Science and Practice in Farm Cultivation Part 14

Occasionally there will be bald places in parks, such as some of the worn spots in Hyde Park, which it would be advisable to provide seed for, that should have an immediate effect. In this case we should mix a small quant.i.ty of the _Poa annua_ with the above, as it not only effects the object of making the whole look green very quickly, but so small a gra.s.s scarcely interferes with the growth of the more permanent species, which would meanwhile be making their position, and so ultimately drive out the annual.

It now only remains to point out that the constant mowing of lawns, although it only takes away young gra.s.s, must in time have the effect of impoverishing the lawn. In such case, the gra.s.s will not be of so bright a colour as formerly, and it will become more or less mixed with moss.

In this state of matters the gra.s.ses die, and different species of agarics live upon the decaying roots.

In this condition we find that colour and fertility are restored by a good sprinkling of soot, which usually operates very beneficially for four or five years. After this period a little guano, say one part to three parts of soot, will do better. Another method of restoring fertility is that of an occasional use of house slops, diluted with five parts of water; this showered evenly from a watering-pot, engine, or hydropult, usually has a most beneficial effect.

In concluding this subject of "How to Grow Good Gra.s.s," the author would wish to impress upon his readers the important fact, that as our country is so peculiarly adapted for the growth of pasturage, and as this interesting genus of plants furnishes the best kind of herbage, so then the gra.s.s tribe is deserving of the most careful study of the home-producer of MEAT, MILK, CHEESE, and b.u.t.tER.

NOTE.-Belcher's Plantain Extractor and Turf Inoculator will be found a most efficient implement in extracting plantains, and preparing good turves to fill up the holes. We fancy, too, that it will be found useful in laying down land for permanent pasture by a system of inoculation, but await the result of experiments before stating more positively.-_The Author._

[Ill.u.s.tration: Trifolium repens. White Clover.]

HOW TO GROW GOOD CLOVER.

CHAPTER XVII.

ON THE NATURE AND PROPERTIES OF THE CLOVER FAMILY OF PLANTS.

Clovers are admitted by all to be such important adjuncts to the fodder plants of the farm as to render a scientific and practical treatise upon them and their allies a matter not only of interest, but of general agricultural utility; for, if we except the gra.s.ses, perhaps no natural order of plants is of greater value to the farmer than that to which the clovers belong; for, though they differ in every point of their structure, yet in their farm products they offer an interesting a.n.a.logy. Thus, whilst in the Graminaceous plants we have cereal or corn-seed products, and meadow and pasture herbs, in the Leguminous plants we have a seed-producing group termed pulse, and a herb-growing green-food or fodder series. On either hand, in both groups, there are differently-cultivated forms; for, while the gra.s.s-cereals are wholly the result of arable culture, the fodder gra.s.ses are for the most part grown under conditions distinguished by the farmer as pasture. So of leguminous plants, pulse, such as peas and beans, belongs exclusively to the arable part of the farm; but the fodder kinds, as clover, either mix with the gra.s.s of the meadow, or are grown by themselves or with gra.s.ses in shifting green crops: indeed, it is by reason of clovers eking out gra.s.s, or being used as pasturage, that they have come to be designated "artificial gra.s.ses."

The tribe of plants under review forms an exceedingly natural group, which has been named _Papilionaceae_, from the fancied resemblance in the arrangement of its flowers to the form and varied colouring of b.u.t.terflies: by others it is designated _Leguminosae_ from the two-valved seed-pod, which by the botanist is termed a _legume_,-most perfect examples of which are seen in the fruits of our more ordinary pea and bean.

Though the flowers of the group are infinitely varied in size and in colour, yet they afford most permanent characters in their irregular petals, which, after all, have the same parts in the variously coloured and showy sweet-pea as in the most minute clover; so that, once examine the pea or bean, and the significance of the name of the order depending upon the flowers, will be easily understood. Again, varied as is the seed-pod, yet a little examination will show that its type is simple, there being no structural difference between the straight legume of the pea and the spirally-twisted one of the lucerne and med.i.c.ks, or the many-seeded smooth pod of the common broom and the single-seeded wrinkled pod of the sainfoin.

The seeds, again, may vary in colour; some, like those of the scarlet-runner, are curious as affording an infinite variety of self-colours for their different sorts, from pure white to absolute black; or these may be so pencilled as to make a _testa_ or seed-covering as variously mottled as are the eggs of some of our birds.

