_Of_ LUSERNE.
_La Luserne_ is that famous _Herba Medica_ so much extoll’d by the
Antients.
The high Esteem they had of its Use appears by the extraordinary Pains
they bestow’d on its Culture.
Its Leaves resemble those of Trefoil: It bears a blue Blossom very
like to double Violets, leaving a Pod like a Screw, which contains the
Seeds about the Bigness of broad Clover, tho’ longer, and more of the
Kidney-shape.
The Stalks grow more perpendicular than any of the other artificial
Grasses that I know, slender, full of Knots and Leaves: ’Tis of very
near an equal Bigness from Bottom to Top: When cut, if vigorous, the
Stalks will spring out again from the Stubs, immediately below where
the Scythe parted them; which makes them the sooner ready for another
Mowing; an Advantage which no other Grass has.
It has a Tap-root that penetrates deeper into the Bowels of the Earth,
than any other Vegetable she produces.
Tho’ one Luserne-root be much more taper than another towards the upper
Part of it, ’tis sometimes seen, that a single ho’d Plant of it has
many of these perpendicular Roots, some of them springing out from the
very Branches of its Crown.
Its Roots are abundantly longer than the Roots of St. Foin: I have One
that measures very near Two Inches Diameter: Those which are higher
than the Ground have a Bark like a Tree. Upon this account, and by its
Stalks springing again just below the Place where cut off, and by the
woody Hardness of its Stalks, when they stand too long without cutting,
it seems that Luserne is of a Nature nearly approaching to that of a
Shrub.
Luserne is the only Hay in the World that can pretend to excel or equal
St. Foin. I have known Instances of the pinguefying Virtue of this
_Medica Hay_, that come up to the highest Encomiums given it by the
_Romans_; which being to the Vulgar incredible, I forbear to relate,
but leave to be confirm’d by the Experience of others, when it becomes
frequent in _England_.
Luserne in Grass is much sweeter than St. Foin, or any other artificial
or natural Grass. This, when ho’d, may be given to Cattle cut green,
for Six Months; but then Care must be taken to[197] prevent their
Swelling by its Lusciousness, and not to give them too much at once,
until they be accustom’d to it.
[197] The Swelling of Cattle by eating too much green Luserne,
Clover, or Turnep-leaves, happens only to such as chew the Cud,
because they swallow more in less Time than other Cattle do; and a
large Quantity of such luscious Greens being swallow’d by a Beast,
fermenting to a great Degree, heats and rarifies the internal Air,
which by its Spring becoming too strong for that Column of the
Atmosphere that enters at the Trachea, it presses the Lungs against
the Thorax so closely, that the Weight of the external Column is not
of Force to open their Vesicles, and then the Circulation of the
Blood is stopt, and the Beast is strangled.
Most Farmers know how to prevent the Swelling, so that now-a-days it
seldom happens; but when it does, there is an effectual way of curing
it, if taken in Time: They cut a Hole into the Maw near the Back in
a proper manner, whereat the rarified Air rushes out, and the Lungs
again perform their Action of Respiration.
The Quantities of Luserne Seed annually imported, and sown without
Success, not discouraging People from continuing its Importation, shews
there is more need of a successful Way of Planting, than recommending
it in _England_.
I shall take Notice of some of the Reasons why I conclude there is no
Hope of making any Improvement by planting it in _England_, in any
manner practis’d by the Antients or Moderns.
I wonder how any one should attempt to plant it here, who has seen in
_Columella_, and other Authors, the Description of the manner the old
_Romans_ planted it in. They chose out the very best Land, that was
both _pinguis_ and _putris_; they dung’d and till’d it to the greatest
Perfection, and laid it out in Beds, as we do for Onions or Asparagus;
they sow’d it very thick, for that miserable Reason of enabling it by
its Thickness the better to kill the Grass. The Beds being harrow’d
very fine before Sowing, which was in the End of _April_; the Seed
required to be speedily cover’d, lest the Sun’s Heat should spoil it.
