollination.

Combining from windrows is a satisfactory method of harvesting.

SUMMER ANNUAL legumes include Korean and striate lespedezas (L. stipulacea and L. striata), velvet bean (Stizolobium deeringianum), cowpea (Vigna sinensis), alyceclover (Alysicarpus vaginalis), crotalaria (Crotalaria), and hairy indigo (Indigofera hirsuta).

Lupine, vetches, field pea, and Hubam sweetclovers are summer annuals in the North, although fall seeding of peas with oats is practiced on the Pacific coast.

The summer annuals generally are planted in the South from January to March and harvested in the fall.

LESPEDEZA is planted in early spring by drilling or broadcasting with pasture mixtures or grain at the rate of 25 to 30 pounds of unhulled seed per acre. The stand is maintained indefinitely by volunteering.

A crop of hay usually is cut or the stand is pastured until about July 15. If it is pastured and a dense growth persists or weeds are present, mowing may be worthwhile. The seed yield is greater if a hay crop is not taken, however. The crop should not be mowed if the lower leaves are firing or dying. Live buds should be left below the mowing line.

Lespedeza does well on a wide range of soil conditions, but responds favorably to lime on acid soils and to mixed fertilizers, particularly phosphorus, on deficient soils.

Dodder, the major weed problem in lespedezas, is controlled by burning.

There are no severe problems of insect pests or pollination.

Kobe lespedeza, a late-maturing strain of L. striata, generally is combine harvested from windrows. The Korean can be harvested standing.

THE Trifolium genus of winter annual legumes includes berseem (T. alexandrinum), large hop (T. campestre), small hop (T. dubium), rose (T. hirtum), crimson (T. incarnatum), Persian (T. resupinatum), and lappa (T. lappaceum) clovers and subclover (T. subterraneum).

The Medicagos include spotted bur-clover (M. arabica), California bur-clover (M. hispida), and little burclover (M. minima), button clover (M. orbicularis), and black medic (M. lupulina).

The Melilotus genus includes sour-clover (M. indica), Hubam, Israel, and Floranna sweetclover (M. alba annua).

Also included are rough pea (Lathyrus hirsutus), lupine (Lupinus species), Austrian winter pea (Pisum arvense), and vetch (Vicia).

The last three species and Hubam sweetclover are grown as summer annuals in the northern parts of the United States and as winter annuals in the Pacific coast region, west of the Sierra Nevada and the Cascade Mountains and in the lower South.

Hairy vetch is the only one of the vetches that is winter hardy enough to be used as a winter annual in the North.

Winter annual legumes usually are planted in the South from August to November and harvested in June and July, about the same time as the small grains.

Although annuals, the small-seeded species ordinarily maintain themselves by reseeding, the key to which is their percentage of hard seed.

Common crimson clover does not normally reseed because of its low percentage of hard seed, but varieties such as Dixie do reseed, because they have a higher proportion of hard seed.

Cultivating or disking the soil after harvest sometimes helps to plant the volunteer crop.

It is common practice (except among specialized seedgrowers) to graze the crop until about a month before normal flowering time. The yield of seed may be reduced thereby, but sometimes such grazing helps to control weeds.

The tall-growing species, such as lupines, peas, and vetches, require no special management and produce more seed if they are not grazed or clipped.

CRIMSON CLOVER is seeded in the fall alone in an open, established, short grass sod or with oats or barley.

The crop can be grazed until early in March in the southern sections before it is allowed to go to seed.

Usually 10 to 20 pounds of inoculated seed are planted per acre.

Crimson clover will require fertilization with phosphorus, potassium, and sometimes boron in the South, but too much fertilization for seed production should be avoided in order to avoid excessive growth and damage from crown and stem rotting organisms.

One colony of honey bees per acre should be provided for pollination.

The clover head weevil (Hypera meles), lesser clover leaf weevil (H. nigrirostris), seed chalcid, pea aphid, and other insects may be problems. Crimson clover sometimes is combined standing, but usually it is combined from windrows.

THE VETCHES require cool temperatures for best development. In the Southern and Pacific States, they usually respond as winter annuals and mature in late spring and early summer. In the North, where winters are severe, they usually act as summer annuals and mature late in summer or fall.

