222 CULTIVATION OF PLANTS. 



where neither grain nor the cultivated herbage plants would 

 cover the surface. 



It may be sown with a grain crop in the same manner as the 

 clovers and grasses. In the following season it may be mown 

 for hay or green forage, although it does not obtain its full 

 maturity until the third year. When this mode of sowing with 

 a grain crop is adopted, the saintfoin should be mixed with one 

 or more of the clovers, of which the most suitable is the white 

 clover. A quart or two 01 the clover to the acre will be suffi- 

 cient. It may also be cultivated in rows, like lucern tilled 

 every summer by the cultivator, and manured at intervals of 

 four or five years. But the easier and more convenient prac- 

 tice of broadcast is preferred by the European cultivators. The 

 quantity of seed to the acre when sown broadcast is four 

 bushels; in rows, from two to three bushels. When sown in 

 spring, the earlier it is put in the soil the better. 



The after culture and management of saintfoin, consists in 

 occasional dressings with manure, and in the judicious inter- 

 vention of mowing and pasturing. In gathering and using 

 the crop the same practices may be followed as in the taking 

 of clover. It may be mown for either soiling, hay, or seed; 

 and consumed on the spot by tethering, hurdling, or common 

 pasturing. It does not bear as frequent cutting as lucern. It 

 may be cut twice in the season for soiling; for hay, one cut- 

 ting, and the aftermath depastured. When made into hay, 

 it should be cut just when it comes into flower. It is rarely 

 injured by heating, and may therefore be housed more quickly 

 than other hay plants. The process of curing saintfoin is the 

 same as that of the clover. See page 214. 



The produce per acre varies according to the quality of the 

 soil; from one to two tons will be about the proper average, 

 considering that it is grown on inferior soils, and that it yields 

 good aftermath; it will be found to be a very productive plant. 

 The produce per acre in seed, is subject to great variations, 

 from the changes of season and other causes. The diseases of 

 saintfoin are few, there being, according to LOUDON, little 

 danger of failure after it has escaped the fly, which attacks the 

 clover-seed in germinating. 



Saving of the seed should be attended to. The husks are 

 to remain in the field until they assume a brownish colour, and 

 the seeds are perfectly firm and plump. Experience or great 

 observation is necessary, to know at what period to cut for 

 seed, as the seeds do not ripen at the same time. Some ears 

 blossom before others: they begin to blossom at the lower part, 

 and continue to blow gradually upwards for many days, in 

 consequence of which, before the flower is off at the top, the 



