394 HORTUS GRAMINEUS M'OBURNENSIS 



dr. qr. 

 Herbage, 55 oz. The produce per acre 



80 dr. of grass weigh, when dry - 30 



The produce of the space, ditto - 330 

 The weight lost by the produce of one acre in drying 23396 



64 dr. of grass afford of nutritive matter 2 1 ^ iQir o 13 



The produce of the space, ditto - 30 3f 5 



Horses and sheep are said to eat this clover, as are also cows, 

 goats, and swine. Dr. Withering says, that water distilled from 

 the flowers possesses but little odour in itself, but improves the 

 flavour of other substances. It does not appear to have been 

 cultivated in England. Professor Martyn observes, that there 

 cannot be a worse weed among bread-corn ; for a few of the 

 seeds ground with it, spoil the flour, by communicating the 

 peculiarly strong taste of the plant : notwithstanding this, horses 

 are said to be extremely fond of it. Some Italian writers call it 

 Trifolium cahalUum. In medicine it was esteemed emollient and 

 digestive, and was used in fomentations and cataplasms, particu- 

 larly in blister plasters; but it is now laid aside, as being more 

 acrid and irritating than emollient. 



From the above details, it is very much inferior to the long- 

 rooted clover, and cannot be put to any use for which that 

 species is not equally good or superior : it grows chiefly in clayey 

 soils. In very exposed situations it attains only to a small size ; 

 while in such as are much sheltered, I have found it exceeding six 

 feet in height. 



It ripens an abundance of seed. Flowers in the third or last 

 week of June. 



VIC I A cracca. Tufted Vetch. 



Specific character : Peduncles many-flowered ; flowers imbricate ; 

 leafets lanceolate, pubescent ; stipules half arrow-shaped, 

 mostly entire. Hort. Gram. Fol. 295. 



Obs. — Root creeping, perennial. Stems quadrangular, weak, 

 striated, attaining a great height when growing in hedges. 

 Branches alternate from the axils of the upper leaves. Leaves 

 alternate, consisting of from eight to twelve pair of leafets, 

 and terminated by a long branched and curling tendril. 