But with what Instrument must it be cover’d? For, after Sowing, the
Place must not be touch’d with Iron. _At medica obruitur non aratro,
sed ligneis rastellis._ ‘_Medica_-feed is cover’d, not with the Plough,
but with little (or rather light) wooden Harrows.’ Two Days Work (of a
Team) were spent on this Harrowing of one Acre. Some time after it came
up, they scratch’d it again and again with the same wooden Instruments:
This was call’d Sarrition: Then by Runcation they weeded it over and
over, _Ne alterius generis herba invalidam medicam perimat._ ‘Lest
other Grass should kill it whilst it was weak.’ The First Crop they let
stand till some of the Seed shatter’d, to fill the Ground yet fuller of
Plants: After that they might cut it as young as they pleas’d; but must
be sure to water it often after cutting. Then after a few Days, when it
began to spring, they repeated their Runcation: and so continuing to
weed out all manner of Grass for the First Two or Three Years, it used
to bring Four or Six Crops a Year, and last Ten Years.
_English_ Gardeners make Forty Pounds of an Acre of Asparagus, or
Cabbage-plants, with half the Labour and Expence that was bestow’d on
an Acre of _Roman Medica_.
We know not the Price Hay and Grass were at in _Italy_, while the
_Roman Empire_ was in its Glory, and _Rome_, then the Metropolis of the
World, drew the Riches of all Parts thither; its Price must be then
very high.
And the _Romans_ had not only Servants, but plenty of Slaves, for whom
they had scarce sufficient Employment: This might lessen the Expence
of this tedious Method of Planting, and ordering the _Medica_. But
when the _Romans_ were brought down to the Level of other Nations,
and in Danger of being Slaves, instead of having them; and the Lands
of _Italy_ came to be cultivated by _Italian_ Hands only; they found
something else more necessary to employ them in, than the Sarritions,
Runcations, and Rigations of the _Medica_. Their Labour being bestow’d
in getting Bread for themselves, they substituted other artificial
Grasses of more easy Culture, in the room of Medica, for the Food
of their Cattle. They were so bigotted to all the Superstitions of
their Ancestors, that they were content to lose the Use of that most
beneficial Plant, rather than attempt to cultivate it by a new, tho’
more rational Method, when they were become unable any longer to
continue it by the old.
Thus, as I take it, Superstition has chased _Medica_ from the _Roman_
Territories, and so little of it is planted there, that beyond the
_Alps_ I could not find one whole Acre of it.
Luserne makes a great Improvement in the South of _France_: There,
when their low sandy Land is well prepar’d, and very clean, they sow
it alone, in _March_, and at _Michaelmas_, as we do Clover: Their
sowing it at those Seasons is of a double Advantage: First, it saves
the Labour of watering it, which would be impracticable for so many
thousand Acres, as there are planted. Secondly, Those Seasons being
much moister than that wherein the _Romans_ sow’d it, the Grub has
Opportunity of eating more of it at its first coming up; and often
the Frost kills some of it. By these Advantages the Ground is less
over-stock’d.
The Summers there are much drier than in _Italy_, so that the Sun
scorches up the natural Grass, and suffers it not to come to a Turf
till after some Years; and therefore has less need of Weeding.
But as that natural Grass increases, the Crops of Luserne are
proportionably diminish’d: And tho’ Luserne is said to last Ten or
Twelve Years; yet it is in Perfection only for a very few Years.
Whilst it is at best on their richest Land, and in a kind Summer,
they have at Seven Crops Ten Tuns to an Acre, as I have computed them
from the Relation of some of the Inhabitants of _Pezenas_. This was
extraordinary: for I observ’d, that most of their common Crops made a
very thin Swarth.
When the Ground begins to be turffy and hard, many of the
Luserne-plants die, and the rest send up very few Stalks: The People
know this is the Destruction of it, and therefore I have seen some of
them, in that Case, half-plow it, thinking thereby to destroy the Turf:
This does for a time much strengthen the Luserne-plants; but it so
much strengthens the Grass also, that the Turf grows the stronger; and
then there is no Remedy but to plow it up, make the Ground clean, and
replant it.
