SAUTFOlN.—0/iod?yc/ils,^afk'a, 



Cla^s DiADELi'HiA, Order Decaxdria. Nat. Ord. LEOUiUNOS.u. 

 Pea and Bean Tribe. 



Amid the glowing hues ^^hich deck the 

 landscape when June lavishes upon it all its 

 wealth of leaves and flowers, few are brighter 

 than the tints of the field of Saintfohi. The 

 wind sweeps over the flowers, and they fall 

 into red wave-like motion, rising again in 

 glittering beauty, to tremble' like banners be- 

 neath the gentler bi'eeze. For more than two 

 centuries these flelds have given their tmt to 

 many portions of our rural districts, the plant 

 being cultivated for the food Avhich it yields 

 to cattle, either while green, or when dried 

 and made into hay. The Saintfoin flourishes 

 on warm chalky lands, and few plants more 

 rapidly than this increase the value of poor 

 thin calcareous soils. The usual duration of 

 the plant on a soil well adapted to it, is from 

 eight to ten years. There are instances, how- 

 ever, of fields of Saintfoin wliieh, lia\ ing been 

 neglected, have run into pastures, and on which 

 plants have been found upwards of fifty years 

 from the time of sowing. For more than a 



