578 FORAGE PLANTS AND THEIR CULTURE 



heavy trampling and close grazing, and if kept closely 

 clipped on lawns, makes a fine turf. The seed is very 

 small, one pound containing 1,667,000 seeds. 



At the Ontario Agricultural College it gave a yield to 

 the acre of 3.5 tons green matter or .9 tons of hay. 



692. Sachaline (Polygonum sachalinense) is a native of 

 the island of Saghalien. It was introduced into cultiva- 

 tion in 1869 as an ornamental and has been used for this 

 purpose ever since. In 1893 it was considered in France 

 to possess some value as forage, and in the succeeding 

 years was much advertised and extravagant claims made 

 for it. 



The plant is a stout perennial herb, spreading by root- 

 stocks, and growing to a height of 6 to 10 feet ; the leaves 

 are heart-shaped, and the greenish flowers inconspicuous. 

 Well-established plants produce an abundance of herbage, 

 and this is eaten readily by all farm animals. The habit 

 of the plant adapts it better to green feeding and possibly 

 silage than for dry fodder. In Germany it is said to 

 yield 8 to 16 tons green matter to the acre. 



The difficulty with sachaline as a forage crop is that it 

 is troublesome to start, hard stemmed, and does not yield 

 more than corn or sorghum. Its rootstock habit makes 

 it rather difficult to destroy promptly, but it is never 

 troublesome as a weed. Its only practicable use would 

 seem to be to furnish an abundance of green feed from a 

 small area without planting each year. 



Sachaline was tested at many of the American experi- 

 ment stations, but has not commended itself as worthy of 

 culture except as an ornamental. Plants may be started 

 either by seeds or propagated by rootstocks. 



693. Burnet (Sanguisorba minor) is a native of Europe. 

 It was first cultivated in England about 1760 as a pasture 



