MEDICAGO. 195 



be nothing but the natural ground to rely on, the sowing must 

 be early ; the earth very fine and rich. The seed is small and 

 thin, and does not easily come up in coarse earth. If the 

 plants come up thick, thin them when very young, and 

 do not leave them nearer together than six inches. They, how- 

 ever, transplant very well ; and those that have not place to 

 blow in, may be removed, and a succession of bloom thus 

 secured. 



" If you have a green-house, glass-frame, or hand-glass, you 

 get flowers six weeks earlier. The biennials are sown at the 

 same time, and treated in the same way. 



" They blow the second year ; but if there be great difficulty 

 in preserving them in the natural ground, through the winter, 

 in England, what must it be here ? Indeed, it cannot be done ; 

 and yet they are so fine, so lofty, and such masses of beautiful 

 and fragrant flowers, and they continue so long in bloom, that 

 they are worth any care and any trouble. There is but one 

 way ; the plants, when they get ten or a dozen leaves, must be 

 put into flower-pots. 



" These may be sunk in the earth, in the open ground, till 

 November, [Long Island,] and when the sharp frosts come, the 

 pots must be taken up and placed out of the reach of hard 

 frosts, and where there is, however, sun and air. When the 

 spring comes, the pots may be put out into the natural ground 

 again ; or, which is better, the balls of earth may be put into a 

 hole made for the purpose ; and thus the plants will be in the 

 natural ground, to blow. 



" In this country, they should be placed in the shade when 

 put out again, for a very hot sun is apt to tarnish the bloom." 



MEDICAGO. 



Medicago sativa is the Lucerne, a valuable agricultural 

 plant. The following species are cultivated on account of their 



