1881 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
seed usually starts quickly, and as soon as the 
plants are large enough, the spaces between 
the rows are to be hoed or cultivated, and the 
weeds that appear in the rows pulled by hand. 
Much of the future success depends upon 
having the rows clean and without other 
plants at the start. The first season it may 
be cut very moderately, but it will be a gain 
in the end if the chief object the first season 
be to establish the plant for future years, 
and to cut only when it shows signs of com¬ 
ing into flower. When once established, it 
may be pushed by high manuring, especially 
liquid manure, to give enormous yields. It 
gives a cutting every four or six weeks, and 
should be cut as soon as buds are formed— 
before it flowers—whether wanted for green 
feed or not; if not needed for feeding, it 
may be cured for hay in cocks, the same as 
clover. When used green, it is advisable to 
allow it to wilt before feeding it. The dura¬ 
tion of a field of Lucerne, with proper care, 
is estimated at 8 or 10 years, and on account 
of the continued cultivation and the immense 
bulk of roots that remains in the soil, it leaves 
the land in fine condition for other crops. 
Probably no other plant will furnish so 
large an amount of fodder from the same 
area of land as Lucerne when well established. 
This commends it to those with limited room 
in which to raise food for the family cow. 
The forage is also excellent for horses, which 
are veryfond of it, and other domestic animals. 
We are often asked if the European Lucerne 
and the Alfalfa of California are precisely 
the same. That the plants are identical we 
are sure, and that long cultivation, first in 
South America, and afterwards in California 
may have produced a form or variety differ¬ 
ing in some particulars from the original, is 
quite possible. Some of the dealers seem to 
think that this may be the case, by offering 
seeds grown both in California and in Europe. 
The Millas, or Spring Star-Flowers. 
We are so much accustomed to associate 
large size and showy colors with the flowers 
of the Lily Order, that one might not at first 
sight recognize the modest little subject of 
our engraving as a member of that showy 
family. The genus Milla (which perpetuates 
the name of a Spanish gardener), has an 
additional claim to our consideration in being 
American, not in the restricted sense as a 
native of the United States, but it not only 
belongs to our continent, but to the northern 
portion of it, being found in the mountains 
of Mexico. The One-flowered Spring Star- 
flower ( Milla uniflora) has long been a favor¬ 
ite of ours. It is one of those plants which 
should be better known, outside of nurser¬ 
ies, as it has many claims to popularity; 
it is a most accommodating plant, making 
itself at home in the garden, the 
greenhouse, or the window, and 
wherever it may be, producing 
a long succession of white or de¬ 
licately blue-tinted flowers, with 
a pleasing spring-like fragrance. 
But we must tell its faults as well 
as praise its good qualities. When 
the narrow leaves are broken or 
bruised, they give off an odor 
which at once betrays a relation¬ 
ship with the onion. Later we 
have tried the Two-flowered Spring 
Star-flower {Milla biflora), which 
is more rare than the other, and 
until recently it has been very dif¬ 
ficult to procure the bulbs. The 
plant grows from 12 to 18 inches 
high, with long, spreading leaves 
and milky-white flowers, two to 
two and a half inches in diameter, 
borne at the top of an erect tube 
eight inches or more long. The 
flowers on our plants have been 
produced in pairs only, but they 
are said to be more numerous, by 
English cultivators who have had 
the plant since about the year 
1840. The individual flowers re¬ 
main open from two to three days, 
and they are most deliciously 
fragrant. There was hardly a day 
for three months that there was 
not one or more flowers upon our 
plant. We have not tested it long 
enough to determine whether it 
is hardy in this latitude or not. 
We are inclined to think that, like 
its one-flowered relative, it will 
do best if taken up in autumn and 
stored in dry-leaf mould in the cel¬ 
lar. At the base of the bulb there are several 
fleshy roots well shown by the engraving. 
The Tangier Giant Fennel {Ferula Tin- 
gitana). 
In nothing is the improved taste in garden¬ 
ing more marked than by the introduction of 
plants for the character of their foliage alone, 
without regard to their flowers. Plants with 
bold and striking leaves are welcomed as 
well as those the foliage of which is remark¬ 
63 
able for grace of form or beauty of outline. 
This leads to the bringing in of the Cow* 
Parsnips {Heracleum) and the Giant Fennels 
{Ferula) plants that not very long ago 
would have been regarded as “ rubbishy.” 
Several years ago, our esteemed corres¬ 
pondent, Jean Sisley, Lyons, France, sent tct 
TANGIER GIANT fennel {Ferula Tingitana.) 
seeds of the Tangier Giant Fennel {Ferula 
Tingitana), but in an unusually dry summer, 
and in our light soil, it failed to make much 
show. It is still highly valued by M. Sis¬ 
ley, who writes with admiration of its finely 
cut leaves of a brilliant green. With him, 
when well grown, the mass of foliage is 
about three feet high ; the stout flower stalks 
are six to nine feet high, producing abundant 
umbels of yellowish white flowers. Mr. S. 
says: “It is very ornamental, especially if 
given an isolated position on the margin of a 
grass plot. It should have a deep soil well 
manured, and, when growing, be frequently 
watered with liquid manure. It comes from 
northern Africa, and is as yet but little culti¬ 
vated. I have had a plant of it in my garden 
since 1865 ; it stood all the winters, including 
the severe one of 1871, but it perished last 
winter, with Pampas Grass, and many other 
plants. The frost lasted a long time, and 
most likely penetrated to a great depth, kill¬ 
ing the roots.” The engraving shows the 
habit of the plant. It should succeed here 
quite as well as it does in the South of France. 
The Beautiful Groundsel. 
{Senecio pulcher.) 
The genus Senecio has some of its nearly 
1,000 species in almost every part of the world; 
we are familiar with some of its representa¬ 
tives in the unsightly weeds of cultivation, 
others make our fields bright with golden 
yellow in spring, while some of the tropical 
species are choice greenhouse plants. Jusfc 
now there comes to the front a hardy peren¬ 
nial species which will no doubt become a 
favorite when better known— Senecio pulcher, 
or Beautiful Groundsel. It comes from south¬ 
ern Brazil, but is quite hardy. The lower 
leaves are about 10 inches long, and with those 
of the stem very finely divided, and of a glossy 
dark green color. The stems, about three 
feet high, are terminated by clusters of flower* 
