SAINFOIN. 



more rapidly improved the value of 

 poor, thin, calcareous soils than sain- 



foin ; and in the richer kinds of loam, 

 which contain a considerable propor- 

 tion of calcareous matter, its value 

 surpasses even that of broad clover, 

 giving fully as great a return, with a 

 much smaller expenditure of manure. 

 The plant has a strong, woody, and 

 fibrous root, which insinuates itself 

 into the fissures of calcareous rocks, 

 and finds moisture in the dryest sea- 

 sons, while its spreading fibres keep 

 the earth from being washed down 

 the steep slopes of the hills. In fa- 

 vourable situations, it may be made 

 into hay twice in the year, or cut oft- 

 ener as green food. In the most arid 

 and exposed situations it gives at 

 least one good crop of hay. The 

 plant grows about two feet high, and 

 the stem branches out into many 

 compound leaves. After it has been 

 mown, it shoots out rapidly again, 

 and may be advantageously depas- 

 tured by every kind of cattle or sheep. 

 There are varieties of the plant which 

 differ in the rapidity of their growth; 

 the best is called, in France, esparcctlc, 

 or sainfoin a deux coupes. From 

 France it has been introduced into 

 England. The duration of sainfoin 

 depends on the nature of the soil, and 

 the state it was in with respect to 

 weeds when it was sown. A cold, 

 wet subsoil soon destroys the roots, 

 whereas a free and dry one, whether 

 680 



rocky or gravelly, gives them vigour. 

 Grass and weeds, which choke the 

 crown of the plant, soon cause it to 

 decay, as is the case with lucern. 

 With every advantage, it may last in 

 vigour ten years, especially if it is oc- 

 casionally invigorated with a top- 

 dressing of manure or ashes, or, which 

 is best of all, with diluted urine, or 

 the drainings from dunghills. Du- 

 ring that time it may be cut twice for 

 hay every year, taking care to cut it 

 before the flower is faded or the seed 

 formed ; and if sheep are folded on 

 it after the second cutting, the next 

 crop will well repay the trouble. It 

 is usually sown in spring in a crop of 

 barley or oats, which should be sown 

 thin in order that the sainfoin may 

 not be smothered. The land should 

 have been prepared by a cleansing 

 crop. From three to four bushels of 

 seed may be sown, harrowed in, and 

 rolled. It is not often drilled, al- 

 though this method, by allowing the 

 use of the hoe between the rows, 

 would much strengthen the young 

 plants, and protect them against 

 coarse grasses, which are their great- 

 est enemies. In the first year the 

 sainfoin should not be fed off by 

 sheep ; and if it is mown, it should 

 not be mown too close to the ground. 

 The crown of the root in the young 

 plant rises a little above the ground, 

 and if this be bit ofl', or cut with the 

 scythe, the plant dies. It is useful to 

 harrow the ground lightly, to draw 

 the earth round the roots, and to de- 

 stroy seed weeds soon after the bar- 

 ley or oats are reaped. The sainfoin 

 does not produce a large crop the 

 first year, for some of the seeds will 

 lie a twelvemonth in the ground be- 

 fore they spring up. It is in perfec- 

 tion after the second year, when a 

 portion may be reserved for seed. 

 Sainfoin hay is extremely nourishing 

 for every kind of cattle, especially if 

 it has been made without rain. Al- 

 though it is not apt to heat in the 

 stack, it must be put up in a very dry 

 state ; and if it has suffered from rain, 

 too much care cannot be taken thor- 

 oughly to dry it ; for the water insin- 

 uates itself by capillary attraction 



