380 PHYSIOLOGY AT THE FARM. 



for the most part cultivated by itself; but in very dry lime- 

 stone districts, and in dry sandy downs, particularly where the 

 sand contains fragments of sea-shells or other calcareous mat- 

 ter, it may be introduced into pastures. A bushel of the seed 

 averages 60 lb., and the number of seeds in an ounce rises 

 to 12,600. 



Qnobryckis sativa, Common Saint-foin. This plant, saint- 

 foin, was formerly known as the Hedysarum onobrycliis, 

 the latter name being compounded of two Greek words, the 

 one signifying an ass, and the other to bray the smell of the 

 plant being supposed to make an ass bray. Saint-foin, or 

 cinquefoil, is a deep-rooting perennial. It flowers in July and 

 August. It grows on dry chalky hills and open downs in 

 various parts of England. It is cultivated to considerable 

 advantage in dry and especially chalky soils. There is a 

 variety known in France under the name of Onobrychis 

 sativa bifera, which is of more rapid growth, and attains a 

 larger size than the common plant. It is one of the plants 

 recommended to be sown for warrens or light sandy downs, to 

 the extent of 3 lb. per imperial acre. A bushel of the 

 seeds averages 26 lb., and the number of seeds in an ounce 

 is 11,280* 



Mdilotus leucantha major, Bokhara Clover. Authorities 

 differ in regard to the value of this plant. As one of us has 

 reared it in several successive seasons as an ornamental plant, 

 and has found that it stands our winters and sends up shoots 

 early in April, he has thought it not unlikely to prove a useful 

 forage plant. If this idea turns out to be well founded, it 

 might be sown early in autumn and cut early in spring ; or, 

 being sown in April or May, it might be ready for cutting 

 in August. When sown in August, it has been sufficiently 



* For further details on artificial grasses, see Lawson on Herbage and 

 Forage Plants.' 



