105; 



.-M. E -D 



THE UNIVERSAL HERBAL; 



MED 



the Irish acre, which is five to the English measure. Others 

 state good crops at from twenty to forty tons, and twenty- 

 five at an average. Duliamel mentions forty tons; and near 

 Barcelona the produce of green fodder amounts to fifty tons 

 on an acre in one season. Rocque, at Walham Green, got 

 < ight loads an acre at five cuttings ; and to the value of thirty- 

 five pounds for soiling. Mr. Harte, the first year after 

 transplanting, had about eight tons from an acre. Mr. 

 Baldwin had above fourteen tons from four cuttings. Some 

 persons are of opinion that constant mowing exhausts the 

 crop; that, however, does not appear to be the case, but, 

 on the contrary, agrees better with it than leaving it for a 

 full crop of hay : yet even thus the advantage is considerable ; 

 for at three mowings, a good acre will produce four tons of 

 dry hay, and sometimes even five ; which, though it does not 

 greatly exceed two cuttings of Clover, yet considering that 

 the latter is exhausted in one year, and that Lucern lasts as 

 long as you please, is a very great superiority. " Horses, 

 (says Monsieur Duhamel,) fed with Lucern, except when 

 employed in journeys, or other hard work, require neither 

 oats nor beans." No food makes their coats so smooth and 

 well-coloured. But when a horse begins this succulent food, 

 he should have a small quantity, as ten pounds, which should 

 be gradually increased for three weeks to twenty, thirty, and 

 perhaps forty pounds. It should also be given in small 

 quantities, and slightly moistened with water, to such horses 

 as are touched in their wind. It is too full of nourishment 

 for hunters, and should be given in less quantities to saddle 

 horses, than to coach and cart-horses. When they are first 

 fed with it in the spring, it may not be amiss to take a little 

 blood from them ; and if those who feed them can be per- 

 suaded to give them a little, and often, they will eat with 

 more appetite, and make no waste. Lucern is excellent for 

 soiling cows and young cattle in a farm-yard, and for working 

 oxen. A middle-sized cow will eat from ninety to a hundred 

 and ten pounds in twenty-four hours ; but the same caution 

 is necessary to prevent their hoving or being blown, as with 

 Clover. This plant appears to be admirable for fattening 

 beasts. Mr. Young remarks, from an experiment of his own, 

 that the effect of it in fattening is a proof of its great value ; 

 that its superiority over Tares is prodigious ; and that, when 

 once established, "it is far cheaper. With respect to sheep, 

 there is some doubt whether they are not apt to damage the 

 crown of the root, and thereby to prevent, or at least weaken, 

 the shoots that should furnish the succeeding cuttings. This 

 should be a caution not to let sheep lie on Lucern too long. 

 The first growth in the spring is of great use for ewes and 

 lambs. Mr. Baldwin fattened Welsh weathers on it with 

 great success. It is best given them in racks. It may be 

 fed after the last cutting, in dry weather, with any kind of 

 stock ; in wet weather, with sheep, to whom no plant is more 

 agreeable or nourishing. There is no doubt that Lucern 

 is excellent food for swine, who do it no damage, as they do 

 not bite closely like sheep ; but it is better to soil them with 

 it in the yard or sty, on account of the great value of their 

 rlung, Lucern makes excellent hay, and should not be 

 stirred about, much, that the leaf may be preserved. Rocque 

 directs that it should be mown for hay as soon as the bloom 

 appears, or sooner ; that it should lie in the swath, and be 

 turned as Olover. With respect to saving the seed of the 

 plant, Mr. Miller, from his own experience, commends Eng- 

 lish seed in preference to foreign; others say that the seed 

 is not worth saving in England. Rocque directs it to be 

 saved, not from the first, but from the second growth. The 

 difference of Lucern from English seed and French, sown on 

 rtie same day upon the same soil, was prodigiously in favour 



of the latter. The home seed was larger, did not come up 

 so soon by two days, and then not near so thick ; however, 

 the produce being weighed, was nearly equal in both : whence 

 it appears that the difference was entirely at starting, and 

 they were equal afterwards. One main obstruction to the 

 more general cultivation of Lucern, seems an idea of the great 

 expense attending it. Mr. Young observes, that plants sown 

 on well-cleaned land, and kept clean by hoeing afterward, 

 is procured at an expense which is seldom calculated fairly. 

 Besides the annual expense of probably three pounds per acre, 

 a crop of corn on good land cannot be estimated at less than 

 five pounds; and to balance this, the produce the first year 

 is very inconsiderable. The second year must be very good, 

 to pay its own charges, and the drawback of the preceding 

 year. Now a cultivation, which at the end of two years shall 

 have paid nothing in profit, is not worth attention. If it can 

 be got with corn, the case is different; and foreign Lucern 

 is all sown with corn. When Lucern, however, is sown 

 broad-cast, a small crop of Barley or Oats may be obtained, 

 sufficient at least to pay all expenses, without much injuring 

 the Lucern, in favourable seasons. Between the rows of 

 drilled or transplanted Lucern, any of the crops usually 

 drilled may be put in, as Beans, Cabbages, &c. or Vetches 

 may be sown at intervals; or, Broad Clover may be mixed 

 with broad-cast Lucern, or sown in the spaces of that which 

 is drilled or transplanted. This practice may in some degree 

 meet. the above objection to the culture of this valuable 

 plant, and render it worth the attention of the farmer for 

 profit as well as convenience. And even admitting it not to 

 be so profitable as its too sanguine friends believe ; still it 

 may be convenient to have a quantity for ewes and lambs 

 early in the spring, for soiling horses occasionally, and sup- 

 plying the deficiencies of other foddering crops. 



7. Medicago Falcata; Yellow Medick. Peduncles racem- 

 ed ; legumes crescent-shaped ; stem prostrate. Root peren- 

 nial ; stems round, smooth, slightly striated, procumbent, 

 but ascending or bending upwards towards the end, branching 

 two, three, and sometimes four feet in length; flowers in 

 short loosish racemes, each on a pedicel. Corolla yellow, 

 varying much in the colour, which is sometimes white, quite 

 white, or greenish, as well as of different shades of yellow. 

 The roots strike very deep, and are difficult to eradicate. It 

 is common in the south of Europe, by way-sides and in dry 

 pastures. With us it is also common in the sandy grounds 

 near Bury in Suffolk. It has been observed near Norwich 

 and Yarmouth, between Watford and Bushy; and at Quey, 

 Bournbridge, Wilbraham, and Linton, in Cambridgeshire. 

 The Variegated Medick, which appears to be a variety of 

 this species, is less erect and less succulent than Lucern ; 

 but more succulent, and much more luxuriant, than the 

 Yellow Medick. The flowers are beautifully varied in every 

 shade of blue and greenish yellow, and some are almost 

 white ; and Mr. Young thinks it may bid fair to rival Lucern 

 itself. The Yellow Medick is hardier than Lucern, roots 

 stronger, grows in drier soils, yields abundance of fodder 

 very nearly allied to Lucern in quality, and loses less in dry- 

 ing. See the preceding species. 



8. Medicago Lupulina ; Hop or Black Medick. Spikes 

 oval ; legumes kidney-form, one-seeded ; stems procumbent. 

 Root annual, or biennial, with few fibres, and penetrating 

 deeply into the earth; stems about a foot long, numerous, 

 trailing unless supported; flowers small, yellow, from thirty 

 to forty and upwards in a head, which is at first roundish, 

 afterwards oval. The ripeness of the seeds is known by the 

 blackness of the seed-vessels, from which it has obtained the 

 names of Bluck-seed and Black Nonesuch, among some culti- 



