" root there comes out in the fpring a great number of fmall moots that fpread along the furface of the ground 

 " every way around it ; from which arife a great many clufters of bright yellow flowers, exactly refembling thole 

 " of common broom in mape, fize and colour ; which are fucceeded by hard round pods, filled with fmall kidney» 

 " fhaped feeds. And as three or four of thefe pods ufually adhere to one foot-ftalk, from which they fpread open 

 " at the points, a little refembling the fingers of an open hand ; they have from this circumftance been by the vul- 

 " gar in fome places called ladies-fingers ; while others more (truck with the refemblance that thefe pods bear to 

 "" the foot of a bird, have diftinguifhed it by the name of crow-toes ; and others from the appearance of the blof- 

 * 4 fom and the part where the plant is found, have called it Jeal, or by corruption fell broom. It is found plenti- 

 " fully almoft every where in old grafs-fields ; but as every fpecies of domeftic animal eats it, almoft in preference 

 "to every other plant, it is feldom allowed to come to flower in pafture grounds, unlefs where they have 

 '■' been accidentally faved from the cattle for fome t^me ; fo that it is only about the borders of corn-fields, or the 

 *' fides of inelofures to which cattle have not accefs, that we have an opportunity of obferving it. As it has been 

 " imagined that the cows which feed on thefe paftures where this abounds, yield a great quantity of rich milk, 

 * c the plant has from that circumftance obtained its moft proper Englifh name of milk-vetch."' 



" But the circumftance that firft recommended it to my notice, was the having obferved that- it grows and flou- 

 " riihes in poor barren ground where almoft no other plant can be made to live. I have feen it in the midft 

 s ' of a barren moor, where the foil was fo poor that even heath, or ling (erica communis) could hardly grow, and 

 " upon bare obdurate clays where no other plant could be made to vegetate ; infomuch that the furface remained 

 *' entirely uncovered, unlefs where a plant of this kind chanced to be eftablifhed ; yet even in thefe unfavourable 

 *'■ circumftances, it nourifhed with an uncommon degree of luxuriance, and yielded as tender and fucculent, though 

 *'■ not fuch abundant moots, which alfumed as fine a verdure as if they had been reared in the richeft manured fields, 

 & I have likewife feen it in dry and barren fands, where almoft no other plant could be made to live; and there alfo 

 « i.t fends out fuch a number of healthy moots all round, as covers the earth, with the clofeft arid moft beautiful 

 " carpet that can be defired." 



W The ftalks of this plant, as has been faid, are weak and {lender, fo that they fpread upon the furface of the 

 " ground, unlefe they are fupported by fome other vegetable. In ordinary foils, they do not grow to a great length, 

 ",nor produce a great many flowers, — branch out a good deal, but carry few or no flowers or feeds : and as I firft 

 " took notice of it only on poor foils, it was purely with a view to pafture that I firft refolved to cultivate it ; and 

 " with this intention fowedit with my ordinary hay- feeds, expecting no material benefit from it till I defifted from. 

 '* cutting my field ; but found myfelf agreeably disappointed, as it grew the firft feafon as tall as my great clover, 

 " and formed the fineft hay I ever faw ; it being fcarce diftinguifhable from Lucerne, but by the flendemefs of the 

 "• ftalk and proportional fmallnefs of the leaf." 



" It is nearly allied to Lucerne in its botanical characters; and refembles that valuable plant in many other ref- 

 " peels. Like it, it is perennial, — fends down a long root to a great depth in the foil, which is at firft fmall and gra- 

 64 dually increafes with age, till it at length becomes, of a very confiderable fize; fo that it is feveral years after it 

 " is firft lowed before it attains its full perfection : but when it is once eftablifhed, it probably remains there for a 

 "- prodigious number of years in full vigour, and produces annually a great quantity of fodder. In autumn J "73* 

 " I cut the ftalk from an old plant of it that grew in a very indifferent foil ; and after having dried it thoroughly, 

 " found that it weighed fourteen ounces and a half. Like. Lucerne, it is never affeded with the fevereft droughts 

 " that we experience : but it does not referable it in delicatenefs of conftitution, as it thrives in the ftiffeft clays, 

 " and is able to ftand its ground among grafs or any other weeds." 



" As this plant only produces feeds in abundance upon poor hungry foils that could hardly afford nourishment to 

 ci any other, and as the ftalks fpread out clofe upon the furface nf the ground, It feems to me, that the greateft bar 

 " to the cultivating thereof, will be the difficulty of obtaining the feeds in abundance ; as in thefe circumftances they 

 c< muft always be gathered by* the hand : but as it is an abiding plant, thofe who have fuch foils as moft ftand in 

 " need of having plants of this fort fowedupon them, may be at a little trouble and expence to get them once properly 

 «* laid down with this grafs, as it will be only once that they will need to do it. But it is poffible, that future ex- 

 < c perience may difcover fome eafier way of procuring the feeds than hath as yet occurred to me. 



li The ftalks of this plant die down entirely in winter, and do not come up in the fpring till the fame time that 

 " clover begins to advance ; fo that it can never be of ufe hut as a fummer pafture : — Neither does it advance very 

 " faft after it is cut down, or eat over even in fummer. — But the great clofenefs of the fhoots may probably counter- 

 " balance that defect." 



Whether this plant be deferving of the encomiums here beftowed on it, the practical farmer muft determine. 

 There appears no reafon why feed might not be obtained from it, as well as from any of the other papilionaceous 

 plants ; and it mould feem, that thofe forts of land which are not rich enough to bear Clover and other ftrong 

 growing plants, might be much improved by the introduction of the birds-foot Trefoil, 



In wet and boggy fituations this plant grows much taller and becomes very hairy. 



The infect called by 'LiyxMVs'thrips glauc : a, fometirnes renders the flowers tumid and monitrous. Light/. Fl. Scot, 



