46 Burnet, 



stems appeared ; in fact, the plant was so suppressed as 

 not to cause any objection as regards the hay crop. 



The advantages of chicory in pasture are very great, 

 and there are no disadvantages. The root goes straight 

 down into the soil (in five months I have traced it to 

 22 inches, and in fifteen months to about 30 inches or 

 more), and the leaves go straight up. The plant there- 

 fore neither robs the surface soil nor interferes with the 

 plants in its neighbourhood, which flourish right up to 

 the stems of the chicory. All stock are fond of the 

 plant, and my keeper informs me that hares eat it more 

 readily than any other plant in the pasture. It yields a 

 large supply of food. It is evident that with such plants 

 as chicory and burnet the available area of soil must be 

 very largely increased, and their use in a field is, practi- 

 cally speaking, an absolute addition to its acreage (vide 

 Chapter VI.) 



Let us now turn to another plant, which, from its 

 deep-rooting, drought-resisting, and disease-resisting 

 qualities, for sheep is of evident importance, and see 

 what Arthur Young has to tell us about it. 



Burnet (Poterium sanguisorba), we are told by 

 Young, will do on any land, but it thrives best on that 

 which is dry. It is more to be recommended on a sheep 

 walk, and is not only good for spring feed, but as a 

 summer pasture. For the latter it should be kept 

 constantly pared down close, in which management it 

 grows very fast. An experiment by Mr. Anderson is 

 quoted, which shows that on February 14 it was 3 inches 

 high, and it was grazed at intervals every month up to 

 September 29, when the total growth was 72 inches. 

 Sheep are very fond of it. It is early in spring, but not 

 so early as lucerne. Its principal use is for a sheep 

 walk, and especially on poor hungry soils. No farmer 

 should lay down for a sheep walk, or for a few years, 

 without sowing a large portion of burnet. Arthur 

 Young did not think the plant valuable for hay. It is 

 spontaneous, he says, in the best spots of many of the 



