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7. Lotus ; rubers fiUqtia ayigu- 

 los^, foli) variegato. Boerh. Ind. Red 

 iquare-codded Birds-foot Trefoil, 

 with a variegated Leaf. 



8. Lotus 3 /iliquis ornitho'podii. 

 C. B. P. Birds-foot Trefoil, with 

 Pods like a Birds-foot. 



The fir ft of thefe Plants is by 

 fbnie fuppofed to be the Cytijlis of 

 Virgil 'y but with how much Juft- 

 nels I will not pretend to deter- 

 mine, fince it is very difficult to 

 afcertain many of his Plants 5 for 

 the greateft Part of them are only 

 tranlhred from Theocritus's Greek 

 into Latin, fo that it may juftly 

 be fuppofed that Virjl himlelf did 

 not know the Plants of which he 

 wrote ; and whoever has a Curio- 

 fity to know what the Plants there 

 mention'd are, ihould diligently 

 fearch for them in Sicily where 

 Theocritus lived, and it is very pro- 

 bable many of them are ilill to be 

 found. 



This Plant dies to the Ground 

 with us every Winter, and rifes 

 again the fucceeding Spring, and 

 when the Roots are ftrong, the 

 Shoots will be four or five Feet 

 high, and produce in great Plenty : 

 If it be cut while young, the Cows 

 are very fond ot it; but Horfes 

 will not eat it, unlefs they are 

 very hungry. The Roots when 

 ftrong, will admit of the Shoots 

 being cut three or four times in a 

 Summer, for they put out again 

 loon after they are cut, and grow 

 very ftrong in a fhort timej but 

 this Plant does not come up before 

 Afrit in our Country, and com- 

 monly dies down in Ociober, fb 

 that if it were the beft Fodder for 

 Cattle, it could only be obtained 

 in Summer, for I am afraid it will 

 hardly be of any ufe when dried. 



It may be propagated from the 

 Seeds, which are geneially produ- 



Vol, II. 



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ced in great Plenty, and muft be 

 fbwn very thin in Rows, at about 

 eighteen Inches afunder, the Be« 

 ginning of April, and in May^ 

 v/hen the Plants will be come up, 

 the Ground fhould be hoe'd be- 

 tween the Rows, in order to dc- 

 ftroy the Weeds, and the Plants 

 cut up, where they are too thick 

 (for they fliould be eight or ten 

 Inches apart in the Rows at leaft) 

 for though they will appear but 

 weak at their firft coming up, yet 

 when their Roots have taken faft 

 hold of the Ground, they will in- 

 creafe their Strength greatly j I 

 have had a fingle Root of this 

 Plant, which has been a Foot dia- 

 meter over the Crown, and hath 

 produced above a hundred Shoots 

 at one Tmie. 



You muft alio continuing hoe- 

 ing the Ground from Time to 

 Time as the Weeds are produced, 

 which if permitted to over-grow 

 the Plants while they are young, 

 will certainly deftroy them ; lb 

 that the firft Seafon they muft be 

 managed with great Care, but af- 

 terwards when the Plants have ob- 

 tain'd more Strength, they will be 

 capable of encountering the Weeds ; 

 though then the Ground between 

 the Rows fliould be ftirr'd with a 

 Breaft*plough after the Crop is cut 

 down, which will greatly pro- 

 mote its Growth. 



This Plant delights in a dry, bar- 

 ren, gravelly Soil, on which it will 

 refift the fevereft Cold of our Cli- 

 mate, and abide m.any Years. 



It may alfo be propagated by 

 planting Cuttings or Slips taken 

 from the old Plants in Jtdy> when 

 they have acquired a Hardnefs, 

 whicli ftiould be planted in a 

 moift, cloudy Seafon, or water'd 

 and Ihaded, and in a fhort Time 

 they will take Rootj but as this 

 F " is 



