THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



£09 



Beem to possess the decided advantages of the 

 ordinary variety. But Mons. Descolombiers, 

 who has also brought it into cultivation, informs 

 me that with himi"t "grows vigorously, dry, and 

 not deep, and not watered, in tfie midst of a crop 

 of bromc and yarrow ; and, in short, that it most 

 justly deserves its name," (the hardy lucerne.) 



Lotier CornkuU, Lotus corniculatus. — Little 

 is as yet known of the culture of this lotus, but it 

 certainly deserves to be studied. In meadows, 

 where it ia frequently found, it is valued ; although, 

 from the shortness of its stalks, hay cannot be 

 made of it. It is good for pasturage, grows rea- 

 dily in dry lands, and maintains its vegetation 

 during the summer. It is suitable for most pur- 

 poses (or which the white clover is employed, and 

 is often preferable, particularly in adorning grass 

 plats, where its yellow flowers have a very pleas- 

 ing effect. Unfortunately there are so few seed, 

 and they are so difBcult to collect, that the culture 

 can never be widely extended. 



Lotier vein, Lotus villosus. — This species re- 

 sembles the last so closely, that many botanists 

 have looked upon it as only a variety, but it is a 

 decidedly distinct species. It will grow on lands 

 more moist, is more erect, and is better supplied 

 with leaves. From its great longevity, which I 

 have observed both in its wild state and in experi- 

 ments that I have made, I have no doubt that the 

 Lotus villosus would be a good plant to cultivate, 

 alone perhaps, but at least in mixtures, to form 

 natural meadows. The grain is much more abun- 

 dant than in the other variety. It should be sown 

 in March and April, about sixteen pounds to the 

 hectare. 



Lupin blanc, Lupinus alba. It is only in the 

 south of France and in Italy that the excellence 

 of the manure that this plant affords, when turned 

 under whilst in flower, is known. The grain 

 soaked in water is a good food for cattle, and it is 

 used when green as pasture lor sheep. One of 

 the chief advantages of the lupin is that it pros- 

 pers on very poor land, such as a coarse sand, 

 a ferruginous soil, or a poor clay, and affords means 

 by which to enrich them ; it is rather sensible to 

 cold, and should not be sown in the climate of 

 Paris until towards the middle of April. 



Lupuline, Medicago lupulina, has the leaves 

 and appearance of a clover, and lor that reason is 

 called sometimes yellow clover, or black clover, 

 which names are derived, the first from the color 

 of the flower, the last from that of the husk of the 

 seed vessels. Its culture has for a great while 

 been confined to the neighborhood ofBoulogne, but 

 it has been lately spread considerably, into the in- 

 terior of France. It is valuable because it will 

 grow on interior lands. It is biennial, and can 

 occupy in the cultivation of rye lands the same 

 place that clover does on wheat lands. The 

 forage that it affords is not abundant, but is fine 

 and of good quality, and very acceptable to cattle. 

 But the lupuline may be more advantageously 

 used as pasturage for sheep than by converting 

 it into hay. It is generally sown in March, at 

 the rate of thirty pounds of seed per hectare. 



Pais' gris, Pisum arvense, as forage, is very 

 much esteemed, particularly for sheep. It is an 

 annual, and ia of very rapid growth. It is good 

 to sow on fallow lands, and if cultivated properly, 

 it will reduce them into excellent order for the 

 ensuing grain crop. Moist wheat lands are best 

 "X'oL. X.— 27 



suited to the Pois gris, but it will also succeed on 

 rye lands when they are in tolerably good heart. 

 It is well to manure it, vvhen it ia to be followed 

 by a crop of grain. They usually sow it broad- 

 cast, and cut it sometimes when it is in full flower, 

 but more generally vfhen the most of the pods 

 are formed, and dry it for winter use. Two spring 

 varieties are the most common. One is early, 

 and is sown in March ; the other is notso forward, 

 and is not sown until M ay. A third variety, called 

 the Pois gris d^hiver, which is sown in the au- 

 tumn, has lately been brought into cultivation, 

 and. seems to be very desirable, particularly in 

 arid soils. Pois gris is put generally in those 

 fbragenous mixtures called dragees, (meslin or 

 mixed grass.) 



Sainfoi7i, Hedysaruin onobrychis. The gowl 

 qualities of the sainfoin are too well known to 

 render it necessary for me to point them out ; but 

 I may insist with much utility on the faculty that 

 this plant possesses of succeeding on indifferent 

 lands, whether sandy and gravelly, or very chalky, 

 and on its merit in ameliorating them very much. 

 Among the examples of its ameliorating effects, 

 I will mention that furnished me by Mons. Yvart, 

 as having taken place on his farm, Maisons,. near 

 Charentou ; he has with sainfoin converted into 

 wheat lands fields of gravelly sand, from which 

 he could previously, in spile of all his efforts, only 

 obtain rye. The demonstration of these effects 

 has been so plain, and the example so influential, 

 that by degrees a great part of the lands of the 

 plain of Maisons has by the same means under- 

 gone a similar transformation. When one lays 

 out a meadow of sainfbin for mowing, and wishes 

 to preserve its durability for as long a time as 

 possible, the grazing the aftermath should be se- 

 dulously avoided, particularly in the first years. 

 There are cases, particularly in indifferent ground, 

 where they sow it expressly as pasturage for 

 sheep; it will then last but a short time, but is 

 still a great resource for food. They sow it ge- 

 nerally in the spring, but sometimes in the autumn, 

 and almost always with a grain crop. The va- 

 riety. Sainfoin a deux coupes, or Sainfoin chaud, 

 first propagated in the environs of Peronne, by 

 Mons. Pincepre de Buire, has been considerably 

 extended into France in a few years. It is more 

 vigorous, is stronger and more productive than 

 the ordinary sainfoin, and it yields a second 

 abundant mowing, whilst the other only produces 

 an indifferent aftermath. Many farmers who 

 have adopted it have informed me that it requir- 

 ed better land than the ordinary variety. As it 

 is to be presumed that this is only a variety in 

 some manner artificial, obtained by being culti- 

 vated for a great while in good lands, persons 

 who sow it in indifferent lands should from time 

 to time change their seed, to obtain constantly 

 produce decidedly superior to the ordinary sain- 

 foin. Its leaves being much larger, and harder, 

 and the seed much coarser, it is necessary to sow 

 it thicker. Mons. Tirris, proprietor at Forcaiquier 

 in the department of Lower Alps, has brougb* 

 about an agricultural revolution, not only on 

 domain, but in all the adjacent country, by f,. 

 introduction of a grass that he calls the Spanish 

 sainfbin, and which he believes to be the veritable 

 sulla* But this plant, of which he sent rae a 



See the Annahs d'JgriaUture, July, 1828. 



