Ch.XXV.] ON SAINFOIN. 305 



grass, but although indigenous to our soil, we are yet indebted for its intro- 

 duction to our husbandry to the French, by whom it is so highly esteemed 

 that they call it by the significant ajjpellation of saint-foin, or holy-hay*. 



The soils on lohich it best succeeds are decidedly the calcareous, and it 

 is therefore extensively grown in all the districts of the kingdom which 

 abound in chalk ; particularly in the range of hills which spread from the 

 midland parts of Kent through many of the southern counties of England. 

 On this range the upper soil varies considerably, some of it being thin 

 tough clay, some a rich loam, and some of a poor sandy nature ; but, pro- 

 vided the subsoil be lime or chalk, the upper stratum is not of so much 

 importance. Being a tap-rooted plant, where the sainfoin is grown upon 

 a soil with a chalky base, the roots will reach tliat base, at however great a 

 depth it may lie, and therefore a calcareous rubble, through which the roots 

 can easily penetrate, is very favourable to it ; but on sands or gravels, 

 however open they may be, it will not flourish, unless they are well dressed 

 or intermixed with lime. A retentive strong clay-soil, although it lie on a 

 calcareous base, is less adapted to it than a light poorish soil of the same 

 nature ; for, on the former it is apt to rot. if the winter prove alternately 

 severe and wet. It is, indeed, a common opinion that the land should not be 

 too rich, which probably may be correct in one sense, though ill-founded in 

 another. Thus, if sainfoin be sown on ground rich with manure, the crop 

 may be injured by the grass being rendered coarse, but there is little danger 

 of this consequence resulting from a soil that is naturally rich ; for, like 

 all other crops, it will ever be good in proportion to the natural richness of 

 the land, tiiough it may be hurt by being rendered so artificially f. 



Dung is therefore considered improper, and the mamire generally em- 

 ployed is a top-dressing of peat, turf, or coal ashes, at the rate of, perhaps, 

 10 or 12 bushels of the former, to 30 of the latter, per acre. Those of 

 coal are considered the least likely to do harm, as having less tendency to 

 wear out the plants, by bringing them too suddenly forward ; for it must 

 be observed as a general rule in dressing sainfoin, that the use of manure 

 should be directly the reverse of its application to other crops. On the 

 deep hazel loams which lie along the edge of some of the chalk hills, no 

 dressing of any kind is considered necessary, but on the thinner and colder 

 soils it is thought advisable, in some cases every year, and in others once 

 in two years. Gypsum has been used with success at the rate of five 

 bushels per acre. On all soils, however, except the very poorest, the 

 top-dressing it is thought can scarcely be too light |, 



Sainfoin is commonly sown at the close of an alternate course of seven 

 or eight crops, and is generally put into the ground along with barley. Its 

 duration in the land depends, of course, upon the nature of the soil and the 

 condition of its preparation ; for if that be open to a considerable depth, 

 and reduced to a friable consistence, it will last from seven to ten years, but 

 if not well cleaned it will be smothered by w-eeds within a very short time §. 

 It is therefore previously customary to make as good a turnip season as 

 possible, well cleaned and hoed, and afterwards folded off, as a necessary 

 preparative to the subsequent operations. This having been done late in 



* The date of its introduction has not been ascertained, but it is mentioned by Aubrey 

 as well known in his time, 1G73, 



f Stevenson's Survey of Surrej', pp. 312, 313. 



+ Oxfordshire Rep., pp. 192, l'J3. 



§ The oat-grass is one of its greatest enemies, and on poor soils will creep in to such 

 extent as in three or four ytars to destroy it; the, only preventive is, when once the 

 sainfoin roots have taken firm hold of the soil, to harrow it thoroughly. 



X 