Yet, whether rounded as in the pea, flat as in the bean, lenticular as in the lentil, or kidney-shaped as in the clovers, they are all readily referred to one group by the flat, oval eye (_hilum_ of the botanist), and the fact of their ready capability of separating into two valves (_cotyledons_), so observable in our split peas and beans.

But of all the varieties in their parts presented by the pea-flowered tribe of plants,-if we except the fact that some are larger trees, as the locust tree, ebony, laburnum, &c., whilst some are among our smallest plants, as clovers and med.i.c.ks,-the princ.i.p.al differences will be found in the foliage. The gra.s.s vetchling, for example, is so named from its leaves being not unlike those of gra.s.ses, while the yellow vetchling, in its mature state, has the whole leaf converted into a tendril and the appendages at the bases of the leaves (_stipules_) are so enlarged as to be often mistaken for leaves: in another of the vetchlings, the everlasting sweet-pea, we find that, as so much of the leaf is converted into tendrils to enable this handsome plant to climb over the hedges and thickets, the stem is made four-winged with leaf-matter, to ensure the due performance of the leaf function. Now parts called stipules are present in this whole tribe, and, like all other parts of these plants, they vary in form, size, and markings, and hence afford important aid in the discrimination of species. Again, the old furze-bush will have its leaves converted into spines, though the seedling started with a trifoliate leaf. Points like these, however, though most interesting to the student of vegetable physiology, are beyond the scope of the present work.

Like every other point connected with this interesting natural order of plants, their uses and properties are greatly varied, and perhaps variable. The Sennas are renowned for their medicinal properties, being in some kinds aromatic and purgative. A powerful aroma is given off from the Melilots, similar to that of the well-known sweet vernal gra.s.s (_Anthoxanthum odoratum_), on which account it has been recommended to mix a little of their seeds with clovers, or to cultivate separate patches of either the white or the yellow Melilot to place here and there, sandwich-wise, in the clover hay-rick.

In speaking of this matter of flavour in food for cattle, we may here mention that the seed of one of this order, which is now being extensively employed for its flavouring principle, is the Fnugraec (_Trigonella fnum-graec.u.m_), which was formerly used in large quant.i.ties by horse and cattle doctors as an ingredient in drenches or drinks for horses, cows, and pigs. Latterly, however, it has been still more largely employed as a flavouring matter in the different kinds of "Cattle Feeds."[5]

[5] We have cultivated these seeds in England, and found them to ripen very well, and if the flavouring of food be correct in principle, the seeds might readily be ground with feeding stuffs, while the dried plant could be mixed with hay and straw in chaff.

Now, whether medicinal properties reside as a rule in all of the order, it would perhaps be difficult to determine; but, as we sometimes find that certain clover crops are accused of causing "scouring," there is perhaps reason to conclude this, but that its amount varies according to season, soil, and cultivation.

CHAPTER XVIII.

ON THE FARM SPECIES OF CLOVERS.

All the true clovers belong to the genus _Trifolium_, of which the following may be tabulated as agricultural species:-

(_Flowers red or purple._)

1. _Trifolium pratense_-Broad-leaved clover.

2. _Trifolium medium_-Zigzag, or true "cow-gra.s.s" clover.

3. _Trifolium incarnatum_-Carnation clover.

(_Flowers pink._)

4. _Trifolium hybridum_-Alsike clover.

5. _Trifolium fragiferum_-Strawberry-headed clover.

(_Flowers white._)

6. _Trifolium repens_-Dutch clover.

(_Flowers yellow._)

7. _Trifolium filiforme_-Suckling clover.

8. _Trifolium proc.u.mbens_-Hop clover.

1. _Trifolium pratense_-Meadow or broad-leaved Clover,-in its wild state, is too well known to need any lengthened description in order to its being understood. A careful examination of field specimens, however, will show that, even in the wild state, this plant is liable to run into numberless variations; thus, we may have the leaflets of one plant more or less ovate, whilst those of another may be broad and almost obcordate. In some we may see dense heads of purple flowers, varying in shade until almost white, whilst less dense heads of flowers and general variations in height, size, and luxuriance of the whole plant, are all circ.u.mstances in the natural history of this species in the wild state which will prepare us duly to understand the nature of the many forms of the plant which are found in cultivation. Of these we have, besides others, English, French, American, and Dutch sorts, which differ in such minor details, as a greater or lesser hairiness, or variations in the colour and size of the flowers, leaves, &c. The most important point connected with the broad-leaved clover is its permanency; some sorts scarcely maintaining a plant for two years, whilst others are said to be more or less perennial. This, however, is a matter which we conceive depends more upon the soil and the kind of cultivation than upon the sort; for, although all seedsmen supply two sorts, namely, _Trifolium pratense_ and _Trifolium pratense perenne_, yet they run so much the one into the other, that it is oftentimes exceedingly difficult to distinguish them.

