250 THE MELILOT CKOP. 



nutritious food, much relished by all kinds of stock. It is 

 a coarse, erect -growing annual, resembling the common 

 melilot in its herbage, but differing from it in size and 

 colour of flowers, which are white. When intended for 

 forage purposes, the plants should be cut young, when 

 about 2 feet high, as if allowed to continue their growth, 

 they become woody and of less value. Although the bulk 

 produced on a given area is large, the cultivation has not 

 been continued as a forage crop, its produce being too 

 watery when young, and too woody when old. 



M. ccerulea is an annual, well known in our gardens 

 under the name of Sweet Trefoil, and admired for its 

 pretty blue flowers, by which it is readily distinguished 

 from all the others. In Germany and parts of France it 

 enters into regular field cultivation as a forage plant. Its 

 rapid growth rentiers it suitable for sowing in places where 

 clover has failed. In such cases it is always best to cut it 

 green, or feed it off on the ground before it is in full 

 flower, otherwise its hollow cylindrical steins become very 

 woody and valueless. In Switzerland it is commonly met 

 with in the pastures, and is the plant which gives its 

 peculiar flavour, to the well-known Schapziger cheese. 



M. macrorhiza Siberian Melilot is a native of Hun- 

 gary, and is met with in different parts of the Continent 

 in cultivation on light sandy soils, for which it is ex- 

 tremely well adapted. It is a vigorous, erect -growing 

 plant, with long, thick, carrot -like roots, and bearing 

 white flowers. On the. light sandy coasts of Holland, and 

 of parts of France, it is either grown by itself or mixed 

 with the biennial vetch, for which it forms a good support. 



All these species are capable of growing on the poorer 

 class of soils, and on soils of such description give generally 

 a far better return than could be obtained from either 

 lucerne, vetches, or even clovers. Deep cultivation, freedom 

 from stagnant water, and- from weeds, are the essentials 



