This plant is cultivated in several of the farming districts of England, as food for horses and cattle; and it succeeds best on dry and chalky lands, in high and exposed situations. The seed should be sown in February or March, and, during the first year, the plants should remain untouched. In the ensuing summer a crop of hay may be obtained from them; and after this the saint-foin may regularly be mown twice every year, for ten or fifteen years. When intended for hay, saint-foin should not be cut before it is in full bloom, about the beginning of July, as otherwise the quality of the hay would be much injured. Some farmers assert that saint-foin, when cows are fed with it, both increases the quantity and improves the quality of their milk; but, in the opinion of others, the quality is rather injured than improved by it. No pasture is considered more excellent for sheep than this. Saint-foin is also sometimes sown with clover, and sometimes with barley.
203. _COMMON RED or BROAD CLOVER_ (Trifolium pratense) _is a well-known field plant, much cultivated in this country._
Clover is chiefly grown in firm and good soils, either as green food for horses and cattle, or to be cut for hay. On grass farms it is sometimes sown in conjunction with spring corn, and sometimes with ray-grass (51); and its utility in the fattening of cattle is well known. This species of clover grows wild, in meadows and pastures of most parts of Europe; and, in some countries, during a scarcity of provisions, the flowers have been made into a kind of bread. In Sweden the heads are used as a green dye.
204. _LUCERN_ (Medicago sativa) _is a perennial plant with small purple butterfly-shaped flowers, twisted pods, the stem erect and smooth, and the leaves in threes._
Although a wild plant in nearly every country of the temperate parts of Europe, this useful vegetable has only of late years been introduced into cultivation. It flourishes most luxuriantly in deep, rich, and friable loams, and cannot be too strongly recommended as food for cattle. The value of lucern may be considerably increased by sowing it with oats; and, though an expensive crop, it yields great profit.
205. _INDIGO is a blue dye prepared from a plant_ (Indigofera tinctoria) _with a shrubby stem, oblong, smooth, and winged leaves, bunches of flowers shorter than the leaves, and cylindrical pods slightly curved, which grows in America and the West Indies._