Selecting Lines of Vetch that Breed True for Hard Seed 1

Ten advanced‐generation, hard‐seeded vetch lines ( Vicia sativa type) from V sativa L. × V. narbonemis f. serratitolia (Jacq.) Hermann were studied to determine whether or not these were breeding true for hard seed (impermeable seedcoat). Eight lines maintained a high level of hard seed over a 3‐year period whether planted from successive generations of hard seed only or from hard and soft seed as produced. Two other lines that received these same treatments produced considerably less hard seed when hard and soft seed was planted each generation than when hard seed only was planted. Data indicated that eight lines apparently were homozygous for the gene or genes conditioning hard seed and that two lines were segregating. The eight lines that apparently breed true for hard seed were composited to form the reseeding vetch cultivar, ‘Vanguard’.