1 t v,„ comes out io the Iprinsr a great number qf fmall (boots that fpread along the fiuface of the ground 
• &fehfrife a great many ciphers of bright yellotv 
‘ of common broom in lhape, fee and colonr ; winch are fucceeded by hard found pods 
: Sr pS, Sf an open hand , they have from this circnmftance been by the vul- 
‘ gar in fome places called ladies-fingers ; while others more (truck with the reiemblance that thefe pod» bear to 
‘ the foot of a bird, have diflingnilhed it by the name of crow-toes ; and others from the appearance of the b!o( 
■ fom and the part where the plant is found, have called it fed, or by corruption fell broom. It is found plenti- 
1 fully almolt 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 dower m paliure grounds, unlefs where they have 
‘ been accidentally lived from the cattle for fome time ; fo that it is only about the borders of corn-fields or the 
< fides of in clotures to which cattle haye 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, 
‘ 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- 
“ rifhes in poor barren ground where almoft no other plant can be made to live. 1 have feeq it in the midlt 
«* 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 fur face remained 
“ entirely uncovered, unlefs where a plant of this kind chanced to be eftablifhed; yet even in thefe unfavourable 
“ circumftances, it flouriftied with an uncommon degree of luxuriance, and yielded as tender and lucculent, though 
“ not fuch abundant fhoots, which affumed as fine a verdure as if they had been reared in the richelt maiiuredhelds. 
“ I have likewife feen it in dry and barren fands, where almoft no other plant could be made to live; and there alio 
“ it fends out fuch a number of healthy fhoots allround, as covers the earth with the clofeft and moft beautiful 
“ carpet that can be defired.” 
“ 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 1 hrlt 
“ 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, expefting no material benefit from it till I deli: ed 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 diftinguiftiable from Lucerne, but by the flendernels of the 
“ ftalk and proportional fmallnefs of the leaf.” 
“ It is nearly allied to Lucerne in its botanical chara&ers ; and refembles that valuable plant in many other ref- 
“ pe£fs. Like it, it is perennial, — fends down a long root to a great depth in the foil, which is_at firft fmall and gi a- 
“ 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 perfedion : but when it is once eftablifhed, it probably remains there for a 
te prodigious number of years in full vigour, and produces annually a great quantity of fodder. In autumn i .3, 
“ 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 affected with the fevereft droughts 
“ that wc experience : but it does not referable it in delicateuefs of conftitution,- as it Thrives in the ftiffelt clays, 
** and is able to ftand its ground amoug giafs-eu^any .other weeds,” 
« As this plant only produces feeds in abundance upon poor hungry foils that could hardly afford nourifhment to 
“ any other, and as the flalks fpread out clofe upon the furface of the ground, it feems to me, that the greateft bar 
il to the cultivating thereof, will be the difficulty of obtaining the feeds in abundance ; as in thefe circumftances they 
tc mu ft ahvays be gathered by the hand : but as it is an abiding plant, thofe who have fuch foils as moft ftand in 
<« n eed of having plants of this fort fowed upon them, may be at a little trouble and expence to get them once properly 
tt i a id down with this grafs, as it will be only once that they will need to do it. But it is poffible, that future ex- 
“ perience may difeover fome eafier way of procuring the feeds than hath as yet occurred to me. » 
“ 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 but as a fummer pafture: — Neither does it advance very 
“ faft after it is cut down, or eat over even in fummer. — But the great clolenefs of the fhoots may probably counter- 
“ balance that defeft.” 
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 fhould 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 introdu&ion of the birds-foot Trefoil. 
In wet and boggy fituations this plant grows much taller and becomes very hairy. 
The infeft called by Linnaeus I’brips glauca, fometimes renders the flowers tumid and monftrous. high f FI. Scot , 
