188 BROAD CLOVER, LUCERN. INDIGO. 
saint-foin should not be cut before it is in full bloom, 
about the beginning of July, as otherwise the quality 
of the hay would be much injured. Some farmers 
assert that saint-foin, when cows are fed with it, both 
increases the quantity and improves the quality of their 
milk ; but, in the opinion of others, the quality is rather 
injured than improved by it. No pasture is considered 
more excellent for sheep than this. Saint-foin is 
also sometimes sown with clover, and sometimes with 
barley. 
203. COMMON RED or BROAD CLOSER 
(Trifolium pratense) is a zcell-lmown field plant, much 
cultivated in this country. 
Clover is chiefly grown in firm and good soils, either 
as green food for horses and cattle, or to be cut for hay. 
On grass farms it is sometimes sown in conjunction with 
spring corn, and sometimes with ray-grass (51) ; and its 
utility in the fattening of cattle is well known. This 
species of clover grows wild, in meadows and pastures 
of most parts of Europe ; and, in some countries, during 
a scarcity of provisions, the flowers have been made into 
a kind of bread. In Sweden the heads are used as a 
green dye. 
204. LUCERN (Medicago sativa) is a perennial plant 
with small purple butterfly-shaped flowers, twisted pods, the stem 
erect and smooth, and the leaves in threes. 
Although a wild plant in nearly every country of the 
temperate parts of Europe, this useful vegetable has 
only of late years been introduced into cultivation. 
It flourishes most luxuriantly in deep, rich, and friable 
loams, and cannot be too strongly recommended as 
food for cattle. The value of lucern may be consi- 
derably increased by sowing it with oats ; and, though 
an expensive crop, it yields great profit. 
205. INDIGO is a blue dye prepared from a plant (Indigo- 
fera tinctoria) with a shrubby stem, oblong, smooth, and winged 
leaves, bunches of flowers shorter than the leaves, and cylindrical 
pods slightly curved, which grows in America and the West 
Indies. 
