JUNE. 211 



are called " lords and ladies." They have a most putrid 

 odour, when the flower fades. 



F, — The root of the different species of Arum is fleshy 

 and tuberous : it is highly acrid and even poisonous when 

 raw j but heat dispels this quality, as it does in some other 

 vegetable substances ; and when cooked, it contains a fari- 

 naceous nutriment. This species of ours is sometimes called 

 Indian turnip, and is said, when boiled, to taste like cassava. 



C. — The Buttercup (Ranunculus Acris) begins to show 

 its familiar yellow blossom in the fields : is it a native ? 



F. — I think it is probable that the seed has been intro- 

 duced among grass seeds from Europe. It is a plant per- 

 fectly useless to man, cattle uniformly rejecting it : yet it no 

 doubt answers some purpose of utility in the great economy 

 of Creation, and the chain would be imperfect without it. 

 But we may observe another field plant blossoming, which 

 is of essential service to the agriculturist: I refer to the 

 Red Clover ( Trifolium Fratense ) , the general cultivation of 

 which is undoubtedly one of the greatest improvements of 

 modern husbandry. It yields an abundant crop of herbage, 

 fit for mowing, to be cured as hay, or to be fed to stOQk when 

 green, called soiling. It opens the soil, and by the rotting^of 

 its roots admirably fits it for the succeeding crop. Our 

 American farmers here are prejudiced against it as hay, 

 pleading that it becomes hard and dry ; but the cause of this 

 is obviously their mismanagement. Clover should be cut 

 just as it comes generally into full blossom, at which time it 

 possesses more nutriment than at any other j but it is usually 

 sown here with Timothy (Phleum Pratense), which pro- 

 duces the best hay when cut in ripe seed. This grass does 

 not blossom till the middle of July, at which time most of the 

 clover has ripened its seed, and become dry stalk, almost 

 worthless as hay. But our haymaking does not usually 

 commence till late in July, when timothy is in the best 



