CULTIVATION OF LUCERNE. 343 



the first crop is taken by the 28th, the second crop will mature 

 its seeds. 



3. White clover {trifolium repens) is also a perennial and 

 a very sweet and useful plant ; it should be sown more fre- 

 quently than it is. It is mostly found in pastures and furnishes 

 the best of food for grazing. The yellow and scarlet clover 

 are not cultivated among us, though the former is in England. 

 Clover is admirably adapted to an alternating system of hus- 

 bandry, as two crops may be cut in one season. As its roots 

 penetrate and divide the soil and exhaust but little from it, 

 we are astonished that our farmers do not cultivate it more, 

 and are disposed to subscribe fully to the sentiment of the 

 Flemmings, that "no man in Flanders would pretend to call 

 himself a farmer without clover." 



4. Lucerne {incdicago sativa) is called in this country, 

 French clover. It is a perennial plant, sending up several 

 small shoots resembling clover, but with spikes of blue or 

 violet flowers. It was early cultivated by the Romans, and 

 is now cultivated in many countries of Europe, South Ameri- 

 ca and the United States. The seed of lucerne is obtained 

 in the same manner as that of red clover, from the second 

 crop, and is contained in pods which are easily threshed. 



The soil should be siliceous, with deep tillage and dry 

 sub-soil. No soil is too rich for it, and unless it is well pre- 

 pared by finely pulverizing it, the crop is liable to fail. 

 Loudon recommends trenching, but it flourishes well after 

 potatoes or roots of any kind, provided the manures are green 

 and deeply ploughed in. 



The time for solving varies from the 1st to the 20th of May, 

 and the quantity of seed is from 15 to 20 lbs. per acre when 

 sowed broad-cast with rye, and 10 lbs, when sown in drills, 

 three feet apart, and other crops (as roots) cultivated between. 



The after culture of this crop consists in harrowing, twice 

 a year, after the first year (if sown broad-cast), and in remov- 

 ing all the weeds. But if sowed in drills, it must be culti- 



