WARRIOR VETCH--
4 /Vew V"&i4 fr 41m A*caw
E. D. DONNELLY, Associate Plant Breeder
W. R. LANGFORD, Associate Agronomist1
VETCII 
HAS 
BEEN 
a popular 
crop 
in
Alabama for many years. Its use
has been mainly for green manure, but
it has been grown to a limited extent
for grazing.
Seed production is a major problem
with vetch in Alabama. Varieties that
perform well in the State do not pro-
duce economical seed yields under Ala-
bama conditions. Consequently, vetch
seed must be shipped into the State for
planting.
In 1958 Alabama farmers planted
6 million pounds of vetch seed2, but
saved only 324,000 pounds. In that one
1 Resigned.
2 Based on county 
agents' reports.
year, $1 million was paid for vetch seed
produced out of the State. Considering
needs of all states in the region, there
is a good potential market for vetch
seed in the Southeastern States.
Because of the seed problem, there
is a need for good varieties of vetch
that will produce seed in Alabama. In
addition, better forage crops are needed
to meet needs of the State's growing
livestock industry. Both forage and
seed production have been considered
0 * *
Title picture-Comparative growth of
Warrior vetch (left) and hairy vetch
(right).
AGRICULTURAL
THE ALABAMA
E. V. Smith, Director
EXPERIMENT
POLYTECHNIC
STATION
INSTITUTE
Auburn, Alabama
in the vetch breeding program of The
Alabama Polytechnic Institute Agricul-
tural Experiment Station.
A new variety of vetch that has been
developed by the Experiment Station
shows promise of filling the needs of
Alabama farmers. NamedWarrior, the
variety produces high herbage yields,
provides early pasture, and supplies
nitrogen to summer grasses. However,
its ability to produce good seed yields
in the State is one of Warrior's out-
standing characteristics.
DEVELOPMENT
and DESCRIPTION
Warrior (Vicia sativa) is a composite
of five lines selected for seed and
herbage production and cold tolerance.
These lines were selected in 1951 and
1952 and tested until 1954. They were
then composited to form an experimen-
tal variety. The original source of these
lines is not known.3
Warrior is similar to Willamette in
appearance, cold tolerance, and herb-
age production, but produces higher
seed yields under Alabama conditions.
Warrior does not shatter readily. Al-
though it produces some volunteer
plants, it cannot be depended upon to
reseed itself. Warrior and Willamette
appear to be resistant to the vetch
bruchid, an insect that does extensive
damage to seed of susceptible varieties.
Both varieties are sufficiently cold
hardy for the southern two-thirds of
the State and perhaps for the entire
State except in unusually cold years.
SEED YIELDS
Warrior produces good seed yields.
In 1955, 80 pounds of hand-harvested
clean seed were produced on 1/10 acre
on the Story Farm near Auburn (800
pounds per acre). The following year,
3Original selections were made 
by
former plant breeders in the Agron-
omy and Soils Department of the
Station.
132 pounds were produced on 
the
Agronomy Farm, Auburn, on 1/6 acre
(792 pounds per acre). In small plot
experiments at Auburn and Alexandria,
Warrior produced considerably more
seed of better quality than the other
vetches tested in 1956 and 1957,
Tables 1 and 2. More than 3.00 pounds
of clean seed were combine-harvested
from 1 acre at the Thorsby Foundation
Seed Stocks Farm in 1957, an adverse
year for vetch seed production. In
1958 at the same location, 3,500
pounds were combine-harvested from
512 acres (636 pounds per acre). How-
ever, in small-plot experiments on a
sandy soil at the Brewton Experiment
Field in southern Alabama, seed pro-
duction of Warrior, Willamette, and
hairy vetch was unsuccessful.
TABLE 1. YIELD AND SEED QUALITY
PRODUCED BY THREE VARIETIES,'
ALEXANDRIA, 1957
Seed yield Seed
Variety per acre quality
Pounds
Warrior---------526 Good
Commercial hairy 373 Fair
Willamette-------335 Fair to
good
*Grown with 
rye as a support 
crop.
TABLE 2. YIELD AND SEED QUALITY
PRODUCED BY THREE VARIETIES,*
AUBURN, 1956-57
Average yield Seed
Variety per acre quality
d Pounds
Warrior,--------1009 Excellent
Commercial hairy 195 Good
Willamette- 177 Fair
*Cotton stalks used as support.
Except for the Brewton test, Warrior
produced high quality seed. In the
small plot experiment at Alexandria, a
large percentage of hairy vetch seed
was infested with the vetch bruchid.
Bruchid infestation has not been ob-
served in seed of Warrior.
Experience has shown that to obtain
good vetch seed yields it is desirable
to have a support, such as cotton stalks,
grain sorghum stubble or rye, Figure 1.
rl
9 .  
,. A t i ot - -(r~o - :-n io-n Trt seec
production in a field following cotton. Cotton
stalks serve as an excellent support for vetch.
