190 MEADOWS AND PASTURES 



hay. It is highly prized wherever it has been fed. Many 

 old abandoned cotton plantations since the advent of the 

 boll weevil have been sown in part to lespedeza with 

 first-rate profit. It is common to mow it off early in the 

 summer to remove the weeds and wild growths so that 

 the lespedeza hay may be nearly pure. 



After studying the problem of live stock production in 

 the Gulf States for several years, I am convinced that 

 this clover should be the first to be sown. It has not as 

 high value, acre for acre, as vetches or alfalfa; it will 

 not grow to add fertility in frosty weather; in fact, it is 

 a very tender annual, but it is so humble, so little insist- 

 ent on good treatment, that one can take an old field too 

 poor and undrained for good farming,, plow lightly, level 

 off, and sow to lespedeza, and presto ! one's land is occu- 

 pied, at work, and getting richer even if slowly, will sup- 

 port stock, and more than hold its own till one can get 

 ready to take it seriously in hand with drains, deep plow- 

 ing and fertilization preparatory to growing the larger 

 legumes or corn. On the richer parts of his land he can 

 grow from i to 4 tons to the acre of prime, nutritious 

 hay if he feeds it, and bringing a good price if he sells 

 it. 



Sainfoin (Esparcette) and French Clover (Onobrychis 

 sativa). I have never seen a successful field of this beau- 

 tiful and valuable clover in America. In France it is 

 much used both in mixtures with alfalfa (lucerne) and 

 other clovers, and sown alone. On the best farms near 

 Paris it is nearly always a part of the composition of the 

 meadow. In England it is highly esteemed for dry, cal- 

 careous soils. It is somewhat slow to establish but when 



