128 OTHER FORAGE PLANTS— SANFOIN. 



containing a less proportion of silica and more organic 

 matter. Cut into chaff, steamed, and given with a 

 proportion of linseed, it would perhaps become more 

 palatable to stock. 



Common Sanfoin. 



{Onohrychis sativa.) 



Standard of purity, according to Dr. Stebler, should 

 be 98 per cent., and of germinating faculty 80 per cent. 



The root is perennial, somewhat woody, and pene- 

 trates to a considerable depth. The stems nearly up- 

 right, and height two to three feet ; flowers from June 

 to August. Is considered the most important legumi- 

 nous herbage and forage plant in the calcareous districts 

 of France and England, and particularly on the poor, 

 dry, thin chalky hills and downs in the South of Eng- 

 land. The usual period of duration of Sanfoin in a 

 profitable state is from eight to ten years in chalky 

 soils, and seven or eight in those of a sandy or 

 gravelly nature. The duration of the crop may, how- 

 ever, be increased by judicious top-dressing. A very 

 judicious method of raising this plant, which is prac- 

 tised in some parts, is to sow it with about half the 

 quantity of Barley or other grain used for a full crop, 

 which gives it the advantage of being shaded and kept 

 moist during the first summer without weakening the 

 Sanfoin plant. 



Mr. M. J. Sutton strongly urges that, instead of 

 sowing Sanfoin alone, it should be used as a predomi- 

 nant constituent in a mixture of grasses and clovers fo 



