90 



establish because the plants are very delicate when young, but when once 

 established it will last a score of years. 



Instances are given' in France where it has lasted on a single piece of 

 land, with rich soil, a hundred years. The yield of hay is not so great as 

 that from red clover or alfalfa, but it is of a very superior kind and is 

 more nutritious than that of red clover. It is highly valued as a butter- 

 making hay and its se^ds are said to be superior to oats for feeding stock 

 and more nutritious. They are excellent for feeding to poultry to incite 

 them to lay. 



Sainfoin will stand a large amount of heat though it is sensitive to 

 cold. The writer has seen it growing in Stewart county, Tennessee, hav- 

 ing been brought there by a Swiss family. It would probably grow well 

 in all parts of the South, especially on dry soils. It requires two 

 bushels of seed, as usually cleaned, for sowing an acre and it should be 

 sown from the first of May to the end of June on well prepared land. In 

 order to insure germination the seed must be covered with a harrow. 

 When very clean seed are used half as much as has been indicated will 

 be sufficient. 



In all those places where the ground is too dry or too sterile for 

 growing red clover, sainfoin might be introduced with profit. Possibly 

 it would do well upon the benches of the Cumberland mountain and 

 upon the siliceous soils of the Highlands and on the high ridgy lands of 

 East Tennessee where there is some lime in the soils. 



Sainfoin will make from ten to twenty-five bushels of seed per acre, 

 forty pounds being the weight of a bushel. 



For pasturing it is not a very desirable plant, as it does not have the 

 ability to withstand tramping as well as red clover. 



M ELI LOTUS— SWEET QhOV^^—{Melilotus alba.) 



This forage plant is highly commended as a restorative crop for cal- 

 careous soils. It acts also as a drainage plant. The roots descend to the 

 depth of several feet, and, being large, they supply innumerable down- 

 ward drains for carrying off stagnant water. This gives warmth to the 

 soil and permits the roots of succeeding crops to descend to a greater 

 depth in search of food. 



The writer has often grown this in a small way in a garden but his 

 experience is that no stock will eat it. It makes a splendid growth upon 

 rich soils, attaining the height of six feet or more. It starts very early in 

 the spring and soon becomes a conspicuous object with its bluish green 

 foliage. It is said by observant writers that stock will soon learn to eat 

 and relish it. It is a biennial, but it makes a very luxuriant growth the 

 first year and two crops of hay may be harvested during the summer 

 succeeding the spring in which it is sown. 



Prof. S. M. Tracy, of the Mississippi Experiment Station, says: 

 "While the hay from this plant will not sell as well as that from Lcspe- 

 deza, the crop is heavier, furnishes pasture earlier in the spring, and is 

 by far the most valuable crop we have for a natural fertilizer. Seed 

 must be sown in August or February at the rate of half a bushel to the 

 acre." 



