84 



from the Lucerne patch. When sown alone Mr. Sutton says that sain- 

 foin is liable to decrease and. become overrun with weeds. He recom- 

 mends its use as a predominant constituent in a mixture of grasses and 

 clovers. He says that combined with strong growing grasses there is 

 less risk, and the grasses keep down the weeds which otherwise are apt 

 to overrun the sainfoin. In a green state it is quite free from the 

 danger of blowing cattle (hoven), and when made into hay is an ad- 

 mirable and nutritious food. But it requires great care in drying when 

 made into hay. 



Mr. Sinclair states that the produce of sainfoin on a clayey loam with 

 a sandy subsoil is greater than on a sandy or gravelly soil resting upon 

 clay. 



A French writer says that sainfoin can not accommodate itself to 

 damp soil, which, although dry, rests upon a wet subsoil. It delights in 

 dry soil, somewhat gravelly, and, above all, calcareous. It flourishes 

 upon the declivities of hills where water can not remain, and in light soil^ 

 where its powerful roots can readily penetrate. But although surviving 

 in the poorest calcareous soil, like clover and lucerne, its productive- 

 ness is always relative to the permeability and fertility of the land. It 

 prefers open, sunny places, with a southern or eastern exposure. 



Sainfoin has received several trials in this country, but without much 

 success, probably from the experiments having been made upon un- 

 suitable soil. We can not expect that it will be preferred in places 

 where clover succeeds, but in light soils and in regions with a light 

 rainfall it should receive a thorough trial. A recent bulletin of the 

 Iowa Agricultural College gives the result of some experiments with 

 this plant which are very satisfactory. Observations there made indi- 

 cate that it stands early freezing quite as well as Kentucky blue grass. 

 It produces at the rate of 3 tons of dry hay per acre, it deserves trial 

 in Kansas, Nebraska, and Colorado, (Plate 95.) 



MEDICAGO. 



Medicago sativa (Alfalfa). 



This plant is called Lucerne, medick, Spanish trefoil, French clover, 

 Brazilian clover, and Chilian clover. It is not a true clover, though be- 

 longing to the same natural family as the clovers. Alfalfa, the name by 

 which it is commonly known in this country, is the Spanish name, which 

 came into use here from the fact that the plant was introduced into culti- 

 vation in California from South America under the name of alfalfa, or 

 Brazilian clover. The plant had previously been introduced into the 

 Eastern and Southern States, but attracted little attention until its 

 remarkable success in California. In Europe it is generally known as 

 Lucerne, probably from the canton of Lucerne, in Switzerland, where 

 it was largely cultivated at an early day. It has been known in cultiva- 

 tion from very ancient times, and was introduced from Western Asia into 

 Greece about 500 B. C. It is now largely grown in southern France, 



