194 SAINFOIN DESCRIPTION. 



fibrous almost as those of liquorice downwards for 

 nourishment, till they are altogether out of the reach 

 of drought. In the dryest and most sultry weather, 

 when every blade of grass droops for want of moisture, 

 lucerne holds up its stem, fresh and green, as in the 

 genial spring." 



I am convinced, also, that the failures of attempts to 

 cultivate lucerne with us may be ascribed, in very many 

 instances, to an improper selection of soils ; but it is 

 nevertheless true that our climate is not so well adapted 

 to it as that of the south of France ; and experiments 

 hereafter, like those already made, may show its culture 

 to be wholly impracticable. 



SAINFOIN (Hedysarum onobrychis] differs from lucerne 

 in many important particulars. It is a leguminous plant, 

 with many stems from two to three feet long, straggling, 

 tapering, smooth ; leaves in pairs of pointed, oblong 

 leaflets, slightly hairy on the under side ; flower-stalks 

 higher than the leaves, ending in a spike of crimson or 

 variegated flowers, succeeded by flat, hard pods, toothed 

 on the edges and prickly on the sides ; root perennial 

 and hard and woody. Flowers in July. It is shown 

 in Fig. 155. The flower is shown in Fig. 156, and the 

 fruit in Fig. 157. 



Experiments have been made in introducing and cul- 

 tivating it in the northern latitudes of this country, but 

 without much success. It requires a calcareous soil. 

 In the south of France, where it flourishes best, it is 

 considered an indispensable forage plant, improving 

 the quality and increasing the quantity of milk when 

 fed to milch cows, to which it may be given without 

 producing the " hoove," to which they are subjected 

 when allowed to feed freely on green clover and lucerne. 

 Its stalks do not become ligneous if allowed to stand till 



