Book VI. SPURRY, BROOM, &c. 815 



take to this food very kindly when they have once been accustomed to it, less nicety is required ; for if the 

 seeds be simply sown broad-cast, very thin (about a pound of seed per acre) upon the poorest soils, after 

 they come up the sheep of themselves will crop the plants, and soon bring them into round close bushes, 

 as this animal nibbles ort'the prickles one by one very quickly, so as not to be hurt by them. Sheep, how- 

 ever, who have not been used to tiiis mode of browsing do not know how to proceed, and often will not 

 taste them ; but a few that have been used to the food will, he observes, soon teach all the rest how to 

 use it. 



5078. Another very economical way of rearing whins, but which he has seen practised rather than 

 experienced himself, is this : let a farm be enclosed by means of a ditch all round, with a bank thrown 

 up on one side, and if stones can be had, let the face of that bank be linetl with the stones, from bottom 

 to near the top, this lining to slope backwards with an angle of about sixty or seventy degrees from the 

 horizon. Any kind of stones, even round ones gathered from the land, will answer the purpose very 

 well ; upon the top of the bank sow whin-seeds i)retty thick, and throw a few of them along the face of 

 the bank. Young plants will quickly appear. I>et them grow for two years, and then cut them down 

 by means of a hedge-bill, sloping down by the face of the bank. This mode of cutting is very easy, 

 and as the seetls soon insinuate themselves among the crannies of the stones, the whole face of the bank 

 becomes a close liedge, whose shoots spring up with great luxuriance. If another ditch be made on the 

 other side of the bank, and if this be managed in the same way, and the hedge cut down only once every 

 second year (and in this way it affords very good food for beasts), the inside and outside being cut down 

 alternately, the fence will at all times continue good, as the hedge at the top will at all times be complete. 

 This mode of rearing whins is, he remarks, both convenient and economical. But where stones cannot 

 be obtained for making the facing, the bank very soon moulders down, and becomes unfit for the pur- 

 poses of a fence. Circumstances have, he says, preventeti him from ascertaining what is the weight of 

 the crop that may be thus attained, but bethinks he fhay safely venture to say, that it is at least equal 

 to that of a crop of green clover ; and if it be considered, that this aftbrds a green succulent food during 

 winter, on which cattle can be fatted as well as on cut grass in summer, it will, he thinks, he admitted, 

 that it must be accounted even a more valuable crop than clover. Afler being cut, he also remarks, 

 that it springs up the following season with greater vigor than before, and in this situation acquires a 

 degree of health and succulence very different from what it is ever observed to possess in its natural 

 state. He has seen shoots of one season near four feet in length. The prickles too are so [soft, and the 

 stems so tender, that very little bruising is necessary ; indeed horses, that have been accustom<Kl to this 

 food, would eat it without any bruising at all ; but cattle, whose mouths seem to be more tender, always 

 require it to be well bruised. How long crops of this sort may continue to be annually cut over, without 

 wearing out, he cannot say, but he believes a long while in favorable circumstances ; however, one thing 

 is necessary to attend to in order to guard against its being destroyed : as, during the beginning of the 

 season, nature seems to be solely employed about the great work of fructification only, and it is not 

 till near Midsummer that the whin begins to push forth its wood-bearing branches, which advance with 

 great luxuriance only during the latter part of the season, it may happen, that if care be not taken to 

 have the grass that springs up on the field, before the whin begins to send out its shoots, eaten close down, 

 that grass will acquire such a luxuriance before the young branches of the whin begin to advance, as to 

 overtop them, and choke them entirely. Whoever, therefore, has a field under this p;irticular crop, must, 

 he says, be careful to advert to this circumstance, or if the field be in good heart, he will infallibly lose 

 it. The field therefore should be kept as a pasture, bare as possible during the beginning of the season, 

 and the cattle should only be taken from it when the shoots of the whin are discoveretl to begin to advance 

 with vigor. Under this management, he presumes, it may be kept for many years, and yield full crops ; 

 but unless the mowers be particularly attentive at the beginning, to cut it as low as possible, it will very 

 soon become impossible to cut the field with a scythe, as the stumps will soon acquire so much strength 

 as to break the scythe when it happens to touch them. 



5079. The spurri/, (Spergula arvcnsis, L. Jig. 63.) is a diminutive annual weed, on 

 dry sandy corn-lands, in most parts of Europe. In Germany and the Netherlands, 

 it is sown on the corn stubbles, and in the intervals of time that occur between some 

 crops is fed with sheep. It may be sown and reaped in eight weeks, either in 

 autumn or spring. It is said to enrich the milk of cows, so as to make it afford ex- 

 cellent butter ; and the mutton fed on it is preferable to that fed on turnips. Hens 

 eat spurry greedily, .and it is supposed to make them lay a great number of eggs. 

 Whether in hay, or cut green, or pasture. Von Thaer observes, it is the most nourishing, 

 in proportion of its bulk, of all forage, and gives the best flavored milk and butter. It 

 has been recommended to be cultivated in England ; but it is not likely that such a 

 plant can ever pay the expense of seed and labor in this country, even on the poorest 

 soil, or at all events, as Professor Martyn observes, we have many better plants for such 

 soils. 



5080. The common broom, {Spartium scopanim, L. Jig. 

 515.) is cultivated in the southern parts of France, on the 

 poorer sorts of soil, in the same way as hemp, for the pur- 

 pose of stripping the bark from it, and converting it into a 

 kind of thread. It is likewise cultivated in these places as 

 a winter-food for sheep, and it is said they eat it with great 

 avidity, preferring it to many other plants. It is, however, 

 liable to produce diseases of the urinary passages, by its 

 diuretic qualities. It has been recommended by Young, 

 to be cultivated in England, as food for sheep and 

 horses, who are said to eat it after they get accustomed to 

 it ; also for thatch, ropes, besoms, food for bees, fuel, and 

 burning on the spot to improve the soil. Its culture is 

 the same as that of the whin ; but very peculiar, indeed, 

 must be that situation, where its culture is attempted for 

 any of the above purposes. It is a useful protection of 

 game in plantations, from which source abundance may be 

 had for besoms. The Spanish l)room, (5. Jimceum, L. 



