306 BRITISH HUSBANDRY. [Ch. XXV 



the autumn, the ground is immediately ploughed up and left rough ; in 

 January it is harrowed down, and being well pulverized is immediately 

 cross-ploughed, as deep as for a crop of carrots. The first week in March 

 it is again well harrowed down, or run over with the scufflers, and about 

 the beginning, or at the latest the middle of the following month, the 

 barley is sown thin, once harrowed, and the sainfoin is afterwards sown 

 broad-cast, in the same manner as clover, and lightly rolled. Some far- 

 mers plough the land thrice, and give it a slight sprinkling of good rotten 

 dung, which is lightly ploughed in, and the ground ridged up before the 

 sowing ; but the main object being, in both cases, to open the soil as much 

 as possible, the second and third ploughings are always carried to a 

 great depth*. Drilling is very rarely practised ; for, however the land 

 might be thereby cleaned by hoeing in the first season, it would in the 

 following years cover the ground as completely as if it had been sown 

 broad-cast. It is also evident that were a crop of equal amount to be 

 produced by a comparatively small number of plants, the shoots must be 

 thick and strong, and the hay — the value of which depends on its fineness 

 — would thus be rendered coarse. 



The quantity of seed is from three to five bushels, but four are usually 

 employed, to which some farmers add a small quantity of trefoil or rye- 

 grass, to secure a crop in the first season, as the sainfoin does not come to 

 full perfection until the second year; others, however, omit it, as conceiving 

 that it injures the future growth ; and, both from general reasoning and 

 from the experience of several intelligent men, it seems fair to conclude 

 that the practice is rather to be deprecated than recommended. If we 

 consider the number of plants which would be produced by four bushels of 

 seed, were they all to come to perfection, it would be evident that no 

 land could sustain them t ; but it is rather a precarious seed, even when 

 new, and when bought of the dealers, the uncertainty is greatly in- 

 creased ; to which if be added the number of those seeds which perish by 

 being ineffectually covered, by being smothered by the corn and weeds, 

 and destroyed by the ravages of birds and vermin, as well as the material 

 object gained by thick sowing, in improving the quality of the herbage, 

 the allowance will not be found too great. 



The application of sainfoin is chiefly to the purposes of hay. The pro- 

 per season for cutting it is when it is in full bloom, and it is mown and 

 made in the same manner as clover or other grass J. Great care should 

 however be taken not to over-make it ; for its perfection consists in retain- 

 ing the natural bloom and figure of the blossom, and the clear and healthy 

 green of the stem and leaves. It is easily spoiled by rain ; as not only are 

 the richness and fragrance of the hay thus injured, but the porous nature of 

 the stalks renders it difficult to dry when thoroughly wet. In general it 

 may be reckoned that a greater quantity of hay will be got of it upon thin 

 chalky soils, than from a first cut of clover, and it is of superior quality and 

 value. It is, however, seldom cut a second time in the same year, but the 

 after-grass is pastured by cattle and horses. Sheep are very fond of it, but 

 are very seldom put upon it, from an apprehension tliat they will eat it 



* Malcolm's Husbandry of Kent, Surrey, and Sussex, vol. iii. p. 43. 



•j- The number of seeds in a bushel, of the usual quality, is about 871,200 : an acre, 

 if sown with four bushels, would therefore produce 3,484,800 plants, or 21,760 to the 

 square pole, and 80 to every square foot. Seventy-two heads have been known to pro- 

 ceed from one root, ond the cn>p, if evenly and thinly sown, will average ten heads, — 

 Malcolm's Mod. Husb., vol. iii. p. 47. 



X See vol, i. p. 493. 



