374 



THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



colza. There is a sprina; variety, the colza de 

 Mars, which, sown in March and April, ripens 

 during the same summer, a quality very remark- 

 able in a cabbage. This variety is not so much 

 in cultivation as the common kind. 



Millcfeu'dle, Milfoil^ Achillea millefolium. — 

 This plant, beinij; iiiile productive, and not calcu- 

 lated for the sickle, has only a secondary rank in 

 the list of plants for Ibrage, yet under certain cir- 

 cumstances it can be rendered extremely uselul. 

 It affords good pasturage lor sheep, and has the 

 merit of withstanding the effect of a drought, 

 even on the most arid lands. It is extremely pro- 

 bable that proprietors of sheep, particularly in the 

 middle ol'France, would find in the culture of the 

 milfoil a valuable resource for food for their cattle 

 in the summer months. This plant is long-lived. 

 It should be sown in the spring, but will, without 

 .doubt, succeed if sown early in autumn. It 

 grows more commonly in the hard and dry clay 

 lands, than on those which are ol" a light and 

 sandy nature. From ten to twelve pounds of seed 

 to the hectare. 



Moutarde noire, Black mustard, Sinapis nigra, 

 and Moutarde blanche. White mustard, Sinapis 

 alba, are cultivated chiefly lor the seed, of which 

 is made the condiment of the same name. They 

 sow if, however, (particularly the white,) to fur- 

 nish green food to the cows for the end of summer. 

 For the first purpose, they select good, deep, fresh 

 land, and sow it rather thin in the spring. For 

 the second, the while mustard is preferred, and 

 they esteem it so much that in many cantons it is 

 .called p/anie de beu/rre, (butter plant.) The usual 

 mode of treatment is to sow it on the stubble fields 

 immediately after the harvest, having first given 

 it a slight working by means of scarifying it with 

 a harrow. This seed, if the season is favorable, 

 _grows rapidly, and affords food for the cattle until 

 the cold weather sets in. 



Navettc, Rabethe, Rape, Brassica, Napus silves- 

 ,tris, serves for forage wfien sown on the stubbfe 

 lands after harvest, at the rate of twenty pounds 

 of seed to the hectare. We know some farmers 

 who for this purpose prefer it to the white mustard; 

 but its chief value is its oleaginous grain. For 

 ythis object they sow it from the last of July 'o the 

 first of September, cenerally broadcast, on land 

 prepared by many workings. They sometimes 

 sow it in rows ; they work it, or rather weed it, 

 and thin the plants. The ensuing summer they 

 gather the grain when the larger proportion of the 

 pods is yellow, but before it is completely mature, 

 for then there will be a considerable shattering. 

 The variety which is thus cultivated is the com- 

 mon or winter rape. There is a kind called the 

 navette d^etti, or quarantaine, ivhich is sown in the 

 spring, and matures itself the same year. It is 

 less productive than the ordinary variety, but it 

 presents the advantage of supplying the place of 

 the other oleaginous plants, should they be de- 

 stroyed by the winter's frosts. They sow about 

 six pounds of the seed of the winter, and eight 

 pounds of the summer rape to the hectare. 



Pastel, IFoad, Isatis tinctoria, considered as a 

 plant for lorage, is valuable only on account of its 

 extreme precocity. Winter only arrests its vege- 

 tation during periods of the severest cold, and in 

 March, and sometimes February, it is considera- 

 bly developed. If it were more sought after by the 

 cattle it would be one of the mobt valuable re- 



sources of the farmer; but, unfortunately, it is 

 wanting in this respect. I do not think, however, 

 that this point has been sufficiently examined into. 

 I know of no attempt with the woad to nourish 

 horned cattle during the winter, and the authori- 

 ties both fcJr and against its fimesa for sheep are 

 nicely balanced. I think therefore that new re- 

 searches into this subject would be highly useful. 

 We should not renounce the advantages which 

 the winter vegeialion of the woad offers, without 

 an entire conviction of its inutility. If cultivated 

 for forage, this plant should be sown broadcast in 

 a soil rather dry than moist. It may be sown in 

 the spring or in the end of the summer at about 

 forty pounds to ihe hectare. Cultivated for the 

 dye, the woad requires a good soil, well prepared 

 and manured, and in this case they sow it in rows, 

 the intervals between which are carefully worked. 



Many years' culture and use of the woad, since 

 the above article was written, have proven to me 

 that sheep, cows and oxen will eat it most readily 

 when it is green. I am not prepared to speak of 

 its nutritious qualities, having used it only concur- 

 rently with other kinds of food. I have fully sa- 

 tisfied myself that it grows with great fiscility on 

 indifferent and dry lands, and even on those that 

 are very chalky. This quality, together with its 

 precocity, has induced me to think it a very valu- 

 able plant, and one from which much advantage 

 is to be derived. 



Pimprenelle, Burnet, Poteriavi sanguisorba.— 

 The great merit of this plant is that it furnishes 

 excellent pastures on poor and arid lands, whether 

 they are sandy or chalky. It resists extremes both 

 of cold and drought, and affords particularly a 

 valuable resource for the support of sheep during 

 the winter. In some parts of Champagne they 

 have, by the culture of the burnet, produced a 

 sensible amelioration in the state of their agricul- 

 ture, an amelioration of which thour^ands of acres 

 in France would be suscepUble. On the good 

 lands it is relatively less advantageous, although 

 its vegetation there is so luxuriant as to permit tlie 

 sickle. By the testimony of many practical men 

 its hay is not good, either for cows or horses, but 

 solely for sheep. Yet I think that on all liirms 

 where they keep a flock of sheep during the win- 

 ter it would be well if good land can be spared for 

 the purpose to have one or more pieces of burnet 

 for their winter grazing. It can be very useful in 

 furnishing, in the summer, green food to use in 

 the stable ; it throws out fresh shoois at this sea- 

 son, perhaps more quickly than any oiher plant, 

 and the green forage suits all animals. The usual 

 time for sowing the burnet is the sprtntj, but the 

 month ot' September will answer as well on light 

 lands. Sixty pounds of seed to the hectare are 

 requisite. 



Spergule, Corn spurry, Spurgula arvensis, is 

 an annual Ibrage, particularly suited to fi-esh sands, 

 and fijrnishes an excellent food for cows. In a 

 part of the Low Countries, where the spurry 

 is very much grown, the butter of the cows which 

 are nourished upon it is esteemed of a superior 

 quality, and is called beurre de spergule. They 

 sow it generally in the summer, on the stubble 

 fields, alter breaking them up by a light working 

 immediately after harvest. They either graze it, 

 or feed it green in tlie stable, a resource which 

 lasts until fiost. Sometimes they mow it, and then 

 it must be now a early ; but it loses a great deal in 



