304 



LEGUMINOS/E. CLIX. OSOBKYCHIS. 



on its coming into full blossom, and as it remains but a short 

 time in that state, as much expedition as possible should be 

 employed both in mowing it and making the produce into hay. 

 It is the most easy crop to make into hay, when the season is 

 favourable. The haymakers follow the scythe, and having 

 turned over the swaths, throw it into wind-rows, when it may 

 be immediately formed into cocks, and the whole crop be fit 

 for carting in a week after it is mown; and though it may appear 

 green, and the stack acquire a considerable degree of heat, there 

 is no danger to be apprehended, provided the weather has been 

 fair during the hay-ricking, as it is so far from taking harm by 

 heating in the stack, that the contrary state is most to be feared, 

 and for this reason great care is necessary not to suffer the 

 fodder to continue too long either in the swath or in the cocks, 

 lest the air and wind should dry it too fast, and by exhaling 

 its juices prevent its heating in the stack, and thereby render it 

 of little value. 



In regard to the frequency of cutting saint/oin, it is probable 

 that on the thinner sorts of soils it can seldom be done more than 

 once, but on those of the deeper sorts two crops may sometimes 

 be taken, in the same manner as clover, care being taken in these 

 cases that the future growth of the plants be not injured by this 

 means. 



The usual duration of sain/foin, in a profitable state, is from 

 8 to 10 years. It usually attains its perfect growth in about 3 

 years, and begins to decline towards the 8th or 10th year on 

 calcareous soils, and about the 7th or 8th on gravels. There 

 are instances, however, of fields of saintfoin which have been 

 neglected and left to run into pasture, in which plants have been 

 found upwards of 50 years from the time of sowing. In 

 general the great enemy to the endurance of saintfoin is the 

 grass, which accumulates and forms a close tuft on the surface, 

 and thus chokes up the plant. 



The quantity of produce on a medium of soils and cultivation 

 may probably be estimated at from about one and a half to two 

 tons per acre. And on the poorer and thinner staple sorts of 

 land it will perhaps seldom afford less than from a ton to a ton 

 and a half on an acre. 



The nutritive products of saintfoin are the same as clover, viz. 

 3-^ being 1 T 6 ^ per cent, more than those of lucern. 



In saving seed from saintfoin, it should remain on the land 

 till the husks become of a somewhat brownish colour, and the 

 seeds are perfectly plump and firm. It requires some expe- 

 rience to know of what degree of ripeness to cut the seeded 

 saintfoin, because all the seeds do not ripen at the same time on 

 the same spike or head, as all the heads begin blossoming at 

 the lower part, and continue to blow gradually upwards for 

 many days, so that before the flowers have gone off the top, 

 the seeds are almost mature at the bottom, therefore if the cut- 

 ting is deferred till the top seeds are quite ripe, the lower, which 

 are the best, would then all be lost. The best time to cut it is 

 when the greater portion of the lower seeds are ripe, and the 

 last blown beginning to be full. The unripe seeds will ripen 

 after cutting, and be in all respects as good as those that were 

 ripe before. It should be mown in the morning and evening, 

 when the plant is most supple, for if mown in the heat of the 

 day the ripe seeds will shed. In fine clear weather saintfoin 

 seed will sbon dry. After being dried it may be either thrashed 

 out in the house or on the field on a large sheet, it then should 

 be riddled through a large sieve, to separate the seed from the 

 chaff and broken stems. The haulm may be then used as hay. 



Cultivated or Common Saintfoin. Fl. June, July. Britain. 

 PI. 2 to 3 feet. 



2 O. TANAI'TICA (Spreng. neue. entd. 2. p. 162.) stem erect- 

 ish ; stipulas usually distinct ; leaflets elliptic-lanceolate, inu- 

 cronulate, clothed with silky pubescence beneath, the rest of the 



plant as in 0. saliva. If.. H. Native of Siberia, on the banks 

 of the Don. Hedys. onobrychis, Bieb. fl. taur. no. 1431. O. 

 sativa, var. /3, subvillosa, D. C. prod. 2. p. 314. O. saliva 

 Tatiirica, Fisch. in litt. Flowers flesh-coloured. 



River Don Saintfoin. Fl. June, July. Clt. 1817. PI. 2 ft. 



