210 REPORT—185/7. 
meadow hay is due, and is probably the cause of the superior quality of pas- 
ture hay when compared with that of the irrigated meadow, where this grass 
is seldom present, as also with hay of artificial grasses technically called seeds. 
If flavour and, with this, superior quality, be imparted to hay by the pre- 
sence of an aromatic species, would it not be well to mix a portion of melilot 
with clover and seeds? Cattle are exceedingly fond of it, and it isa plant 
which will grow readily and yield a large return in produce. To this end I 
have cultivated the common melilot, and should prefer it to the M. Taurica, 
on account of its less woody structure when mature. 
These plants may be considered as biennial ; however, by frequent cutting 
they may be made to last many years; and the following experiments in 
reference to this subject may be interesting, as showing the evil to the farmer 
of letting clovers (for it is the same with the 7’rifolia) remain too long before 
cutting. 
A ae of M. Taurica of two years last summer had one-half of its rows 
kept cut down and not allowed to seed, the other half was seeded; and on 
the 4th of September, 1856, I made the following note :— 
“ Cabool Clover—The cut-down rows about 18 inches high, fresh and 
green, and fit for cattle food ; the rest in seed.” 
On the Ist of May, 1857, I made the following note :— 
“ Cabool Clover.—The cut portion a tine succulent plant, 8 inches high ; 
the seeded part very thin, 3 inches high.” 
This year each of my clover plots will perform double experiments, as in 
them I am carrying on the same observations. 
4. GREEN Feepinc Crops.—lIn this list I would only advert to the 
Symphytum, and Sanguisorba officinalis. 
The Symphytum asperrimum was introduced to this country as an orna- 
mental plant from the Caucasus, by the Messrs. Loddige, as long agoas 1811, 
since when it has been recommended as a profitable green feeding or soiling 
crop for cattle, for which it seems adapted from its luxuriant growth and 
good feeding properties. It is a handsome plant, growing as much as 4 feet 
high, with an abundance of bright-blue bell-shaped flowers. 
While experimenting on the growth of this plant, it struck me that the 
Symphytum officinale of our ditches would be equally valuable if it could be 
made to grow away from its natural habitat. With the view of testing this, L 
introduced an example of the white form of S. officinale from the River 
Churn in Cirencester, into my garden, which year by year has so nearly 
approached the asperrimum in its details, as to induce me to communicate 
the experiment to the British Association at a former meeting; and it was 
again commented upon in my notes of last year before this Section, when it 
was elicited from the Rev. J. L. Jenyns that “the S. asperrimum and S. 
officinale were growing together near Bath, and that it was now impossible 
to distinguish the one from the other.” Here then I think I am justified 
in now saying that there can be no doubt of the specific identity of these two 
forms of plant. 
Sanguisorba officinalis, on account of its astringent properties, may per- 
haps be considered as a useful plant for admixture with sainfoin and clovers, 
and to this end I have for years been anxious to try it as one of my experi- 
ments; but it is a curious fact as showing the position of the seed trade, that 
with as many as a dozen trials to procure it from as many seedsmen, and 
always under its botanical designation, I have never been able to obtain it, 
and all my plots have turned out Poteriwm sanguisorba, a plant of a different 
aA 
Vi Mio ys MO EV 4 BE Fae yar 
oie. i. 
character, and which can only be considered as a weed : indeed the buyer of — 
foreign sainfoin seed should be careful as to this plant, as in some samples 