In order that the reader may see the differences and agreements of the three sorts,-1, _Trifolium pratense_ (of the meadow); 2, _Trifolium pratense_ (the arable plant); and 3, _Trifolium pratense perenne_ (also of the arable),-we give their characters in parallel columns, on p.

115.

CHARACTERS OF CLOVERS.

+----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+ 1. _Trifolium 2. _Trifolium 3. _Trifolium pratense._ pratense._ pratense, perenne._ -- -- -- From a Natural From Messrs. Sulton's From Messrs. Sulton's Pasture. Trial Grounds. Trial Grounds. +----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+ _Heads of flowers_ _Heads of flowers_ _Heads of flowers_ dense, proceeding from dense, with from 70 to somewhat lax, with two leaves by a very 120 sessile florets. from 50 to 100 short stem, of from 50 florets, proceeding to 80 sessile florets from leaves by an of a more or less evident stem. lilac or pink colour. _Calyx_ of 5 fine _Calyx_, much as 1. ciliated teeth-the lower of which is the longest-about half the length of the flower. _Corolla_, Standard _Corolla_, much as 1. with a long straight tube. _Leaves_ trifoliate, _Leaves_ of 3 _Leaves_ of 3 ovate more or less hairy; leaflets, more or less leaflets, with less leaflets ovate, either ovate, with the white distinct triangular broadly lanceolate, or triangular marking 3 spot than 2, clothed notched at the apex; times the size of 1, with silky hairs. all having a more or but less hairy. less triangular white marking in their centre. _Stem_ solid, _Stem_ sometimes _Stem_ variable, channelled or angular, fistular, more or less sometimes fistular purple. channelled or ribbed, mostly quite round and mostly free from smooth sometimes; but hairs, purple upwards. not generally hairy. _Root_ descending, but _Root_ tapering with _Root_ as 2. considerably branched. lateral branches. _Whole plant_ more or _Whole plant_, smooth, _Whole plant_, less clothed with compared with 1, still remarkable for its silky hairs. more or less hairy. hairy leaves and generally smooth round stems. Height from 5 to 8 Height 16 inches. Height 18 inches. inches. +----------------------+----------------------+----------------------+

Now, although the study of the characters, as here laid down with the specimens in our hand, may render it tolerably easy to distinguish the three forms here described, yet it must be confessed that whether we examine a series of the wilder plants from different positions, or different samples of the cultivated broad-leaved clovers, we shall find great variations; the princ.i.p.al of these will be discussed in another chapter: we may here, then, for the present leave this difficult subject of how to distinguish cow-gra.s.s and broad-leaved or red clover, with the observation that the common red clover is uniformly in flower two or three weeks before the other.

2. _Trifolium medium_ (see Plate)-Zigzag Trefoil-gets its English name from the peculiar bends in its stem, which being at alternate sides, make up the zigzag outline. The stems are rounded-not channelled,-mostly of a purple colour, and clothed with short hairs. The leaves are smooth, with elliptical-not emarginate-leaflets, sometimes, but seldom, with the white lunulate spot. The calyx is smooth. The heads of flowers are solitary, on very short footstalks; they are of a bright pinkish red hue, and not of the lilac colour of the common clover.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Trifolium medium. Zigzag Trefoil.]

In its wild state the zigzag clover will be found in districts remarkable for the absence of lime, such as the sandstones. In the sandy deposits accompanying the coal in Wales, as also in Staffordshire, this is the prevailing form of clover. Hence, then, this species seemed to recommend itself for sandy lands, in which the common clover does not so well succeed; and we conceive that, as a consequence, it was brought into cultivation for this capability of "holding on" to such soils, which, if they will not grow the other kind, is considered clover sick.

We have reason to think that the _T. medium_ and _T. pratense_ are not distinct species, but that the difference in their usual habitats has determined their difference in form, and we think that the _T. pratense perenne_ of the seedsman is a form intermediate between the two: if so the position of the three may be expressed as follows:-