Birdsfoot Trefoil and Parsley. 107 



valuable plant, and of supreme importance in a severe 

 drought. In 1899 there was a very severe drought, and 

 yet we cut 2 tons an acre from the Big Countridge field, 

 which, from a distance of many miles, looked like a 

 veritable oasis in a desert of scorched hills. For the 

 crop we were mainly indebted to the kidney vetch, 

 which, after cutting, was almost entirely killed, but it 

 had saved the situation, and its immense rootage, 

 covered with nitrogen-collecting nodules, will no doubt 

 tell favourably on the grass and subsequent crops. It is 

 generally supposed that the kidney vetch never stands 

 cutting, but Hayhope Shank field was hayed in 1897, 

 and a small portion of the field, which was again hayed 

 in 1900, showed a fair proportion of the plant. The 

 Big Haugh field was sown in 1893 ; 2 lb. chicory, 

 3 lb. burnet, and 2 lb. kidney vetch were included in the 

 mixture. The field was hayed the first year, and was 

 ploughed for turnips end of 1900. A strip was left 

 unploughed along the fence side on the margin of the 

 Bowmont, and in 1901 (eight years after sowing) this 

 showed plenty of chicory, burnet, and kidney vetch. This 

 seems to show the durability of the vetch, and that it is 

 not injured if cut for hay ; at any rate, if cut only once. 



Birdsfoot trefoil {Lotus eorniculatus) calls for some 

 remark, as it appears in seedsmen's lists and mixtures, 

 though, from Sinclair's account of the plant, neither it 

 nor Lotus major seem to be deserving of attention. 

 Sinclair says that they are greatly inferior to the clovers. 

 The white clover is superior to the common birdsfoot 

 trefoil in the quantity of nutritive matter it affords, in 

 the proportion of 5 to 4. It is much less productive of 

 herbage." Altogether, there seems to be no good reason 

 for cultivating this plant. 



Parsley (Fetrosetinurn sativum). — I generally put 

 down 1 lb. with my seed mixtures, as it is supposed to 

 be favourable to the health of sheep and to be a pre- 

 ventive to liver rot, but I have no evidence to give in 

 support of this view. 



