160 THE SAINFOIN CROP. 



j ury during the early stages of its growth. If it be intended 

 to remain down several years, it is better to cut it for hay 

 than to feed it off the first spring, as it is important to let 

 the plants root themselves well in the soil before they run 

 the chances of injury from sheep or cattle; the after- 

 growth may of course be fed off in the usual way. Where 

 it is merely a substitute for clover in the rotation, it is 

 treated in the same way as that crop would be on the 

 farm. 



Like the preceding subject, lucerne, it takes about 

 three years to arrive at its maximum of production; 

 and if the condition of the soil be sustained by proper 

 treatment, and the crop be kept clear of weeds, it will keep 

 up its rate of produce pretty well for about five years, 

 when the increase of the natural grasses generally tells 

 upon the crop, and shows that it is time to plough it up, 

 and give the land the benefit of a rotation before it is 

 again laid down in sainfoin. In order to protect the crop 

 as much as possible from the natural grasses, it is a good 

 practice to give it a good turn with the harrows at the 

 close of the winter, which will displace the shallow-rooted 

 weeds, and then to apply the manure, by which the growth 

 of the cultivated crop will be encouraged. The plant 

 generally comes into flower about the middle of June, when 

 it should be cut if intended for hay, as its nutritive value 

 decreases as the flowering process proceeds. In cutting for 

 hay, it is indeed very important that it be cut directly 

 the flowering commences, as the plant has then attained 

 its maximum value, and every day's delay, while it de- 

 creases the feeding qualities of the crop, has a tendency 

 also to diminish the vital powers of the plant, which fre- 

 quently dies out altogether, if from any cause, intentional 

 or accidental, such as wet weather, the cutting be delayed 

 until the seed is formed. It seems indeed to be almost a 

 law of nature with our cultivated herbaceous plants, that 