3 O. MONTANA (D. C. fl. fr. 4. p. 611.) stem rather decum- 

 bent ; stipulas joined together, opposite the leaves ; leaflets cu- 

 neate-lanceolate, mucronulate, glabrous ; spikes of (lowers short ; 

 keel longer than the vexillum ; wings shorter than the calyx ; 

 legumes toothed on the back, but wrinkled and pubescent on the 

 sides. "if. . H. Native of the alps of Europe and of the Py- 

 renees, in the higher meadows. Hedys. montiinum, Pers. ench. 

 2. p. 324. According to Wahlenberg this is only a variety of 

 O. sativa. Flowers deep purple or red. 



Mountain Saintfoin. Fl. June, July. Clt. 1817. PI. dec. 



4 O. CONFE'RTA (Desv. journ. bot. 1814. 1. p. 83.) stems de- 

 clinate ; stipulas usually distinct ; leaflets oblong-elliptic, mucro- 

 nulate, pubescent beneath ; racemes of flowers ovate ; wings 

 shorter than the calyx ; keel equal in length to the vexillum ; 

 legumes rather hoary, furnished with rather long prickles on the 

 back, but wrinkled and furnished with a few short prickles on 

 the sides. !{.. H. Native of Caucasus, Iberia, south of Podo- 

 lia, in grassy places. Hedys. confertum, Bieb. fl. taur. et suppl. 

 1452. Flowers deep red. 



Crowded- flowered Saintfoin. Fl. June, Aug. Clt. 1817. PL 

 decumbent. 



5 O. FONTANE'SII ; procumbent, pubescent ; stipulas ovate, 

 acute, dry; leaflets crowded, elliptic, obtuse, pubescent, and nerved 

 beneath ; racemes of flowers ovate, crowded. If . H. Native 

 of Tunis, in sandy places near Sbiba. Hedys. confertum, Desf. 

 fl. atl. 2. p. 178. "O. conferta ft, Fontanesii, D. C. prod. 2. p. 

 344. Flowers fine red. 



Desfontain's Saintfoin. Fl. June, Aug. Clt. 1820. PI. | ft. 



6 O. PROCU'MBENS (Stev. in litt. D. C. prod. 2. p. 344.) stems 

 procumbent ; leaflets oblong-linear, mucronate, pubescent be- 

 neath ; spikes of flowers cylindrical, on long peduncles ; wings 

 shorter than the calyx ; keel rather exceeding the vexillum ; 

 legumes pubescent, denticulated on the back, with the sides 

 wrinkled, and rather prickly. If. . H. Native of Iberia, about 

 Tiflis. Hedys. onobrychis var. Iberica, Bieb. suppl. 484. 

 Flowers red. 



Procumbent Saintfoin. Fl. June, Aug. Clt. 1819. PI. proc. 



7 O. SUPI'NA (D. C. fl. fr. 5. p. 612.) stems diffuse, rather 

 hairy ; leaflets oblong, hardly mucronulate ; spikes ovate-ob- 

 long, pedunculate ; wings of flower shorter than the calyx, and 

 the carina shorter than the calyx ; legumes villous, crested and 

 toothed on the back, but with the disks wrinkled, and rather 

 prickly. l/.H. Native of Lower Vallais, Provence, Dauphiny, 

 Cevennes, and the Pyrenees. Hedys. supinum, Vill. dauph. ,'J. 

 p. 394. H. herbaceum, Lapeyr. H. pallidum, Schleich. Flowers 

 pale red. 



Supine Saintfoin. Fl. June, July. Clt. 1819. PI. proc. 



8 O. GLA'BRA (Desv. journ. bot. 1814. vol. 1. p. 82.) stems 

 ascending ; leaflets lanceolate, acuminated, quite glabrous ; le- 

 gumes oblong, chinky, glabrous, crested, with the crest toothed 

 at the apex. "If.. H. Native of Tauria. Hedys. onobrychis 

 var. t, Gouan. ill. 48. ? Flowers red. 



Glabrous Saintfoin. Fl. June, July. Clt. 1816. PL ascending. 



9 O. ARENA' RI A (D. C. prod. 2. p. 345.) stem erect, suffru- 

 tescent at the base ; leaflets oblong-linear, mucronate, glabrous ; 

 spikes of flowers cylindrical ; wings shorter than the calyx ; keel 

 about equal in length to the vexillum ; legumes pubescent, almost 

 toothless on the back, but wrinkled on the sides. If. . H. Native 

 of Hungary and of Siberia, at the Irtish about Kroupeanka. 

 Hedys. arenarium, Kit. in litt. Willd. enum. suppl. 31, H. erec- 

 tum, Patrin. herb. Flowers red. 



