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d fnrvcy of fome of thefe lands which have been fo 

 cultivated tlirce or four years, which I am fully per- 

 •fuadcd wiil convince them of the bad hufbandry, for 

 no ocrfon who has any regard to neatnefs and utility, 

 will ever praftifc this method. 



The beft places to procure the feed from, are Svv'it- 

 zcrland, and the northern parts of fVance, for the 

 feeds favcd in thofc countries fucceed better with 

 us than that which comes from a more fouthern cli- 

 mate i but this feed may be (lived full as well in Eng- 

 land, and in as great plenty, were people curious 

 enough to let the firft crop Itand for that purpofe ; 

 in order to v/hich, a fmall quantity of the plants 

 fliould be fuffered to grow uncut till the feeds are 

 ripe, which is commonly about the beginning of 

 September, when it muft be cut, and laid to dry in 

 'an open barn, where tlie air may freely pafs through, 

 but be defended from the wet i for if .it be expofed 

 thereto, it will fhoot while it remains in the pod, 

 ■whereby it will be fpoiled. When it is quite dry, it 

 nuiil be threflied out, and cleanfcd from the huflc, 

 and prefeved in a dry place till the feafon for fowing 

 it; and this feedfaved in Enjzland is much preferable 

 to any brought from abroad, as I have feveral times 

 experienced, the plants produced from it having been 

 much ftrongcr than thofe produced from French, 



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flowers appear, othcrwife ih-re will be too much to 

 cut within a proper time. 



When this is made into hay, it will require a great 

 deal of making; for as the ft all 



are very iucculent, it 

 mull be often turned, and expofed a fortnir^ht or 

 longer, before it will be fit to houfe •, for this re- 

 quires a longer time to make than Saint Foin ; there- 

 fore, vvhen It is cut, it Ihould be carried to make 

 upon fome Grafs ground, becaufe the earth in the 

 intervals of the rows will wafii up, and mix with the 

 hay in every fhov/er of rain, and by carryino- it off as 

 foon as it is cut, the plants wiil (hoot up arrain foon • 

 but it is not fo profitable for hay, as to cut green for 

 all fofts of cattle, but efpecially horfes, which are 

 extremely fond of it j and to them it will anfwer the 

 purpofe both of hay and Corn, and they may be 

 worked at the fame time ju(t as much as wh^ they 

 are fed with Corn, or dry food. 

 The fecond fort grows naturally in the fouth of France 

 in Spain, Italy, and alfo in fome more northern 

 countries, and has been fuppofed only a variety of 

 the firft, but I have frequentlycultivated this by feeds, 

 and have never obferved it to alter. The ftalks of 

 this are fmailer, and never rife fohigh, generally prof- 

 trating on the groun<^; the leaves are not half fo 

 broad, the flowers are produced in Hiort roundifl> 

 fpikes, and are of a Saffron colour. This flowers 

 about the fame time as the firfl;, and the feeds ripen the 

 latter part of fummer. It may be eafily propagated 

 by feeds, and hath a perennial root which will con- 

 has either been occafioncd by the fowing it with Corn, I tinue many years, but is fcldorn cukivated any where. 



Helvetian, and Turkey feeds, which were fovvm at 

 the fame time, and on the fanie foil andfituation. 

 t am inclinable to think, that the reafon of this plant 

 not fucceeding, v;hen it has been fown in England, 



with which it v/ill by no means thrive (for though 



The third fort grows naturally in Italy ; this is an an- 



the plant be very hardy v/hen grown pretty large, yet | nual plant, having feveral (lender branching ftalks a 

 at its firft coming up, if it be incommoded by any 



ether plants or weeds, it feldom does well; there- 

 fore it fliould ahvays be fov/n by itfelf, and care- 

 fully cleared 'from weeds until it has ftrength, af- 



■ ter which it is not eafily deftroyed ;) or, perhaps, peo- 

 ple have fown it at a wrong feafon, orinwetwea- 



•thef, wliefeby the feeds have rotted, and never come 



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up, ., ^^njcu^ ftatft - difcouraged.„:,^eir attempting it 

 "again : but however the fuccefs has been, I dare aver, 

 ^:that if the method oF lowing and managing of this 

 '■plant, which is here laid dovvn, be duly followed, it 

 V^jtll be found to thrive as well as any other fort of 

 plant nov/ cultivated in England, producing a much 

 greater crop tlian any other fort of fodder, and will 

 continue much longer; for if the ground be duly 

 ftirrcd after the cutting each crop, and the laft crop 

 fed as hath been directed, the plants will continue in 

 vigour forty years or more, without renewing, pro- 

 vided they are not permitted to feed, which will weak- 

 en the' roots more than four times cutting it would do. 