In more Northern Climates, where it rains oftener, the Ground sooner
becomes hard; and in the Land otherwise most proper for Luserne,
the Grass grows infinitely faster, and will be as strong a Turf in
Two Years, as in the hot Countries in Ten. Upon this Account, about
_Paris_, even near the Walls, they plow up Luserne, and sow St. Foin in
its room, because that endures Grass and hard Ground better, tho’ it
brings but One Crop a Year, or Two at most.
And in many Places in _Franche Comtè_ and _Switzerland_, I have seen
Luserne in the Corners of Vineyards, not above Two or Three Perches
together, which they will at any Expence have to cure their Horses when
sick; since they cannot obtain, by their Culture, Quantities sufficient
to maintain them as their ordinary Food, there being too much Rain, and
too little of the Sun’s violent Heat, to prevent the speedy Increase
of Grass amongst it.
How then can we expect Success in sowing it in _England_, where Rains
are yet more frequent, and the Sun is weaker? ’Tis not One Year in Ten,
that the natural Grass is here scorch’d up. In our rich Land the Grass
comes to a Turf very soon, and poor Land will not by the common Sowing
bring Luserne to any Perfection, tho’ no Grass should annoy it.
I have here seen Part of a Meadow Breast-plow’d, and, when the Turf
was dead, dug up and planted as a Garden: After it had been drill’d
with Carrots, ho’d, and made, in all Appearance, perfectly clean, it
was sown with Luserne, which came up and flourish’d very well the
First Year, and indifferently the Second; but, after that, the Grass
came, and the Luserne grew faint; and in Three or Four Years time
there was no more left, but just to shew by here-and-there a single
poor Stalk, that there had been Luserne sown, except one Plant of it,
which was cleansed of Grass the Third Year; and this recover’d, and
sent up Abundance of Stalks for Two Years after it; and then the Grass
returning, that Plant dwindled again.
I have often try’d it in the richest Part of my Garden, and constantly
find, that, however vigorously it grows at the first, yet it soon
declines, when the Grass appears amongst it, which is always the
sooner, by how much the Soil (in _England_) is richer, unless the Spade
or Hoe prevent it.
Here have been also many Fields of a poorer whiteish Soil sown with it,
which are not very subject to be over-run with Grass, as the rich Land
is; and tho’ these were so well till’d as scarce any Grass appear’d,
during the many Years the Luserne liv’d therein, yet it never grew to
any Perfection here neither; nor was there any one Crop worth much more
than the Cutting, it was always so poor, thin, and short. And, by what
Intelligence I can get, all Experience proves, that every Soil in this
Island is too rich, too poor, or too cold, for the Luserne Improvement
by the common Husbandry.
I believe every one will be confirmed in this, who shall upon full
Inquiry find, that, amongst the great Quantities which have been sown
in this Kingdom in that manner, never any of it was known to continue
good and flourishing Three Years; and that, on the contrary, never any
one Plant of it in any warm Soil, cultivated by the Hoeing manner, was
known to fail here, or in any other Country, as long as the Hoeing (or
Digging about it, which is equivalent) was continued to it with proper
Repetitions.
A Multitude of such hoed Plants have I known, and are now to be
seen in both poor and rich Lands: Therefore it seems possible, that
Thousands of _English_ Acres may be capable, by the Hoeing Culture,
to produce Crops of Luserne every Year for an Age. For as the greater
Moisture, and less intense Heat of this Climate, are, upon the Accounts
mentioned, injurious to Luserne, yet this is only to such as is sown
and cultivated in the common Manner, because our Climate, upon the very
same Accounts, is very advantageous to hoed Luserne.
