82 ENGLISH BOTANY. 
marked on the sides with a few meshes formed by very thick ana- 
stomosing veins, the lower margin more or less tubercular-spinous, 
and frequently there are smaller tubercles of the same kind upon 
the exterior anastomosing veins which run parallel with it. Seed 
solitary, kidney - shaped, compressed, dark reddish-brown, dim. 
Plant greyish-green, more or less pubescent. Leaflets glabrous on 
the upper surface. 
Saintfoin. 
French, Sainfoin [ Esparcet. German, Gebaute Lsparsette. 
Besides the names already given, this plant is commonly known as Cock’s-head, 
Medick Vetchling, &c. The etymology of the name Sainfoin, sometimes spelt Saintfoin, 
is carefully given by Dr. Prior in his “ Popular Names of British Plants.” He says 
the word appears to be formed from the French sain, wholesome, and foin, hay, in 
Latin sanwm fenum, representing its older name Medica, which properly meant “ of 
Media,” but was mistaken as meaning curative. According to Plukenet and Hill, the 
name Saintfoin was first given to the lucerne (Medicago sativa), and that of lucerne to 
an Onobrychis, our present Saintfoin. There does not appear to be any saint named 
Foin, nor any reason for ascribing divine properties to this plant. According to 
Bornare, quoted by Duchesne, “Le Sainfoin, ainsi appelé parce que c’est le fourage le plus 
appétissant, le plus nourrissant, et le plus sain qu’on puisse donner aux chevaux et aux 
bestiaux.” This plant, though a native of England, is never found in its wild state but 
on dry, warm, chalky soils, where it is of great duration. It has long been cultivated 
in France and other parts of the Continent, and as an agricultural plant was introduced 
from France into England about the middle of the seventeenth century. It has since 
been a good deal cultivated in chalky districts, and its peculiar value is that it may be 
grown on soils unfit for being constantly under tillage, and which would yield little 
under grass. This is owing to the long and descending roots of the Suaintfoin, which 
will penetrate and thrive in fissures of rocky and chalky substrata. Arthur Young 
particularly advocated its use, saying that upon land fitted for its growth no farmer 
could sow too much, and in the Code of Agriculture it is said to be “one of the most 
valuable herbage plants we owe to the bounty of Providence.” The strong advocacy 
of Arthur Young and other writers of the same period caused its culture on many soils 
where it is now almost entirely given up. On chalky lands, and particularly on the 
hard chalk of the Surrey and Sussex downs, no fodder-plant yields so abundant a return. 
On gravel it often succeeds well, but on rich alluvial soil lucerne is far more productive, 
while on wet land Saintfoin will not grow. The most economical method of using this 
plant is by cutting it off for green food, or making it into hay ; as the root rises a little 
above the surface of the ground, it is apt to be injured if mown too closely, or if fed off 
by sheep. If cut before it comes into flower, two good crops may be often obtained 
during each season. On some of the light poor lands of Norfolk it has been grown with 
great advantage, for the long roots and fibres bind the particles of soil, and at the same 
time manure it by their gradual decay : many tracts of land have been rendered fertile 
by the judicious use of Saintfoin The usual duration of Saintfoin in a profitable state 
is from eight to ten years. It usually attains its perfect growth in about three years, 
and begins to decline about the eighth or tenth year on calcareous soils, and about the 
seventh or eighth on gravels. There are instances, however, of fields of Saintfoin which 
have been neglected and left to run into pasture, in which plants have been found 
