82 ENGLISH BOTANY. 



marked on the sides with a few meshes formed by very thick ana- 

 stomosing veins, the lower margin more or less tubercular-spinous, 

 and frequently there are smaller tubercles of the same kind upon 

 the exterior anastomosing veins which run parallel with it. Seed 

 solitary, kidney - shaped, compressed, dark reddish -brown, dim. 

 Plant greyish-green, more or less pubescent. Leaflets glabrous oa 

 the upper surface. 



Suintfoin. 



French, Sainfoin tEspa/rcet. German, Gehauie Esparsette. 



Besides the names already given, this plant is commonly known as Cock's-head, 

 Medick Vetchling, <fec. The etymology of the name Sainfoin, sometimes spelt Saintfoiii, 

 is carefully given by Dr. Prior in his " Popular Names of British Plants." He says 

 the word appears to be formed from the French sain, wholesome, andifoin, hay, in 

 Latin sa7i«im.ycemM(i, representing its older name Medica, whicli properly meant " of 

 Media," but was mistaken as meaning curative. According to Plukenet and Hill, the 

 name Saintfoin was first given to the lucerne [Medicaijo sativa), and that of lucerne to 

 an Onobrychis, our present Saintfoin. Tliere does not appear to be auy saint named 

 Foin, nor any reason for ascribiug divine properties to this plant. According to 

 Bornare, quoted by Duchesne, "Le Sainfoin, aiusi appele parce que c'est le fouragele plus 

 appetissant, le plus nourrissant, et le jilus sain qu'on puisse donner aux chevaux et aux 

 bestiaux." This plant, though a native of England, is never found in its wild state but 

 on dry, warm, chalky soils, where it is of great duration. It has long been cultivated 

 in France and other parts of the Continent, and as an agi'icultural plant was introduced 

 from France into England about the middle of the seventeenth century. It has since 

 been a good deal cultivated in chalky districts, and its peculiar value is that it may be 

 grown on soils unfit for being constantly under tillage, and which would yield little 

 iinder grass. Tliis is owing to the long and descending roots of the Saintfoin, which 

 •will penetrate and thrive in fissures of rocky and chalky substrata. Arthur Young 

 particularly advocated its use, saying that upon land fitted for its growth no farmer 

 could .sow too much, and in the Code of Agriculture it is said to be " one of the most 

 valuable herbage plants we owe to the bounty of Providence." Tlie strong advocacy 

 of Arthur Young and other writers of the same period caused its culture on many soils 

 where it is now almost entirely given up. On chalky lands, and particularly on the 

 hard chalk of the Surrey and Sussex downs, no fodder-plant yields so abundant a return. 

 On gravel it often succeeds well, but on rich alluvial soil lucerne is far more productive, 

 ■while on wet land Saintfoin will not grow. The most economical method of using this 

 plant is by cutting it off for green food, or making it into hay ; as the root rises a little 

 above the surface of the ground, it is apt to be injured if mown too closely, or if fed off 

 by sheep. If cut before it comes into flower, two good crops may be often obtained 

 during each season. On some of the light poor lands of Norfolk it has been grown with 

 great advantage, for the long roots and fibres bind the particles of soil, and at the same 

 time manure it by their gradual decay : many tracts of land have been rendered fertile 

 by the judicious use of Saintfoin. The usual duration of Saintfoin in a profitable state 

 is from eight to ten years. It usually attains its perfect growth in about three years, 

 and begins to decline about the eighth or tenth year on calcareous soils, and about the 

 seventh or eighth on gravels. There are instances, however, of fields of Saintfoin which 

 have been neglected and left to run into pasture, in which plants have been found 



