Value of Burnet. 49 



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 bumet. Arthur 

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

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

 finest meadows in England. Bumet, when in mixture, 

 is eaten as close as any other plant. Half a bushel 

 (bumet weighs about 26 lbs. per buShel) should be 

 sown in mixture with either trefoil or ryegrass, or with 

 other grasses, for permanent pasture. If sown by itself, 

 one bushel should be used, and it should always be sown 

 broadcast, though, I may observe, he gives no reason for 

 doing so. Burnet is ready for sheep at the beginning of 

 March, and is throughout the year of considerable value. 

 It is not only a preservative against rot, but a cure for 

 it, if only in the beginning of its progress. Cows eat 

 bumet freely, if not old and sticky, and it gives butter 

 an agreeable flavour. Young mentions that bumet was 

 recommended by Worbage in 1675, especially for cows, 

 as it gives the best butter and cheese. There are large 

 tracts of the finest parts of the Southdowns upon which 

 bumet forms half the indigenous pasture. In general, 

 all cattle eat it readily when young, and to profit, but 

 not when it is in bent. It is very advantageous for sheep 

 in general. Anderson is again quoted by Young as 

 follows : — " I have put sheep that scoured into a bumet 

 field, and they have soon been visibly benefited. I would 

 earnestly recommend to all farmers to intersperse some 

 of it in every field sown for permanent pasture." One 

 acre of burnet was sown on a part of a field the rest of 

 which was turnips, and the following March fed with 

 sheep, who preferred the bumet, and the acre was 

 thought equal in consumption to any acre of the turnips. 

 It was observed in Staffordshire that as a meadow grass 

 it preserves the hay from over-heating in the stack. 

 Hay of meadows which contain a considerable portion of 



