TRI 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



TRI 



695 



ground with Clover, after having had two crops of corn, 

 whereby there is a constant rotation of Wheat, Barley, Clo- 

 ver, or Turnips, on the same land. The Clover-seed is always 

 sown with Barley in the spring, and when the Barley is taken 

 off', the Clover spreads and covers the ground, and this re- 

 mains two years ; after which the land is again ploughed for 

 Corn. The most approved method of sowing it, is on clean 

 land, with a full crop of Barley after Turnips, at the rate of 

 twelve pounds to an acre. The duration of it is very short, 

 except on fresh land; which points out the propriety of inter- 

 mixing with it as great a variety of other crops as may be 

 suitable. On land where it has been often repeated, it seldom 

 will continue above two years, and very often not above one; 

 and though manure will increase the crop, it will not prolong 

 its duration. It evidently grows most kindly after Turnips, 

 and any soil that will bear them is consequently suitable for 

 ' it; although a great quantity is now grown on strong clays 

 with good success. A prevailing method is to mow it in June, 

 and make it into hay. Two tons upon an acre may be reckon- 

 ed a medium crop. It is particularly good for draught horses 

 and oxen. Sometimes it is mowed a second time late in August; 

 but the hay of this second crop is less in quantity, and of an 

 inferior quality to the former: unless dry fodder, therefore, be 

 greatly wanted, it is better to feed it, instead of a second mow- 

 ing. When it is to be saved for seed, it is often fed down close 

 until the end of May, (which early feed is a vast advantage for 

 ewes, lambs, &c. as it comes in before the natural grasses:) it 

 is a biennial plant, the roots of which decfv after they have 

 produced seeds; but, by eating it down,oi owing it when it 

 begins to flower, the roots will be forced to produce new 

 shoots, by which the plants are continued longer, and from 

 these second shoots the seeds are colle ^d. The common 

 allowance of seed for an acre of ground, is ten pounds. In' 

 the choice of the seeds, that which is of a bright yellow colour, 

 inclining to brown, should be preferred ; and the pale-coloured 

 thin seed should be rejected. It should be sown, according to 

 some agriculturists, after the Barley is harrowed in, that it may 

 not be buried too deep; and after the seeds are sown, the 

 ground should be rolled, which will press them into the ground ; 

 but this should be done in dry weather, for moisture will often 

 cause the seeds to burst; and, when the ground is wet, the 

 seeds will stick to the roller. This is the method which is 

 generally practised in the sowing of this plant with corn, but, 

 as we have intimated under the thirteenth species, it.will be 

 much better sown alone; for the corn prevents the growth of 

 the plants until it is cut and taken off the ground, so that one 

 whole season is lost, and a great crop of corn often spoils the 

 Clover, which becomes hardly worth standing; whereas, where 

 it is sown without any other seed, the plants will come up 

 more equally, and come on much faster, than that which was 

 sown the spring before, under corn. About the latter end of 

 May it will be fit to cut, when there should be great care 

 taken in making it into hay ; for it will require a great deal 

 more labour, and time to dry, than common grass, and will 

 shrink into less compass ; but if it be not too dry, it will 

 make very rich food (or cattle. The time for cutting it is, 

 when it begins to flower; for if it stand much longer, the 

 lower part of the stems, and the under leaves, will begin to 

 dry, whereby it will make a less quantity of hay, and that not 

 so well flavoured. Some persons cut three crops of this grass 

 in a year, but the best way is to cut but one in the spring, 

 and feed it the remaining part of the year, which will enrich 

 the land, and strengthen the plants; one acre of which will 

 feed as many cattle as four or five acres of common grass : 

 but great care should be taken of the cattle, when they are 

 first put into it, lest it burst them : to prevent which, some 

 VOL. ii. 124. 



turn them in for a few hours only at first, and so stint them 

 as to quantity; and thus by degrees, suffering them to begin 

 by eating only an hour and half a day, when there is no 

 moisture upon the grass, and so every day suffer them to 

 remain a longer time, until fully seasoned; but they should 

 never be turned in to this food in wet weather; or even if 

 they have been for some time accustomed to it, still it will be 

 proper to turn them out at night in wet weather, and to give 

 them hay, which will prevent the ill consequences of this food : 

 but there are some who give straw to their cattle while they 

 are feeding upon this grass, to prevent the ill effects of it, 

 which must not be given them in the field, because they will 

 neglect it, where there is plenty of better food. Others sow 

 Rye Grass among their Clover, and suffer them to grow 

 together, in order to prevent the ill consequences of the 

 cattle feeding wholly upon Clover; but this is not a com- 

 mendable way, because the other will greatly repress the 

 Clover in its growth, by scattering the seeds, and filling the 

 ground with bents. Where the seeds are designed to be 

 saved, the first crop in the spring should be permitted to 

 stand until the seeds are ripe, which is about July, and may 

 be known by the stalks and heads changing to a brown colour ; 

 then it should be cut in a dry time, and, when well dried, 

 housed until winter, when the seeds should be threshed out: 

 if they be wanted for immediate sowing, the crop must be well 

 dried, otherwise they will not quit their husks. It is a common 

 complaint, that Clover-seed requires great labour to thresh it; 

 which is chiefly owing to the second crop being left for seed, 

 which consequently ripens so late, that there is not heat enough 

 to dry the husks sufficiently. This may be remedied by leaving 

 the first crop for seed, as above, and then the ground will be 

 ready to be ploughed for Wheat. When cattle are fed with 

 Clover-hay, it should be put into racks, or they will destroy 

 most of it under their feet. It suits every kind of cattle except 

 milch cows; though, when it is dry, it is not nearly so hurtful 

 to them as when it is green. In short, the greatest benefit 

 obtained from Clover is, by cutting it, while green, as often 

 as it attains a sufficient growth, and soiling horses and cattle 

 with it, in racks and cribs. In this manner it will support 

 more than twice the number that might feed it off" the ground ; 

 besides the additional quantity of manure that will be made 

 in the stables and yards, if they be kept littered with straw 

 and fern, which increase of manure will fully compensate the 

 farmer for his expense in cutting and bringing it into the 

 yards. The quickness of its growth, after mowing, soon 

 enables it to shade the ground, and prevents the sun from 

 exhaling the moisture of the land so much, as it would if fed 

 bare; consequently it continues to spring with more vigour, 

 and the moment one crop is removed, another begins to suc- 

 ceed. On the other hand, when many cattle are turned in to 

 feed it, they frequently destroy more than they eat; and also 

 break the necks of the roots with their feet, which prevents 

 the plants from springing again so freely, as after they have 

 been cut clean off by the scythe. In hot weather, which is 

 the common season for feeding Clover, the flies are generally 

 so tormenting to the cattle, that they are continually running 

 from hedge to hedge, to brush them off, by which inconceiv- 

 able injury is done to the crop ; on the other hand, when fed 

 in stables and yards, they are more in the shade, thrive better, 

 and consume the whole of what is given them without waste. 

 The variety, Cow-Grass, above noticed, has been cultivated 

 in some parts of Hampshire with great success. The ground 

 relishes it extremely well, whence many prefer it to Common 

 Clover, as it also grows more floridly, and thrives better upon 

 poor land. This invaluable plant is subject to the depreda- 

 tions of a small insect, which appears to be the Cwculio 

 8 O 



