4 F A KM ER '&> B( )( >K OF G K A 88 ES 



mowed the medick, but to a very limited extent. Thus for years, 

 I had the latter for grazing in winter and spring, and in August 

 and October took off two and a half or three tons of crab grass 

 hay per acre. The hay is better than we usually get from the 

 West. 



After a luxuriant crop of medick, the ground is very loose and 

 in condition to produce a good crop of anything else. One may 

 cultivate land every year and make better crops of corn and cot- 

 ton than on ground not occupied by the mcdick, and still have 

 the benefit of the latter for winter and early spring grazing. In 

 order to do this, in bedding for cotton and corn, leave between 

 the rows a space four, six, or more inches wide unbroken till the 

 latter part of May, and you will have plenty of seed on the ground 

 to give you a good stand, the next fall. Even without this pre- 

 caution, the lot which I have mentioned has maintained a heavy 

 crop of the medick and for two years made heavy crops of cotton, 

 the latter growing to very large size and fruiting heavily. I had 

 rented it and the lessee broke it up completely, leaving no space 

 to mature Medick seed. This year the plowing of this lot was 

 not begun till May, and the ground was so heavily covered with 

 the plant that the heaviest two-horse plow could not touch the 

 ground till the medick was cut up with a Nishwitz harrow. 

 Those who have not examined it can form no idea of the dense 

 heavy growth. Yet if left alone, it has nearly all disappeared by 

 July, except an inch or tw^o in depth of the legumes covering the 

 ground. A single root will often throw out stems radiating all 

 around and branching so much as to cover a space of eighty 

 square feet. These, though slender, overlapping in every direc- 

 tion and piled two feet deep in May and J une render it next to 

 impossible to plow the ground. But by earlier plowing or wait- 

 ing till July there is none of this trouble. The plant may be 

 recognized at an early stage of growth by the leaf, which is com- 

 posed of three inversely cordate, rather large leaflets, each hav- 

 ing near the middle a dark spot. It is from this spot that the 

 plant receives its specific and one trivial name. 



4. M. DENTICULATA. This differs from the preceding in the 

 sharp edged pod being less compactly coiled and having shorter 

 prickles. It is often confounded with the preceding. 



5. M. SCUTELLATA, Bee-hive, Snail Medick. This is culti- 

 vated only for its curious, large pods, which are coiled like a snail 

 shell with many turns. 



As we have no process for removing the seeds from the pods 

 of spotted medick, it is necessary to sow the burr-like pods, say 

 half a bushel per acre. The planting should be done early, in 

 July or August, in order that the tough pods may have time to 

 rot and release the seeds. If covered deep, the seed will not ger- 

 minate, but remain in the ground for years, to grow when 

 brought to the surface. 



