470 
ON PLANTS IN RELATION TO ANIMALS. 
The first of these is rarely met with. It is, however, 
recorded as having been found in several counties, and we 
have met with it at Bradford Abbas, Dorset, near to a grist 
mill, so that we have no doubt of its having been intro¬ 
duced in foreign corn. 
The M. sativa is found on railway banks and on the 
borders of arable fields, doubtless the result of cultivation, as 
it was formerly much more grown as a forage plant than it 
is at present. Why it should not increase in cultivation, 
rather than diminish, is beyond our comprehension, as at 
the present moment we are cutting a second crop this season 
from a patch on our own farm, where we have found it to 
be very productive, and to be much relished by horses, 
cattle, and sheep, all of which animals eat it greedily, indeed, 
too much so, which is perhaps one cause of its want of 
favour, as it often disagrees with animals, but we have 
heard that, if cut the day before being used, and given in 
moderation, it is a highly salutary soiling plant, and we 
recommend a patch to be grown near every stable, if only 
as an alterative and occasional laxative for the horses. 
The M. lupulina is found everywhere, and is, perhaps, our 
only truly native species. It is known on the farm by the 
name of hop trefoil, but it should be distinguished from the 
hop trefoil of the botanist, which is really the Trifolium 
procumbens. We grow it largely in shifting pasture crops, 
mixed with one of the ray grasses, such as Lolium italicum , 
in light sandy fields, and L. perenne, in brashy or more 
mixed soils. It is a very prolific seeder, so that its seed is 
cheap, and, as it is a really good feeding plant, it is a general 
favourite with the farmer. 
Medicago maculata is the larger of a series of species cha¬ 
racterised by a black dot in the centre of each leaflet, and a 
spinous or pectinate seed-pod. They are all of them intro¬ 
duced plants, having probably been brought from the Medi¬ 
terranean region and a portion of Central Asia. 
We may, then, take the medicks for our present purpose 
as representing a series of agricultural plants, differing 
greatly in their details, but all more or less useful. They 
may be summarised as follows ; 
Medicago. —The medick genus, one of the Papilionacese, 
and distinguished by its more or less spirally-twisted legume. 
The more important series are the following: 
M. sativa , the purple medick or lucerne. This, though 
found apparently wild on the borders of fields, has, doubt¬ 
less, escaped from cultivation ; it is distinguished by its 
purple flowers and upright growth. Its herbage is green 