 The hay'pf this plant fliould be kept in clofe barns, it 

 being too tende|; to be kept in ricks open to the air 

 as other hay, but it will remain good, if well dried 



■ before it be carried in, tKree years. The people 

 abroad reckon an acre of this fodder fufRcient to keep 

 three norles all the year round, . ■ - --^ : 

 And I have been affured bv perfons of undoubted 

 credit, who have cdtiy.ated this pjant in that 

 three acres of it have fed ten cart-horfes from the 

 end of April to the beginning of 06tober, without any 



"btlier food, though they have been cohft'ahtly worked. 



^Indeed, the b&fl ufe which can be made'bf this Grafs 



*ls', to cut it, and give it green to the cattle ; where 



■ this_ hath been daily praftifed, I have obferved that 

 fcy tlie time the field has been^cut over, that part 

 which was the firft cut hath been ready to cut again ; 



■ fo that there has been a conftant fupply in the fame 

 v.fi^ld, from the middle of April to the end of O6to- 



^ hcv : when the feafon has continued long mild, and 

 " when the fummers have proved fhowery, I have 

 ^""~~^^ lix crops cut in one feafon, but in the drieft 



foot" and a half long, which fpread on the ground, 

 * garnifhed with trifoliate leaves, whole lobes arc oval, 

 ' ^ear-fhaped, and entire. The flowers are produced 



fingly upon flender foot-flalks, which proceed from 

 ^ the fide of the branches ; they are fmall, of a yellow 



colour, and fhaped like thofe of the former fort; 



thefe are fucceedcd by broad, flat, moon-fbapcd 



pods, whofe borders are indented, and thefe inden- 

 ■ tures are terminated by fine hairs ; in each of thefe 



pods is lodged four or five kidney-fhaped feeds. It 



flowers in June and July, and the feeds ripen in the 



autumn. 

 The 



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fourth fort grows naturally in Spain ; this Is al- 

 fo an annual plant, whofe ftalks grow a foot and a 

 half long, trailing on the ground, and are garnifhed 

 with winged leaves compofcd of two pair of fmall 

 lobes, terminated by one large, oval, fpcar-(haped 

 lobe, which are a little hoary, and placed alter- 

 nately at the joints. The flowers ftand upon long: 



feafons there will be always three or four. When the 

 plant begins to flower, it fliould then be cut ; for if 

 it ftands longer, the ftalks will grow hard, and the 

 under leaves will decay, fo that the cattle will not fo 

 greedily devour it/'' Where there is a quantity of 

 this cultivated, fome' of it Ihould be cut before the 



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flender foot-ftalks, each fuftaining.four or five gold-' 

 coloured flowers at the top, which are fucceeded by 

 comprefTed moon-ftiaped pods, not half fo large as 

 thofe of the third fort, but have hairy indentures like 

 thofe. - This flowers and perfeflis its feeds about the 

 fame time as the former. 



The fifth fort grows naturally on the borders of the 

 fea in feveral parts of Italy ; it is alfo an annual plant, 



. with proftrate herbaceous ftalks about a foot long,- 

 garniflied with trifoliate leaves, whofe lobes arc' 

 wedge-Hiaped and fawc'd toward the top. The flowers 



^ are produced upon flender fdot-ftalks arifing from the 

 joints of the ftalk" ; they ai-e about an inch long, each 

 fuftaining five or fix pale yellow flowers, which are fuc-" 

 ceeded by fmall, th'^-^ ' — - ^— ^ ^^^^- ^^'^^^^ 



borders are entire, cont. ^ 



ney-fhaped feeds in each. It flowers and feeds about 



the fame time with the two former. 



Thefixth fort grows naturally in the Archipelago; 



this is an annual plant, from whofe roots come out 

 feveral oblong leaves about two inches and a haJ 

 long, narrow at their bafe, but broad toward the top, 

 where they are rounded ; thefe fpread on tlie ground, 

 and between them come out the ftalks which arc (len- 

 der, about a foot long, branching out into imaLer, 

 garniftied with winged hoary leaves : thofe on the 

 lower part of the ftajk are compofed of two pair ot 

 lobes terminated by an odd one > thefe are equal in 



aic yciiuw iiL;wt-i3, vYiii*-i»v» 



icki moon-fhaped pods, whofe 

 ntainine three or fourfmallkid-- 



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