210 



THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



few seed, has proved to be the Sainfoin a deux 

 coupes, of which I have been writinir. The real 

 Sainfoin d'Uspagne, Hedysarum coronarium, has 

 not yet, I think, taken a place among our forage- 

 nous plants, although it would probably succeed 

 in our southern department. 



Grand trefle Normand. — JMons. de Laquesne- 

 rie, a learned agriculturist, discovered this variety 

 of clover, and had the kindness to send me some 

 seed of it. The experiments that 1 have made 

 with it, have shown me how accurately he de- 

 scribed to me the details of this plant. The Nor- 

 man clover is much taller than the common tre- 

 foil, and generally yields but one crop, which, 

 however, is often equal to two mowings of the 

 ordinary clover, its hay is coarser, and the plant 

 appears to be more durable. Is this clover to be 

 prelerred to the ordinary variety? I will not 

 undertake to resolve this question, which indeed 

 may be susceptible of different solutions, in diffe- 

 ent soils and under different circumstances. It 

 has been so recently introduced, that it is impos- 

 sible for me to form a correct opinion as to its 

 value, but I have thought proper to point it out 

 to farmers as an interesting subject for experi- 

 ments and observations. 



Trefle d'jirgorie, is another variety of red 

 clover, which has been for some years cultivated 

 in Switzerland, and which appears to possess 

 some important qualities. I have been assured 

 that it will last for four or five years, from which 

 character it has been called the perpetual clover. 

 I have not myself been yet able to verify this fact, 

 but what I have observed in it, and what ap- 

 pears to me still more interesting, is the very 

 decided disposition that it has to increase its 

 stalks, and that it is at least fifteen days more 

 forward than the common variety of clover. It is 

 also very vigorous, and has long leaves. If the 

 qualities which have shewn themselves in this 

 instance, in this variety, are confirmed by nume- 

 rous proofs, and if it preserves them without any 

 apparent depreciation, for many successive gene- 

 rations, it will be certainly a desirable acquisition 

 to agriculture. 



Trefle incarnat, Trifolium incarnatum, affords 

 only a single mowing, and its hay is inferior 

 to that of the common clover; yet there are tew 

 varieties of the trefoil that can be rendered more 

 serviceable in agriculture. Cultivated almost with- 

 out expense, without care, and v^^ithout deranging 

 the order of the crops, it yields a most abundant crop 

 of hay. It possesses, in a very eminent degree, the 

 merit of being precocious ; and, whether as pas- 

 turage or to be cut green, affords resources for 

 feeding cattle before any other plant. Tliey sow 

 this clover in August, or early in September, 

 generally on the stubble fields, alter having turned 

 them over by a light working with the plough or 

 extirpator. This working, or rather moving tlie 

 surface of the soil by repeated harrovvinga, is ne- 

 cessary for the clean seed, which it is necessary to 

 cover wiih care. But when it is sown in the 

 pug, it is sufficient to spread it on the stubble 

 without any preparatory working, and to pass a 

 roller over it. This is a very good plan, particularly 

 when one wishes to sow it directly after harvest. 

 One may perceive by this with what facility the 

 agricultural condition of countries destitute ot 

 ^rass, particularly those where the triennial rota- 

 tioQ is in use, could be ameliorated by the culti- 



vation of this plant. Let a farmer for example 

 sow a portion of his oat stubbie, say a fourth 

 part in it. About the first of May, if he wishes 

 to cut it green, from the 15th to the 25th, if he 

 wishes it for hay, all can be taken off, and he 

 will then still have time to work it properly. 

 Thus, without any derangement, lie will have ob- 

 tained li-om this part of his stubble field an abun- 

 dant crop of hay between the harvest and the 

 time for ploughing. The Trifolium incarnatum 

 is very valuable to sow in places where the red 

 clover is missing, which is done either by spread- 

 ing on them the seed in the pug, or by raking in 

 the clean seed. Almost all wheat and rye lands, 

 provided they are sound, will produce this clover. 

 1 have sown much, and I have seen much sown 

 on soils of very different natures, and with me 

 it has only failed on lands that were excessively 

 chalk}', and that were very much spewed up by 

 the frost. Sometimes our winters destroy this 

 plant, but that accident is very rare, and although 

 there is an instance of it in 1820, yet that should 

 not prevent its culture from having a rapid pro- 

 gress. They sow thirty or forty pounds of the 

 clear seed to the hectare, and when it is sown in 

 the pug it requires from ninety to a hundred 

 pounds. 



Trefle de molineri, Trifolium molinerii. — 

 They designate by this name a wild trefle in- 

 carnat, which grows commonly in the centre 

 provinces, and in the north of' France. Ii is 

 chiefly distinguished from the cultivated variety, 

 by the much paler color of its flowers, which are 

 at first of a dingy white, and afierwards assume a 

 pale red, or flesh-colored tint. But this difi'erence, 

 although general, is not constant, and although 

 there are some other apparent differences, as the 

 length of the heads of the flowers, &c., I do not 

 know that they are sufficiently marked to permit 

 these plants to be boianically separated. How- 

 ever, notwithstanding their close botanical con- 

 formity, there is a very decided difference in their 

 dispositions, and in their mode of vegetating. 

 First, the Trifolium molinerii, grows spontane- 

 ously in the north, where the other has only been 

 introduced by culture ; it is also slower in the ger- 

 mination of its seed and in its developement ; it 

 has less disposition to send forth stalks ; and I 

 have seen it last two years, whilst the Trifolium 

 incarnatum, sown by the side of it on the same 

 day, was entirely dead at the end of the first 

 summer. That which first induced me to try the 

 molinerii, and to compare the analogy of that 

 and \h& incarnatum, was that, having often met 

 with it about Paris, I thought that, accustomed 

 for a long succession of generations to our climate, 

 it would be more hardy, and resist more constant- 

 ly the cold of our winters, than the southern race, 

 and that the hay crop would thereby be rendered 

 more certain. I have as yet obtained no decisive 

 proof of this, and I should say, on the contrary, 

 that it appears to me in many respects inferior to 

 the cultivated variety. I have, however, thought 

 it my duty to place before farmers this account 

 of these experiments, because they have a really 

 useful design. The Trifolium incarnatum, is a 

 plant of so much value in agriculture, that it will 

 be of great interest to our country to obtain a 

 variety that will not suffer from cold. In a work 

 recently published, the Trifolium molinerii and the 

 Trifoliu7n incarnatum are presented as being one 



