THE ARTIFICIAL GRASSES DESCRIBED 35 



plant has been cultivated in mixture with Red Clover and Rye Grass, for a great 

 length of time. Its seeds, which are produced in much greater abundance, are con- 

 sequently cheaper than those of any of the other clovers; and it is questionable 

 whether this circumstance may not contribute to the extensive cultivation which it 

 receives, more than any superior merit. Although the produce is bulky, cattle are not 

 generally fond of it, either in a green or dry state, and only eat it with a seeming reUsh 

 when mixed with some more nutritious and esteemed food; on which account it should 

 enter but sparingly into mixtures. 



6. Medicago sativa {Lucerne). — Fr. Lucerne; Ger. Lucerner Klee. — Stem erect, 

 branching, smooth ; flowers in racemes or clusters, generally of a purplish colour ; root 

 perennial, thick, and branching, penetrating very deep into the subsoil, sometimes ten 

 or twelve feet ; height about three feet ; flowers in June and July. The cultivation of 

 Lucerne is of unknown antiquity in Italy, Spain, and the south of France ; it is likewise 

 cultivated in Persia, and several other countries of Asia ; also in Peru, and elsewhere in 

 South America ; in the Canadas, and the United States. In Britain it is a valuable early 

 plant for yielding fodder before the Red Clover; and its cultivation has often been 

 attempted, and attended witla various degrees of success. Scotland is too cold for the 

 successful growth of Lucerne. The soils which appear most congenial to it are those of 

 a very light sandy or dry nature, as for example, those near the coast, where it is generally 

 found to thrive well, although exposed to the direct influence of the sea breeze, and to 

 be fit for cutting at least a fortnight earlier than common Rye Grass and Red Clover. If 

 proper attention be paid to the young plants, as to thinning, &c., they will yield a con- 

 siderable crop the second year ; but it is, at least, the third season after sowing before 

 they arrive at full maturity ; and afterwards, they will continue to produce good crops for 

 eight years, and even more, provided they receive a good top-dressing occasionally in 

 winter, and are kept free from couch-grass and other perennial weeds. 



7. Onobrychis sativa {Common Sainfoin). — Fr. Esparcette, or Sainfoin ordinaire; 

 Ger. Esparsette. — A leguminous plant, flowers in spikes, of a beautiful pink or flesh colour, 

 on long foot-stalks ; stems nearly upright ; roots subfusiform, somewhat woody, and 

 penetrating to a considerable depth, perennial ; height two to three feet ; flowers from 

 June to August. Grows naturally in light chalky soils in various parts of England. 

 Although a native of England, the Sainfoin is said to have been originally introduced as 

 an agricultural plant from France ; and is now considered the most important leguminous 

 herbage and forage plant in the calcareous districts of both countries, and particularly on 

 the poor dry thin chalky hills and downs in the South of England. A very judicious 

 method of raising this plant, which is practised 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 the chance of the plants 

 being weakened from the closeness of the corn crop. In cases where the barley or com 

 is drilled the Sainfoin should be drilled across the field, or at right angles with the drills'of 

 the corn crop. The usual period of duration of Sainfoin, 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 ; but 

 although the plants lose a good deal of their vigour at that age, they have been known 

 to exist for nearly a hundred years. The duration of the crop may, however, be increased 

 by judicious top-dressing. In Scotland, the cultivation of Sainfoin has hitherto been little 

 attended to, partly, no doubt, from an opinion that it is only suited for chalky soils ; but 

 it has been ascertained to succeed well on almost any soil, provided it be sufficiently dry. 



