298 
Oji Clover Allies as Fodder Plants. 
year, and will bear from two to three cuttings in the same season. 
It is highly perennial, more especially if it be not too far ad- 
vanced in growth at each cutting, and if kept well weeded. It 
is much relished by horses, on which account a small breadth of 
it is commonly grown near the homestead. 
The hop trefoil of the farmer — not of the botanist, as this 
name is by him bestowed upon the Trifolium procumbens — is 
distinguished by the slightly twisted black legumes or seed- 
pods. It is a valuable plant for mixing with clovers, saintfoin, 
ray, and the different artificial grasses ; it yields a large quantity 
of nutritious produce, highly important in the rick as it fills up 
the bulk at the bottom, adding quality and increasing the 
variety of the food — in itself a great advantage. 
It does not yield sufficient weight as a self-crop, though for 
the reason stated it adds greatly to the weight of a seed crop. 
X. — Lathyrus — Yetchling. 
Of this fine genus of plants it will only be necessary here to 
describe the following native species : — 
Lathijrus pratensis, Meadow Yetchling, flowers yellow ; leaves, 
bifoliate, with terminal tendrils. 
Lathyrus aphaca, Yellow Yetchling, flowers yellow ; leaves 
only seen in young plants. 
Lathyrus sylvestris, Wild Hedge Pea, flowers purplish green. 
Of these the first two have not made sufficient growth in 
my plots to warrant me in recommending them for self-crops. 
The L. jJTatensis might be mixed in permanent pasture, but 
should be employed sparingly, as otherwise it would overpower 
the rest of the herbage. 
The peculiarities attending the herbage of the L. aphaca are 
— that in seedling plants it commences by throwing out bifoliate 
leaves, as these are afterwards diverted into long flexile tendrils, 
the stipula> are enlarged to perform the leaf function. Hence 
this plant, without possessing any true leaves, is capable of pro- 
ducing a large quantity of green herbage. 
The tall everlasting pea naturally grows in thickets and 
hedge-rows, but in experimenting upon it in open ground, I 
found that the seeds germinated readily, and the plant grew 
rapidly ; it is however In the second year that It presents its 
thick mass of matted foliage and pea-pods, and when these 
are about half ripe the plant is fit for green food, or to be mad:- 
into hay. It is highly relished by stock, but on account of the 
length of its flexile stems it should be coarsely chopped into 
lengths when green, or cut into chaff in the dried state. 
I had a fair sized plot of this in operation for several years. 
