156 THE OX AND THE DAIKY. 



cultivation as with lucern ; and the farmer must not expect to 

 see it in full luxuriance till the second year. 



Sainfoin hay should be made, if possible, in dry, hot 

 weather, so that all the juices of the plant may be evaporated 

 before the stack be made. This is important, for if any 

 moisture be left the whole is apt to become mouldy ; indeed 

 it is recommended that in precarious weather it be carried 

 green (if not wet with showers or dew) under cover, and 

 stacked in alternate layers with good dry straw. By this 

 means it will impart some of its fragrance to the straw, and 

 lose none of its nutritive qualities. The same observation 

 applies both to lucern and clover. Sainfoin hay is extremely 

 relished by cattle, and if well made is very nutritious ; nor is 

 it less acceptable in its green state, and this, perhaps, is the 

 most advantageous way in which it can be used. 



Clover (Trifolium) is another important plant, of which 

 several species are cultivated, some being perennial, as the 

 Dutch clover (Trifolium repens), the cow grass clover (Tri- 

 folium medium), the lesser yellow trefoil (Trifolium minus) ; 

 some biennial, as the common red or brown clover (Trifolium 

 pratense), and some annual, as the French clover (Trifolium 

 incarnatum). 



It is the red or brown clover which is generally cultivated, 

 both as green fodder and as hay for cattle ; this is usually 

 sown with barley or oats, but sometimes among wheat or rye, in 

 the spring. In Norfolk it is the practice to sow it with barley ; 

 in Scotland it is often sown with wheat ; and in Belgium 

 with rye. But this depends on the system of rotations 

 adopted in different countries. 



The first crop of clover is generally mown and made into 

 hay. During this process care must be taken lest the tender 

 leaves of the plant be broken off in drying ; consequently, 

 the swarth should not be tossed up and shaken about, as is 

 done with common meadow hay, but merely turned over and 

 exposed to the sun and air ; and then, when all moisture is 

 evaporated, carefully stacked up. Should the clover unfor- 

 tunately become soaked with rain, nay, even if the rain should 

 continue, the farmer must wait until fine dry weather returns, 

 and completes the process of drying; if this is not effected the 

 hay will certainly become musty. But however spoiled in ap- 

 pearance, if it be at last fairly stacked in a dry state, with salt 

 scattered in, it will be acceptable to the cattle in winter, and 

 even nutritious. A writer says, that "A very good method ^in 



