Part 16 (1/2)
II. ANTHYLLIS-_Ladies' Fingers_.
The _Anthyllis vulneraria_ is well distinguished in its young state from its sometimes entire lancet-shaped, at others pinnate leaves, growing close to the ground. These are usually clothed with long hairs, and it has expanded downy calyces, when full grown. In its young condition it has been very much extolled for sheep pasturage, while its hay is said to be abundant and nutritious, though grown on the very poorest of soils. That it will grow more upright where sown, one plant drawing up another, we know from experience, but we have little faith in any very superior qualities being found in plants that can grow so well under extremely poor conditions of soil; still it is just possible that its herbage may improve in quant.i.ty and quality by liberal treatment; yet we must conclude that, as we already possess much better plants for growing on better soils, we do not think much can be gained by its cultivation.
As a plant for hay it will yield a good cut, but its extreme hairyness and general want of what the farmer calls ”proof” will never allow this plant to be extensively grown.
III. LOTUS-_Bird's-foot Trefoil_.
This plant is well known by its loosely-packed heads of bright yellow flowers, which are succeeded by long slender pods, dark-coloured or even black when ripe, and not inaptly likened to a crow's foot; and hence the name ”Crowsfoot” which it commonly bears. We have three species, as follow:-
1. _Lotus corniculatus_-Common Bird's-foot Trefoil-is common, especially in dry meadows, in which its herbage is duly appreciated by sheep and cattle, if one may judge from the pertinacity with which it is kept down. It is no bad adjunct to the rick. We are so convinced of its value as always to recommend its use in the laying down of light land for permanent pasture, and a little seed sown in old meadows after a dressing of rubbish-old mortar, town refuse, &c.-will tend greatly to the improvement of the herbage.
2. _Lotus tenuis_-Slender-leaved Bird's-foot Trefoil-is, perhaps, only a variety of the former; it is, however, smaller in all its parts, and, though a denizen of stiff soils, occurs chiefly in a wild state on the margins of fields and on hedge-banks. It might be employed under the same circ.u.mstances as the _L. corniculatus_, especially in thin clay-beds on upland brashes; but it hardly possesses such good qualities.
3. _Lotus major_-Larger Bird's-foot Trefoil-is much larger in all its parts than the other species. It occurs in moist situations, about bushes in wet land, in ditches, watercourses, and damp places generally.
We have experimented upon the growth of this plant in artificial meadows, and from the size which it attains quite early in summer, and the quant.i.ty of wholesome keep it is capable of affording, we are disposed to think well of it as an occasional s.h.i.+fting crop, or it might be well combined with rye-gra.s.s in deep stiff soils.
IV. MEDICAGO-_Med.i.c.k, &c._
This genus is princ.i.p.ally distinguished from _Trifolium_ by its twisted seed-pods, which in the _Medicago maculata_ (Spotted-leaved Med.i.c.k) form quite a spiral coil, ornamented with a double fringe of stiff spines.
This plant is now becoming general as an agrarian weed, having been greatly spread, owing to its intermixture with foreign seeds of different kinds.
The agricultural species are:-
_Medicago lupulina_-Yellow Sickle Med.i.c.k.-”Hop trefoil” of the farmer, but not of the botanist, who gives this name to the _Trifolium proc.u.mbens_ (which see). From this latter the med.i.c.k is easily distinguished by its heads of naked, blackened, incurved seed-vessels.
As an agricultural plant it is of great value, especially in mixtures called ”seeds.” It is a good adjunct to rye-gra.s.ses and common clovers, especially on light soils; but on good strong land which will bear a full crop of broad-leaved clover it would be mostly smothered out, and, if not, as we think it is properly held to be less nutritious than clover, its use is not recommended where first-rate clover crops can be grown.
We have seen this trefoil grown with sainfoin to great advantage, as it yields a tolerable crop for the first two years, and then declines, just as the sainfoin has got possession of the soil.
2. _Medicago sativa_-Lucerne-is a perfectly perennial plant, which, though not so much grown in England as it deserves, yet scarcely needs description; however, its purple flowers and smooth twisted seed-pods serve to distinguish it from the rest of the genus. We have grown this plant upwards of a foot high by the 1st of May, and taken no less than three cuttings of a good succulent herbage in one season. These qualities point out lucerne as an excellent green-food plant, for which purpose we should always, where practicable, recommend that at least a patch should be grown near the stable, as there is reason to believe that its alterative effects upon the horses are of a most salutary kind.
It should be cultivated in drills of from 15 to 18 inches apart; and, if properly weeded and not let get too old before cutting, it will last for many years with an occasional dressing of manure.
