22 



as a nutritive food, I can not speak. The analysis to be soon ex- 

 pected from the National Department of Agriculture will soon 

 decide upon its merits. 



Several species of Vetches or tares, Vicia, deserve attention. 

 The European tare, Vicia sativa, is almost naturalized in many 

 parts of this State, thriving luxuriantly ; its rich flowering vines 

 reach three to four feet in height, early in April on the coast ; 

 much cultivated in Europe as a favorite green crop for milk cows ; 

 is entitled to more attention from our diary men than it has re- 

 ceived. 



Along the seaboard of this State, the so-called Mexican clover, 

 Biehardsonia scabra, is found spreading extensively; it covers the 

 sandy upland soils completely with its succulent prostrate leafy 

 stems bearing the small white funnel-form flowers, in terminal 

 heads, and whorls in the axils of the leaves. In regard to its nu- 

 tritive value, it is scarcely inferior to clover; horses, cattle and 

 sheep are fond of it, particularly of the hay. A detailed account, 

 with an analysis of the plant by the Department, is found in the 

 Eeport of 1874. As a green manure, it is of the greatest benefit 

 to the farmer in the lower pine region. 



Very valuable as affording rich, nutritious pasture ground, in 

 the earliest parts of spring, is the Spurge, or Spergula arvensis, a 

 low annual with prostrate diffuse, succulent, jointed stems, bear- 

 ing whorls of small, narrow, linear leaves, and the small, greenish 

 white flowers attached to slender stalks. This plant seeds 

 abundantly in April ; with the appearance of the warm seasons 

 it dries up and disappears completely, re-appearing during the 

 sunny days in the latter part of the winter, and not liable to be 

 after that injured by frost; is held in high repute in the low 

 countries of Western Europe by the diary men, and the butter 

 produced from the milk of cows feeding on this earliest of all 

 pasture plants enjoys a particular reputation for its fine flavor as 

 Spurge butter. 



