Ch.XXV.] ON LUCERNE. 307 



down so close as to expose the roots to the frost, and therefore, if admitted, 

 care should be taken to guard against that danger, by removing them in 

 proper time. 



Whe7i retained for seedihe management is rather difficult, for the pods 

 fill and the seeds ripen at different periods, according as they happen to be 

 at the top or bottom of the stems ; the seeds also shed very easily if 

 roughly handled, or if the husks be either parched by the sun or opened 

 by wet weather. When the major part are of a brownish colour, and the 

 seeds feel plump and firm, it is then, however, time to mow the crop, which 

 should be done while the dew is on the plants, and the swathes should not be 

 turned if they can be got sufficiently dry without it. In a good year, and 

 with proper care, four quarters of seed per acre may in general be looked 

 for ; the price is variable, but may average about 50s. per quarter. 



When broken up, it is very generally the practice to pare and burn the 

 ley*, in order to clear the ground of the great quantity of roots and oat- 

 grass with which it is filled, and there can be no doubt that this object can 

 be more speedily attained than by any other means. The ashes also produce 

 a large quantity of manure which forces the production of one or two of the 

 succeeding crops, and it is therefore a plan much favoured by farmers who 

 hold their land upon short leases, but it admits of great doubt whether the 

 soil is not thus eventually injured ; and, unless in the case of breaking up 

 rough ground which is encumbered with waste matter, we think it ought 

 not to be allowed. Where land is in a regular course of cultivation it can 

 be cleaned by the operation of the scuffler, and the weeds and roots may 

 be afterwards burned without lessening the real staple of the soil; and 

 although this will necessarily occasion somewhat more trouble and ex- 

 pense, yet that, we submit, is due to the interest of the landlord. We have, 

 however, already treated so fully of the subject, that we have nothing to 

 add to the observations there made t. 



It is very generally supposed that sainfoin will not bear to be repeated 

 on the same soil, until after a lapse of fifteen or twenty years. Whether 

 this opinion is the result of experience or prejudice it is not, however, easy 

 to determine ; for the notion being entertained by most farmers they are 

 deterred from repeating it, lest they should incur the risk of loss. We, 

 however, believe the idea to be unfounded ; for sainfoin is rarely sown on 

 any land that does not abound with calcareous matter, from which it 

 seems to draw its chief support, and this, in the chalky districts in which 

 it is chiefly grown, is absolutely inexhaustible. 



is a tap-rooted plant, which rises when in bloom to more than two feet in 

 height, bearing purple or violet-coloured blossoms, which produce pods 

 containing kidney-shaped seeds. 



The cultivation of lucerne is only of comparatively late introduction into 

 this country from the South of Europe ; and, as it requires a dry and rather 

 warm climate, it has not been found to succeed in all seasons in the north- 

 ern parts of England; for, notwithstanding some favourable statements of 

 experiments upon its growth lately made in the neighbourhood of Edin- 

 burgh I, little doubt can be entertained but that the native broad clover and 



* On the Cotswold Hills it has heeii the practice from time immemorial. — Survey of 

 Oxfordshire, p. 200. It is also much followed in Kent, Surrey, and the neighbouring 

 counties. — Stevenson's Surrey Rep. p. 322. 



f See vol. i. chap. xvi. p. 356. 



X These were commenced in the spring of 1826, partly upon a light gravel of great 



x2 