We once had a patch one half of which was purposely neglected by way of comparison with the other half, which was well cared for; that portion left to itself yielded but poor crops, and almost disappeared at the end of four years, whilst the other portion scarcely began to decline after ten years. This remark applies with full force to all the green-food crops of this order. Weeding early, mowing when cut, and an occasional top-dressing, would increase the durability of all the perennial species.
V. MELILOTUS-_Melilot_.
These are pea-flowered plants, with ternate leaves, and spikes of flowers drooping to one side: it is named from _mel_, honey, in allusion to its flavour, and the genus _Lotus_, by which we may understand it to be a sweet-scented lotus-like plant. We have two native species, distinguished thus:-
_Melilotus officinalis_, an annual, with yellow flowers.
_M. leucantha_, a biennial, with white flowers.
Of these we may conclude that the flavour, which is like that of the _Anthoxanthum odoratum_-sweet vernal gra.s.s-is too strong and bitter to allow of its being recommended for culture alone; but we are inclined to think that, if grown in small quant.i.ty with seeds, or if a separate patch be cut and arranged sandwich-wise in the seed-rick, the melilots would give that sweet flavour which seems to be the princ.i.p.al cause of the superior qualities and sweetness of natural meadow as compared with artificial gra.s.ses.
Seeds have been forwarded to us of what is named ”Cabool Clover,” and another packet labelled ”Bokhara Clover,” both of which appear to belong to the _M. leucantha_, though certainly of a larger form than our native species, and probably consisting of the _M. leucantha major_. This latter must be cut young if used as recommended, as it soon gets woody.
A correspondent of the Royal Agricultural Society has recently recommended the full-grown plant for paper-making; and, if of value for this purpose, we can affirm from experience that a large yield can be got from soils of a very inferior quality, as our experiments on its growth have been made on a very stiff and poor bed of forest marble clay.
VI. On.o.bRYCHIS-_Sainfoin_.
Sainfoin, or ”holy fodder” of the French, is distinguished by its brilliant spike of pink variegated flowers, which droop to one side, its winged leaves of from six to eight pairs of oval leaflets, which are entire, that is, undivided at the margin, and its short, rounded, wrinkled, and spinose seed-vessels. The forms in cultivation are-
_On.o.brychis sativa_-Common Sainfoin. _On.o.brychis sativa_, var.
_bifera_-Giant Sainfoin. Of these the former has the preference in England, whilst the latter is much grown in France. Our experiments with both lead us to conclude, that although the former flowers but once and the latter twice in the season, the _O. sativa_ still gives the greatest amount of food, as the second crop of the giant sort is usually poor and straggling, with but little leaf; while the common sort sends up a thick growth of leaves after being cut.
The _O. sativa bifera_ is but a variety of the _O. sativa_, as by long continuance of growth from the same seed in this country it reverts to the common form; and hence the giant sort should be frequently renewed from an imported stock. Sainfoin has been much cultivated on calcareous soils, more especially on the free-stones of the oolite rocks, and on the chalk, off which formations it is scarcely known, except on some calcareous sands in the eastern counties. In the limestone and chalk districts sainfoin is grown as a permanent crop, and formerly lasted six or eight years. In the eastern counties the little there grown is by way of a s.h.i.+fting crop, in the same place and manner as common clover. The permanency of sainfoin is yearly becoming greatly diminished from the circ.u.mstance that its seed is so much mixed with that of the burnet, _Poterium sanguisorba_, var. _muricata_. To such an extent does this evil occur, that we have examined samples of sainfoin seed in which there were at the rate of from twenty to forty thousand of burnet seed-pods per bushel; and when we consider that these pods have for the most part two ripened seeds, and those of a plant growing so much more rapidly than the sainfoin, we can form some notion how the desired crop is soon smothered and overpowered by the burnet, which at best is but a rank weed, of no agricultural value; for whatever of good there may be in our ordinary native salad burnet, which is a smaller and more succulent plant, this sticky foreign interloper cannot possibly have any claim to our regard.
The reason why it has gone on so long unchallenged is that the burnet-seed, though of an entirely different shape from the sainfoin, is somewhat of the same colour; and then in their growth both plants have winged leaves, and the difference between the entire leaflets of the sainfoin and the toothed leaflets of the burnet did not at first strike the farmer; now, however, the difference is better understood, and farmers begin to require that the burnet-seed shall be sifted from the sainfoin. This of course will demand the payment of a better price for the better sample, as in the process of sifting many of the smaller sainfoin seeds go through with the burnet; but this will be well worth a better price, as the larger seeds will undoubtedly tend to produce a better crop.
If, however, there should be any doubt about pure sainfoin seed, we should recommend the decorticated seed being used, as in it the burnet could not possibly escape detection.
As the history of burnet is so important in connection with the sainfoin crop, it cannot be out of place to introduce the following description of this weed:-