In hot Countries, when the Summer is drier than ordinary, the Sun
so scorches it, that they have fewer and much poorer Crops, than in
moister Summers; _viz._ only Four or Five, instead of Six or Seven;
but, in the driest Summer I ever knew in _England_, hoed Luserne
yielded the most Crops.
Our Summer Days are longer, have more of the Sun’s Warmth, and less of
his fiery Heat; he cherishes, but never burns Luserne, or any other
hoed long Tap-rooted Plant in _England_.
The well hoed Earth, being open, receives and retains the Dews; the
benign solar Influence is sufficient to put them in Motion, but not
to exhale them from thence. The Hoe prevents the Turf, which would
otherwise by its Blades or Roots intercept, and return back the Dews
into the Atmosphere, with the Assistance of a moderate Heat. So that
this Husbandry secures Luserne from the Injury of a wet Summer, and
also causes the Rain-water to sink down more speedily, and disperse
its Riches all the Way of its Passage; otherwise the Water would be
more apt to stand on the Surface, chill the Earth, and keep off the Sun
and Air from drying it: For, when the Surface is dry and open, Luserne
will bear a very great Degree of Heat, or grow with a mean one. I have
seen this hoed Luserne, in a sheltry Place of my Garden, so much grown
in a mild Winter, as to be measured Fourteen Inches and an half high
at _Christmas_; and a very large single Plant of it, which had not
been hoed for Two Years before, was laid bare by digging out the Earth
all around it a Foot deep, to observe the Manner of its Tap-root; and
then the Earth was thrown in again, and the Hole filled up. This was
on the Twenty-seventh of _September_. Upon this mellowing of the Soil
about it, it sent out more Stalks in _October_, than it had done in
the whole Summer before; they grew very vigorously, until a great Snow
fell in _December_, which also preserved the Verdure of them, till that
was melted away, and a black Frost came after it, and killed those
Stalks. It is probable this Plant sent out immediately new fibrous
horizontal Roots, which did grow apace to extract the Nourishment from
this new-made Pasture, in proportion to the quick Growth of the Stalks,
which in Summer have been measured, and found to grow in Height Three
Inches and an half in a Night and a Day; this being almost One Inch in
Six Hours.
And it has been my Observation, that this Plant, in hot and cold
Countries, thrives both with a much greater, or less Degree of Heat and
Moisture, when it is hoed; for if it has Plenty of Nourishment, which
Hoeing always gives it, a very little Heat above, and the Moisture
alone (which is never wanting to the deep Tap-root) suffice, and that
Plenty of Food enables it the better to endure the Extremes of either
Heat or Cold.
We need not much apprehend the Danger of _English_ Winters; for Luserne
will endure those which are more rigorous. In the Principality of
_Neufchâtel_ the Winters are so severe, as to kill all the Rosemary
left abroad; yet Luserne survives them there: This proves it more hardy
than Rosemary, which is planted for Hedges in _England_; and here is
scarce twice in an Age a Frost able to kill it.
I have one single Luserne-plant in a poor Arable Field, that has stood
the Test of Two-and-twenty Winters, besides the Feeding of Sheep at all
Seasons, and yet remains as strong as ever. What Quantity of Hay this
Plant yearly produces, cannot be known, because at those times that
Cattle are kept from it, the Hares constantly crop it, being sweeter
than any other Grass.
But this happens to be fortunately situate, where ’tis not altogether
destitute of the Benefit of Hoeing. ’Tis in an Angle, where, every
time the Field is till’d, the Plough goes over it in turning from the
Furrows of one Land and one Head-land; but it is after the Plough
is lifted out of the Ground, and turned up on one side, so that the
Share only breaks the Turf very small all around it, without plowing
up the Plant: Yet it has escaped it so narrowly, that the Fin of the
Plough-share has split it into Four Parts; Three of which remain, and
grow never the worse, but the Fourth is torn off, and the Wound healed
up.
