886 



PRACTICE OF AGRICULTURE. 



Part III. 



787 



788 



56.37. The bird's foot trefoil (Lotier, Fr. ; Lhtus cornicul^tus L.,ftg. 785.) has been tried as a substitute 



for white clover on moist lands, and 786 



seems to succeed very well, but to 



have no particular advantages over 



the clover. ijtus m^jor has been 



found by Mr. Sinclair to afford triple 



the weight of green food and hay 



afforded by Lotus cornicul&tus ; its 



nutritive powers compared with that 



plant are as nine to eight ; but on the 



whole, he says, both species are greatly 



inferior to white clover. {Gram. 



Wob. 2d ed. p. 311.) i6tus villbsus 



and tetragon61obus, the Loiter cuUivd 



of the French {fig. 786.), are a good 



deal cultivated in France on light soils 



The latter is an annual sown in our 



gardens. 

 5638. The fenugreek {Sennegrai'n, 



Fr. ; Trigonellai^ce^num-grae^cumZ.., 



fig. 787.), Greek hay, was formerly 



cultivated in Italy, and slill holds a 



prominent place in the agriculture of 



Egypt. In France it is cultivated to 



a limited extent near Paris for its 



seeds, which are used in medicine. 



5639. The serradilla (Ornithopus satlvus of Persoon's Synojisis) was introduced for purposes of 



field culture about the year 1818, from Portugal, and sown upon the light barren downs of Thetford in 



Norfolk, and Ampthill and other places in Bedfordshire. It is said to have produced abundant crops, twu 



feet high, of excellent fodder, 



where scarcely any thing else 



would grow. Its culture, 



however, is no longer in use 



in England, and it does not 



enter into the agriculture of 



France. 



5640. Galegaqfficinalis sLi. 

 thyrus Cicera, latifblius, syl- 

 vestris,prat^nsis,hirsutus,he- 

 terophyllus, and tingitinus ; 

 JB'rvum rvllia, and mon4n- 

 thos ; ibtus villbsus, and te- ' 

 tragon61obus ; Ficia angusti- 

 fblia, Crdcca, Pseudo- Crdcca, 

 biennis, sfepium, and Idtea ; 

 .4nth^llis vulnerkria ; and 

 .Astragalus glyciph^lios and 

 galegiformis, are all used as 

 herbage plants in the agricul- 

 tare of France. 



5641. The oriental bunias 

 (.BCinias oriexi.tk\\sL.,fig. 788. 

 a) is a perennial plant, with 

 leaves, branches, and its ge- 

 neral habit of herbage, not 



unlike the wild chiccory. It is a native of the Levant, and 

 has been cultivated by way of experiment in the grass 

 garden at Woburn. It is less productive than chiccory, 

 bears mowing well, and affords the same nutriment, in 

 proportion to its bulk, as red clover. {Agricultural Chem. 

 p. 374.) 



5642. The yarrow {Millefeuille, Fr. ; ^chillfea Millefblium L.fig. 788. 5), the common and alpine ladies^ 

 mantle {Alchemilla vulgsiris and alpina L.), and others, have been tried among perennial grasses, sown 

 in parks, with a view to give flavour to milk, butter, mutton, and venison. Sinclair considers yarrow as 

 an essential ingredient of the most fattening and healthy pastures. In all the pastures most celebrated 

 for fattening or dairy produce, which he examined in Devonshire, Lincolnshire, and in the vale of 

 Aylesbury, yarrow was present more or less in every part of the surface. {Hort- Gram. Wob. 2d 

 edit. p. 412.) 



Chap. VI. 



Cultivated Grasses. 



5643. The forage or hay and pasture grasses, of which we are now about to treat, are 

 found clothing the surface of the earth in every zone, attaining generally a greater 

 height, with less closeness at the root in the warm climates ; and producing a low, close, 

 thick, dark green nutritive herbage, in the cooler latitudes. The best grass pastures, 

 those which are most productive and nutritive, are such as are found in countries that 

 have least cold in winter, and no excess of heat in summer. Ireland, Britain, and part of 

 Holland and Denmark, may equal or surpass any countries of the world in this respect ; 

 but in every zone where there are high mountains, there are certain positions between 

 the base and summit, where, from the equability of the temperature, turf may be found 

 equal to that in marine islands. It is a singular circumstance with regard to grasses. 



