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Mr. Martin J. Sutton, in a recent work on ‘‘ Permanent and tem- aM 
porary pastures,” says that it has been cultivatedinEnglandforover __ 
‘two hundred years. He says that it is essentially a food for sheep, and 
in pasturing the sheep do it no injury. It is also useful for horses, 
but produces nothing like the quantity of green fodder that can be 
obtained from the Lucerne patch. Whensown alone Mr. Sutton says 
that Sainfoin is lable to decrease and become overrun with weeds. 
He recommends its use as a predominant constituent in a mixture of 
grasses and clovers. He says that combined with strong growing — 
grasses there is less risk and the grasses keep down the weeds which | 
otherwise are apt tooverrun theSainfoin. In a green state it is quite 
free from the danger of blowing cattle (Hoven), and when made into 
hay is an admirable and nutritious food. But it requires great care 
in drying when made inio hay. 
Mr. Sinclair states that the produce of Sainfoin on a clayey loam 
with a sandy subsoil is greater than on a sandy or gravelly soil rest- 
ing upon clay. 
A French writer says that Sainfoin can not accommodate itself to 
damp soil, and even dreads soil which, although dry, rests upon a wet 
subsoil. It delights in dry soil, somewhat gravelly and, above ail, cal- 
careous. It flourishes upon the declivities of hills where water can 
not remain, and in light soil where its powerful root can readily pene- 
trate. But, although surviving in the poorest calcareous soil, like 
clover and Lucerne, its productiveness is always relative to the per- 
meability and fertility of the land. It prefers open, sunny places, 
with a southern or eastern exposure. 
Sainfoin has received several trials in this country, but without 
much success, probably from the experiments having been made 
upon unsuitable soil. We can not expect that it will be preferred in 
laces where clover succeeds, but in light soils and in regions with a 
ight rain-fall it should receive a thorough trial. 
A recent bulletin of the lowa Agricultural College gives the result 
of some experiments with this plant, which are very satisfactory. 
Observations there made indicate that it stands early freezing quite 
as well as Kentucky blue-grass. It produces at the rate of 3 tons of 
dry hay peracre. It deserves trialin Kansas, Nebraska, and Colorado. 
(Plate IV.) 
ALSIKE CLOVER (Trifolium hybridum, L.). 
This differs from common red clover in being later, taller, more 
slender and succulent. The flower heads are upon long pedicels, 
and are intermediate in size and color between those of white and 
red clover.. Its botanical name was so given from its being sup- 
osed by Linneeus to be a hybrid between those clovers, but it 1s now 
Earn to be a distinct species. It is found native over a large part 
of Europe, and was first cultivated in Sweden, deriving its common 
name from the village of Syke inthat country. In 1834it was taken 
to England, and in 1854 to Germany, where it is largely grown, not 
-only for its excellent forage but also for its seed, which commands a 
high price. In France it is little grown as yet, and is frequently con- . 
founded with the less productive Trifoliwm elegans. 
The following is condensed from ‘‘ Les Prairies Artificielles ” by 
Hd.-Vianne, of Paris: 
Alsike does not attain its full development under two or three years, and should 
therefore be mixed with some other plant for permanent meadows. It is best 
adapted to cool, damp, calcareous soil, and gives good results upon reclaimed marshes. 
