Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 1.djvu/404

Rh 878 AGRICULTURE [FOKAOB CROPS. spring, and still more so after tlie first and second cuttings. ThrecT cuttings for hay, and one of these ripening the seed, have been yielded by it in one year, and a good eddish after all. The yield from it in the first year after sowing is large in comparison with the common sainfoin, from its attaining maturity much sooner ; but for the same reason it is thought judicious to break it up after three years, while still in vigour. Section 10. Lucerne. Lucerne is much cultivated as a forage crop in France and other parts of the continent of Europe, but has never come into general use in Britain. It is, however, frequently met with in small patches in districts where the soil is very light, with a dry subsoil. Its thick tap-roots penetrate very deeply into the soil ; and if a good cover is once obtained, the plants will continue to yield abundant cuttings of herbage for eight or ten years, provided they are statedly top-dressed and kept free from perennial weeds. lu cultivating lucerne, the ground must first be thoroughly cleaned, and put into good heart by consuming a turnip crop upon it with sheep. In March or April, the surface- soil having first been brought to a fine tilth, the seed, at the rate of 10 Ib per acre, is sown in rows 15 to 18 inches apart. As soon as the plants appear they must be freed from weeds by careful hoeing and hand-weeding, repeated as occasion requires. Little produce is obtained from them the first season, and not a very heavy cutting the second; but by the third year two or more abundant crops of herbage will be produced, peculiarly suitable for horse- feed. It is the slow growth of the plants at first, and the difficulty of keeping them free from weeds on those dry soils which alone are adapted for growing lucerne, that have deterred farmers from growing it more extensively than has hitherto been done. We have grown it success fully in Berwickshire on a muiry soil resting on sandstone rock, in an exposed situation, at an elevation of 400 feet. The time to cut it is, as with clover and sainfoin, when it i; Jii full flower. Section 1 1. Chicory, &amp;lt;L~c. Chicory, burnet, cow-parsnip, and prickly comfrey, all known to be palatable to cattle and yielding a large bulk of produce, have probably been less carefully experimented with than their merits deserve. Although they have long figured in such notices as the present, or in occasional paragraphs in agricultural periodicals, they have never yet, that we are aware of, been subjected to such a trial as either conclusively to establish their claim to more extended culture, or to justify the neglect which they have hitherto experienced. Section 12. Gorse or ]V7tin. Notwithstanding its formidable spines, the young shoots of this hardy evergreen yield a palatable and nutritious winter forage for horses and cattle. To fit it for this purpose it must be chopped and bruised to destroy the spines. This is sometimes done in a primitive and laborious way by laying the gorse upon a block of wood and beating it with a mallet, flat at one end and armed with crossed knife-edges at the other, by the alternate use of which it is bruised and chopped. There are now a variety of machines by which this .is done rapidly and efficiently, and which are in use where this kind of forage is used to any extent. The agricultural value of this plant has often been over-rated by theoretical writers. In the case of very poor, dry soils, it does, however, yield much valuable food at a season when green forage is not otherwise to be had. It is on this account of importance to dairymen ; and to them it has this further recommendation, that cows fed upon it give much rich milk, which is free from any unpleasant flavour. To turn it to good account, it must be sown in drills, kept clean by hoeing, and treated as a regular green crop. If sown in March, on land fitly pre pared and afterwards duly cared for, it is ready for use in the autumn of the following year. A succession of cuttings of proper age is obtained for several years from the same field. It is cut by a short stout scythe, and must be brought from the field daily ; for when put in a heap after being chopped and bruised it heats rapidly. It is given to horses and cows in combination with chopped hay or straw. An acre will produce about 2000 faggots of green two-year-old gorse, weighing 20 Bb each. This plant is invaluable in mountain sheep-walks. The rounded form of the furze bushes that are met with in such situations shows how diligently the annual growth, as far as it is accessible, is nibbled by the sheep. The food and shelter afforded to them in snow-storms by clusters of such bushes is of such importance that the wonder is our sheep farmers do not bestow more pains to have it in adequate quantity. Young plants of whin are so kept down by the sheep that they can seldom attain to a profitable size unless protected by a fence for a few years. Section 13. Tussac Grass. The tussac grass of the Falkland Islands has of late years attracted considerable attention as a forage plant. From its gigantic growth, even in those ungenial regions, and the extraordinary relish manifested for it by horses and cattle, sanguine hopes were entertained that it was to prove a truly valuable addition to our present list of forage plants ; but the attempts hitherto made to introduce it in Britain have not been of a very encouraging kind. The only successful cases have been in the Orkneys and in Lewis. Messrs Lawson of Edinburgh, who have given much attention to it, say &quot; Our own experience leads to the conclusion, that localities within influence of the sea spray, the soil being of a peaty nature, are without doubt the best adapted for the growth of the tussac; and in such places it is likely to be of great service, as few other nutritive grasses will exist there. In our own experi mental grounds it does not thrive well; which may perhaps be accounted for by the nature of the soil, which is light and dry. Regarding its value as a forage plant, we have before us an analysis made, at our request, by Professor Johnston, the results of which show that the tussac grass ought to be very nutritive. Propagation, in the absence of seed, is easily effected, under favourable circumstances, by subdivision of the roots.&quot; We have thus noticed all the more important of our forage crops of ascertained value. Additions will probably be made to them from time to time, especially from the increased attention now bestowed on green crops of all kinds. It has lately been suggested that maize and also lupins, although unfit for our climate as grain crops, might with advantage be tried as forage plants. Both are successfully grown for this purpose in Germany. Being unable to withstand frost, they should be sown not earlier than May. The maize requires a deep rich soil; the lupins again are said to do best on light siliceous soils. Both should be sown in rows 15 to 18 inches apart, and seeded at the rate of 2 bushels per acre. A trial which we made with lupins (both the blue and the yellow sorts) in 1858, on a light moorland, proved a total failure. Section 14. Haymaking. Having spoken of the cultivation and use in a green state of herbage and forage crops, it remains to describe the process by which they are preserved for use in a dry state, or made into hay. On every farm a supply of good