HISTORY. 61 
them much esteemed in a garden and called the French honey- 
suckle. 
This plant will make twenty times the increase in poor ground 
than the common turf; and this is owing to its having a long 
perpendicular root called tap roots, as well as numbers of hori- 
zontal ones; the perpendicular ones sink to a great depth to at- 
tract its nourishment. The length of this root is scarce to be 
credited by any but those who have seen it; I have drawn it out 
of the ground near fourteen feet; and some have told me that 
they have traversed it to double that length. This is the reason 
I presume why this plant will bear drouth, when all other 
grasses have been burnt up by the excessive dryness of the sea- 
son. I have at one cutting got two tons of this hay per acre. 
Cold, clay, or wet land is not suitable for this grass, as it would 
chill and rot the roots. The long root of Saintfoin has near the 
surface many horizontal roots issuing from it, which extend 
themselves every way; there are of the same kind all the way 
down, as the roots go, but they grow shorter and shorter all the 
way. 
Any dry land may be made to produce this valuable and use- 
ful plant, though it be ever so poor; but the richest and best 
land will produce the greatest crops of it. 
The best method of sowing it is by drilling, but the earth must 
be very well prepared and the seed well ordered, or else very 
little of it will grow. The heads of these seeds are so large and 
their necks so weak, that if they be above an inch deep, they are 
not able to rise through the incumbent mould, and, if they are 
not covered, they will be malted; that is, it will send out its root 
while it lies above ground, and be killed by the air. 
The best season for planting it is the beginning of spring; and 
it is always strongest when planted alone. 
If barley, oats, or any other grain sown with the saintfoin, 
happen to be lodged afterwards, it kills the young saintfoin. The 
quantity of seed to be drilled or sown broadcast upon an acre of 
land will depend wholly on the goodness of it; for there is some 
seed, of which not one in ten will strike; whereas, in good seed, 
not one in twenty will fail. The method of knowing the goodness 
is by sowing a certain number of the seeds, and seeing how many 
plants are produced by them. If it is above two years old, it 
will not grow. The external signs of the seed being good are 
that the husk is of a bright color rather of a purple, and the 
kernel plump, of a light grey or blue color. If the kernel be cut 
across, and appear greenish and fresh, it is a certain sign it is 
good. If it be of a yellowish color, and friable, and looks thin 
and pitted, it is a bad sign. The quantity of seed allowed to the 