By the extreme hard Winter that happened about the Year 1708, or
1709, some of the Luserne in _Languedoc_ was killed: Yet this was no
Argument of its Tenderness, but rather the contrary; because then all
the Olive-trees and Walnut-trees were there killed, tho’ the greatest
Part of the Luserne escaped unhurt: And I did not hear one Walnut-tree
was killed that Winter in _England_. Perhaps those in _France_, having
being accustomed to much hotter Summers, were unable to endure the
Rigour of the same Winter, that could do no Harm to the same Species in
_England_, where our Winters do not seem to exceed some of theirs in
Cold, so much as their Summers do ours in Heat. And since the Extremes
are not so far asunder here, the same Degree of Cold may to our Plants
seem tepid, which to those in _Languedoc_ must seem rigorous, differing
a more remote Degree from the opposite Extremity of Heat in Summer.
And, besides the Difference of Heat and Cold in different Climates,
there is another more necessary to be observed; and that is, the
Difference of the Hardiness in different Individuals of the same
Species: The same Frost that kills a faint languishing Plant of
Luserne, will be despised by a robust one, which, being well fed by
the Hoe, becomes a Giant cloath’d and fenced with a thick Bark, that
renders it impregnable against all Weather; its Rind is to it a Coat of
Mail or Buff, impenetrable by Frost: But the unhoed is generally small
and weak; its thin tender Bark exposes it almost naked to the Frost; it
being, for want of a sufficient Pasture, starv’d and half-dead already,
’tis the more easily killed by the Cold.
I formerly lived some Years in _Languedoc_, where are many Hundred
Acres of Luserne; and I never could find a very large Plant amongst
it, unless in such Pieces as had been plowed up, tilled, and sown with
Corn: Here indeed those Plants that remained (as always some would do)
grew to an extraordinary Bulk; and One of those single tilled Plants
did seem to produce a greater Quantity of Stalks, than Twenty of such
as had not been plowed up; and as there were no large Plants amongst
the unplowed, so there were no small amongst the plowed ones. The same
thing has been observed in all other Places where Luserne has been
plowed[198].
[198] This Plowing is a Hoeing to the Luserne.
And in _Wiltshire_ several Grounds of it stood some Years without ever
coming to a Substance to be of any Value, tho’ the Land was whitish,
and scarce any Grass appeared amongst the Luserne; and therefore its
Poorness was thought to proceed from the Soil’s being improper; but
when it had been broken up, and sown several Years with Corn, and
afterwards lain down with St. Foin, all the Luserne-plants which
remained (and they were many) grew large and strong, shooting up a
Yard in Height soon after the St. Foin was cut; and if there had been
a competent Number of them undestroyed by the Plough, they would have
yielded Crops of an extraordinary Value, where before Plowing it grew
but few Inches above the Ground.
It seems that in this sort of Land the Earth grows stale, ere the
Luserne arrives at a Tenth Part of its Stature: But this is most
remarkable, that Tillage transforms those Luserne-plants from Dwarfs
to Giants; and then they are able to contend with, if not conquer, so
strong Plants as St. Foin is, tho’ before Plowing they were unable to
resist the Depredations of a few hairy Spires of Grass.
Since Tillage can thus recover Luserne, after it has long languished in
the lowest Ebb of Life, and restore it to Health, Youth, and Vigour,
and augment its Stature even after it has passed the Age of its full
Growth; to what Bulk would it arrive, regularly planted, and hoed from
its Infancy to Maturity without any Check to stint it!
We can never know how poor a Soil will bear this Plant, unless it be
tried by the Hoeing Culture.
For ’tis wondrous how so great a Man as Dr. _Woodward_ should
imagine, that Difference of Soil should be the Reason why Apples in
_Herefordshire_, and Cherries in _Kent_, succeed better than in other
Places, when in truth they are seen to prosper as well almost all over
_England_, where planted, cultivated, and preserved.
I believe Plants are more altered as to their Growth, by being
cultivated or not, than by Change of Climates differing in very many
Degrees of Latitude. I say, in their Growth, not always in their Fruit;
for tho’ a Peach-tree, well cultivated in a Standard, will grow here
vigorously, and be very beautiful; yet its Fruit will be of little
Value, unless it be planted against a good Wall: So Luserne, unless
cultivated upon a well exposed Gravel, will yield little Seed in
_England_.