Species vary in winter hardiness. Hairy vetch is the most winter hardy and the only variety recommended for fall planting in the North. Hungarian, woollypod, and smooth vetches will stand a temperature of 0° F. without snow protection. Of the common vetches, Willamette, the most winter hardy, tolerates temperatures down to 10° without injury. Bitter, purple, and Monantha vetches are less hardy than Willamette vetch.

Vetches generally do not require a particular soil, but some varieties are better adapted to certain soil types than others. All varieties do well on rich loam. Hairy vetch, smooth, Monantha, and woollypod vetches do well on poor, sandy soils. Hungarian vetch is well suited to heavy, wet soil where other varieties fail to thrive.

A moderate supply of moisture is necessary for vetches. None tolerates drought.

Little or no seedbed preparation is used when vetches follow cultivated crops. The seed is usually sown broadcast and disked in. When seeded in ricefields, the seed is broadcast by airplane into mud following drainage preparatory to harvesting the rice. Disked seedbeds are used in the Pacific Northwest when vetch follows cultivated crops or spring-seeded small grains.

In the Northern and Eastern States, where hard freezes occur, all cultivated vetches, except hairy vetch, should be sown early in spring. Hairy vetch may be sown in August and early September. In the Pacific coast region, west of the Sierra Nevada and Cascade Mountains, vetches can be sown in the fall. Seedings also are common in September and October in the Cotton Belt.

Seeding rates vary according to variety and locality. Hairy, smooth, narrowleaf, and woollypod vetches require 20 to 30 pounds; Hungarian, Monantha, and the common vetches, 30 to 50 pounds; and Bard and purple vetches, 60 to 70 pounds to the acre.

The seed is broadcast or drill planted. Drill-planted stands are preferred for seed production. The depth of planting, which varies with the soil type and the amount of surface moisture, usually ranges from 1.5 to 3 inches.

Vetch grown for seed often is sown in pure stands. Hay stands usually include a companion crop of oats, barley, or rye.

On soils deficient in phosphorus, sulfur, or potash, vetches grown for seed, hay, or cover crops will respond to liberal amounts of those elements.

Inoculation is essential to the growth of all vetches.

To grow vetches for seed requires little special management. If it grows fast and is not clipped or grazed, it tends to smother weeds.

Diseases and pests are few. The vetch bruchid (Bruchus brachialis) was a serious threat to the vetch seed industry in Oregon in the 1940's. DDT effectively controlled it.

Honey bees and bumble bees like to visit vetch blossoms. The structure of the vetch flower is adapted to cross-pollination, and visits by pollinators are essential for maximum seed set.

To harvest seed of hairy, smooth, woollypod, and other shattering vetches, the plants must be cut as soon as the lower pods are fully ripe.

The nonshattering species, such as purple and Hungarian vetches, are allowed to ripen 80 to 95 percent of the pods before cutting. An important point in growing vetch for seed is to handle the crop quickly and as little as possible to avoid seed shatter.

FIELD PEAS are grown like small grain; in fact, a mixture of oats and peas sometimes is used in growing seed.

Peas for seed are seeded in the fall or spring, depending on locality. The crop is fall seeded in September to early November in the Pacific coast region. Often winter oats is a companion crop. In the irrigated section of Idaho, Washington, Montana, and Oregon, peas are planted alone in early spring.

With a companion crop, the rate of seeding is 80 pounds of peas and 40 pounds of oats. For irrigated plantings made in spring the seeding rates are 80 to 100 pounds of pea seed per acre. The crop is usually drill seeded and covered to a depth of 1.5 to 3 inches.

Field peas prefer an abundance of lime and often respond to liberal amounts of sulfur. Sulfur in the form of gypsum is used at rates of 100 to 150 pounds per acre in western Oregon. The elemental sulfur is used at a rate of 50 pounds per acre on irrigated lands.

Field peas are subject to bacterial blight, leaf blotch, downy mildew, anthracnose, and root rot. The growing of peas on different fields that are rotated helps to reduce the incidence of disease.

Insects that infest peas are the pea weevil (Bruchus pisorum) and pea moth (Laspeyresia nigricana). The pea aphid has been destructive in some years. Good control of the pea weevil can be had by dusting with DDT before the eggs are deposited.

Field peas should be cut for seed as soon as the pods are mature and the seed is firm. Peas may be windrowed or bunched for drying and threshed directly from windrows.

Threshing is usually done with an ordinary grain combine. The adjustment of threshing equipment should be such as to eliminate cracking, chipping, and breaking of seed.