SECT. II.----ARTIFICIAL GRASSES.

13

any, wnere n is pre-

m the spring, yet as the season advances and other herbage more pa-latable is to be met with, it is left with its beautiful blue flowers andbroad foliage to rob the soil and adorn our fields, to the regret of thefarmer. It grows wild in great abi ndance in Batters'ea Field's, where")y late frii nd Mr. Crrtis used ludicrously .o 'ay that bad husbandryw as exhibited to perfection. This plant is there continually si en in thegreatest abundance, where the ground has not been lately disturbed,<v en under the noses of all the half-starved cattle of that neighbour-hood that are turned in during the autumn.

The root dried and ground to a ponder will improve Coffee, and isfrequently drunk therewith, especially in GermanPared in cakes and sold for that purpose.

43. HEDYSARA'M Onobrychis. Saint-Foin. —This is certainly one°f the most useful plants ot this trio , and i,i the south of England isthe life and support ol the upland farmer: in such places it is thePrincipal fodder, both green am! in hay, tor all his stock. 1 have not ob-served it to he cultivated in Worcestershire or Herefordshire, wherethere appears to be much land that would grow it, and which is underOtuch inferior crops. The seed sown is about four bushels per acre. Aniistake is often made in mentioning this plant. The newspapers, in^noting prices from Mark Lane, call it Cinqttefoil, a very different plant,(Pot* ntilla) of rather a noxious quality. See Gleanirnfs on Works ofagriculture and Gardening, p. 88, where a curious blunder occurs ofthis kind.

44. LATHYRUS pratensis. Meadow Vetchling. —Abounds muchI' 1 our natural meadow^, particularly in the best loamy soils, where>t is very productive and nutritious. It is not in cultivation, for thes eeds donot readily vegetate; a circumstance much to be regretted, butUnfortunately the ease with several of our other Tares, which wouldotherwise be a great acquisition to our graziers.

*5. I.O PUS cornicnlatus. Bird's-foot-Lotus. —There are severalVarieties of this plant ; one growing on very dry chalky soils, and*hich in such places helps to make a good turf, and is much re-lished by cattle. The other varieties grow in marshy land, and maketouch larger plants than the other. Here it is also much eaten ; and Ihave also noticed it in hay, where it appears to be a good ingredient. As11 thus appears to grow in any situation, there is no doubt, if the seeds*ere collected, that it might be cultivated with ease, and turn to goodaccount in such land as is too light for Clover. In wet and boggy situa-tions it becomes \ery hairy, and in this state its appearance is verydifferent from that which it has when growing in chalk, where it is per-fectly smooth.

This plant should not be oveiaioked by the experimental farmer.

It is very highly spoken of in Dr. Anderson's Essays on Agriculture,Onder the mistaken name of Astragalus glycophyllus, p. 4b9; but aC