SAINFOIN. 



into the hollow stems, and is lonj: in 

 evaporating, so that wiicn it feels 

 quite dry it may yet contain nnicli 

 water. The mode of disfovei»injf this 

 is to twist it strongly in the hands 

 info a rope, when the moisture, if 

 there is any, will ooze out. It is bet- 

 ter to let it dry thorouglily, than, by 

 carrying it in a hurry, to run the risk 

 of its becoming mouldy within. In 

 very precarious seasons it may be 

 carried in a green state, provided 

 there be no moisture in it from dews 

 or showers, and stacked in alternate 

 layers with good straw. It will im- 

 part some of its fragrance to the 

 straw, and lose none of its nutritive 

 qualities. The same may be done 

 with lucern or clover. The most ad- 

 vantageous use of sainfoin, however, 

 is to cut it green and give it immedi- 

 ately to the cattle. There is no dan- 

 ger of their being hoven by it, for it 

 ferments very slowly, owing to the 

 fibrous nature of the stem. If the 

 situation of the field admits of occa- 

 sional irrigation, without danger of 

 the water stagnating, the produce of 

 the sainfoin will be greatly increased ; 

 and it may then be cut four or even 

 five times in a season without fear 

 of exhausting its strength. When it 

 begins to appear thin on the ground, 

 and other plants seem to get the bet- 

 ter of the sainfoin, it is time to break 

 it up. The land will be found much 

 improved in fertility by the sainfoin. 

 A poor chalk or gravel, which before 

 would scarcely repay the seed sown 

 in it, will now, by the gradual decay 

 of the roots and fibres of the sain- 

 foin, produce several good crops with- 

 out any other manure. The prudent 

 farmer, however, will not entirely de- 

 stroy, by repeated crops of grain, that 

 cohesion of the soil which is produ- 

 ced by the roots of the sainfoin ; but 

 by a judicious course and proper ap- 

 plication of the man'ire, which the 

 sainfom enabled him to make, he will 

 keep up the newly-acquired fertility 

 until, in the course of ten or twelve 

 years, he can again sow sainfoin seed 

 in it with the prospect of a crop more 

 abundant than the first. Many a poor, 

 barren tract of calcareous rock and I 



gravel has been fertilized and raised 

 in value by the sole effect of the sain- 

 foin, without which it must have re- 

 mained in Its unproductive state. 



"Although a chalky soil is best 

 adapted to the growth of sainfoin, it 

 may be sown with advantage in all 

 light loams, provided the substratum 

 be sound and dry. On very rich, deep 

 moulds lucern is a more profitable 

 crop ; but sainfoin will thrive where 

 lucern would fail ; and it is particu- 

 larly adapted for poor, dry soils. 



" There is nothing peculiar in the 

 manner in which sainfoin is made 

 into hay. It should not be shaken 

 about too much, for fear of injuring 

 tlie dower and l)reaking offthe leaves. 

 The swarth should be merely turned 

 over, when dry on one side, and then, 

 as soon as it is dry through, it should 

 be put into small cocks, occasionally 

 spread out in tiie sun, when the dew 

 is off the ground, and carried to the 

 stack as soon as it is sufficiently made. 

 It should take a good heat in order to 

 make it compact, but without acqui- 

 ring too dark a colour. Experience 

 alone can teach the exact time when 

 it should be stacked. When it is left 

 for seed, it should be examined care- 

 fully alter the blossom fades. The 

 lower pods will be filled with ripe 

 seed before the blossoms at the top 

 of the spike of flowers are withered 

 or the seed formed in them. If the 

 sainfoin were left standing till these 

 seeds were ripe, the lowest would be 

 shed ; but by cutting it at a proper 

 time these may be preserved, while 

 most of the latter will ripen in the 

 straw sufficiently to vegetate when 

 sown. Rainy weather is very inju- 

 rious to the seed crop ; a fine time 

 should therefore be selected, if pos- 

 sible, even at the risk of a smaller 

 crop. The seed is only gathered for 

 sowing ; but in case there should be 

 more than is required for that pur- 

 pose, and no ready sale, it is excel- 

 lent food for horses. The produce 

 varies from three to five or even six 

 sacks per acre. It is easily thrashed 

 out, and this operation is often done 

 on a cloth in the field, when the weath- 

 er permits. It is readily done by a 



681 