USE for GREEN MANURE
Warrior produced as much herbage
as hairy and Willamette in 3-year tests,
1956-58, at Tallassee and Brewton,
Table 3. At Alexandria, Warrior pro-
duced as much as hairy, with the ex-
ception of the crop grown during the
unusually cold winter of 1957-58. That
year, both Warrior and Willamette pro-
duced less than one-half as much as
hairy.
USE for PASTURE
Warrior is well adapted as fall and
winter pasture when seeded alone or in
mixtures with small grains. It is also
valuable for improvement of perennial
grass pastures on light sandy soils in
southern Alabama. Seed of Warrior
are large, giving it certain advantages
over smaller seeded legumes. Seedlings
are vigorous and stands can be obtained
under adverse conditions, such as in
sods too dense for emergence of smaller
seeded legumes. The large seed may
also be planted deeper, an advantage
under dry conditions. Results from
tests throughout the State show that
Warrior generally produces pasture
earlier than crimson clover.
Warrior shows good potential for im-
proving the grazing program on sandy
soils of southeastern Alabama where
smaller seeded legumes frequently fail.
Mixtures of Warrior vetch and Coast-
al Bermudagrass or Warrior and Pensa-
cola Bahiagrass were more productive
than crimson clover-grass mixtures.
Growth of these two legumes in Pensa-
cola Bahiagrass and Belrmudagrass sods
at the Wiregrass Substation is shown in
Figure 2. Forage yields of these grasses
grown alone (with and without applied
nitrogen), grown with Warrior vetch,
and with crimson clover are presented
in 1able 4. Both legumes increased
the yield of these grasses. Warrior
vetch-grass mixtures without commer-
cial nitrogen produced as much forage
as grass grown alone and fertilized with
TABLE 3. DRY HERBAGE PRODUCED BY TtRIE VETCH VARIETIES,
THREE LOCATIONS, 1956-58
Per acre yield of dry forage
Variety Alexandria' Tallassee2 Brewton
3
1956 1957 1958 1956 1957 1958 1956 1957 1958
Lb. Lb. Lb. Lb. Lb. Lb. Lb. Lb. Lb.
Warrior ----- 2,560 3,679 1,266 2,331 1,725 4,020 1,562 2,390 3,620
Willamette -2,274 3,719 1,200 2,113 1,181 3,649 1,425 2,258 3,550
Hairy 1,826 3,836 3,515 887 1,761 4,202 1,379 2,524 3,693
1 Northern Alabama.
* Central Alabama.
* Southern Alabama.
Fig. 2. Twenty eight-day growth of Coastal Bermudagrass and Pensacola Bahiagrass at the
Wiregrass Substation is shown above. Top left, Coastal without commercial nitrogen or legumes,
center, after crimson clover but no commercial nitrogen, and right, after Warrior vetch but no
commercial nitrogen. Bottom left, Bahiagrass without commercial nitrogen or legumes, center,
crimson clover sod seeded without commercial nitrogen and right, Warrior vetch sod seeded
without commercial nitrogen.
160 pounds of nitrogen per acre. Crim-
son clover-grass mixtures were as pro-
ductive as the grass plots treated with
90 pounds of nitrogen per acre. Nitro-
gen was applied to the grasses on
March 15, May 1, and July 15. All
plots were clipped at 28-day intervals
during the growing season.
TABLE 4. DIY FORAGE PRODUCED BY
SUMMER GRASSES WITH LEGUMES
AND WITII COMMERCIAL N1THOGEN,
WIBREGRASS SUBSTATION, 1957-58*
Per acre yield
Treatment
of dry forage
Coastal Bahia-
Bermudagrass grass
Pounds Pounds
None (check) ---- 1,698 1,548
+Warrior vetch 5,477 5,368
-Crimson clover 3,869 3,927
?160 lb. N/acre 5,382 5,401
*Yields include legume and grass for-
age.
Vetch-grass mixtures were ready to
graze by March 1, 1958. Grass-crimson
clover mixtures were 2 to 3 weeks later,
and grass alone made little pasturage
before early May. Both mixtures could
be expected to produce earlier grazing
during winters less severe than 1957-
58. Some late fall and early winter
grazing can be expected from Warrior
vetch on grass sods most years. Earlier
grazing can be expected if the vetch is
planted on a well-prepared seedbed
during late September or early October.
SUMMARY
The performance of Warrior vetch
indicates that it is easy to establish in
grass sods and furnishes early grazing.
It is sufficiently cold hardy for a graz-
ing or green manure crop in the south-
ern two-thirds of Alabama. The best
potential uses for Warrior are (1) im-
proving the grazing program on the
sandy soils of southeastern Alabama,
and (2) producing seed for planting
grazing and green manure crops. Good
yields of high quality seed have been
made on all soils where tested, except
on one very light sandy soil in the
southern part of the State. No bruchid
damage to seed of Warrior has been
observed.