The Soil to plant it on is either an hot Gravel, a very rich dry Sand,
or some other rich warm Land, that has not an under _Stratum_ of Clay,
nor is too near the Springs of Water; for, if the Earth below be of a
cold Nature, which I take to be occasioned by its holding of Water,
the Luserne will not long prosper therein, of whatever Sort the upper
_Stratum_ of Earth may be: This may be guessed at by the Vegetables a
Soil naturally produces, as Fern, and the like; which, Mr. _Evelyn_
observes, do indicate a Soil subject to Extremities of Heat and Cold;
and condemns such a Soil as accursed. I agree to that Sentence, as
far as relates to Cold; but am not satisfied of its abounding with
Heat; and I am sure I know some Land very subject to Fern, which is
very far from being barren, when well cultivated, and well suited with
Vegetables; but, from among these, Luserne must be excluded.
Luserne in hot Countries grows best near Rivers, where its Roots reach
the Water, which helps to mitigate the excessive Heat of the Climate;
but here the Heats are so moderate, that if Luserne-roots are in Water
(for ’tis that that makes Earth cold) it diminishes too much the just
Proportion of Heat, which Luserne requires.
The natural Poorness of an hot Gravel may be compensated by Dung, more
Heat, and the Benefit of the Hoe.
The natural Richness of the other sorts of Land being increased by
hoeing and cleansing it from Grass, Luserne will thrive therein with
the less Heat; for what the Soil wants of one of these Two Qualities,
must be made up with the other; and it has grown high in hoed rich
Ground at _Christmas_, when that in Land of an hotter Nature, but
poorer, has not been able to peep out, for want of more Nourishment:
So, if rich Land be clayey, very wet and cold, tho’ very rich, it
requires much Heat, for as high a Growth of Luserne at _Midsummer_.
The best Season of planting it in _England_ is in _April_, after the
Danger of Frost is over; for a small Frost will destroy the whole Crop,
when the Plants first appear; and too much Wet, with cold Weather, will
rot the Seeds in the Ground; so that about the Middle of _April_ may be
generally esteemed as the best Season for sowing this Seed.
The hoed Plants of Luserne having larger Roots, and yielding more Crops
than those of St. Foin, Reason seems to require, that the Number of the
former be less.
But, on the other hand, if we consider, that as the Luserne-roots
exceed the St. Foin in Bigness, so they also do in Length, by as great
a Proportion; being generally less taper, and as they go deeper, they
have more Earth to nourish them; they also require a better Soil, and
more frequent Aids from the Hoe; and, by their extraordinary quick
Growth, receive a speedier Relief from it, than the Roots of St. Foin
do.
Thus, if by reaching deeper in a better Soil, and being more hoed,
Luserne receives, from a square Perch of Ground, Nourishment in a
proportion double to that whereby its Roots exceed those of St. Foin
in Bigness, then I do not see why we should not leave the Number of
Luserne-plants double to the Number of those we leave in St. Foin.
But if the Excess of Nourishment were no more than the Excess of
Bigness of Roots, I think an equal Number of Plants should be left in
Luserne, and in St. Foin: Yet since the hot or cold Constitution of a
Plant, and also the Quantity it can produce, ought to be considered,
as well as its Bulk, in relation to the Nourishment it requires, more
Trials are necessary for determining the exact Number of Luserne-plants
proper to be placed on a square Perch, than have been hitherto made.
Perhaps it will be thought heterodox to maintain by any Arguments, that
to err in falling somewhat short of the just Number, is not of worse
Consequence, than exceeding it.
Where they stand at Four or Five Inches asunder in the Rows, ’tis
observed, that tho’ the Intervals betwixt the Rows be wide, yet the
Plants are much the larger, and produce more that stand in the outside
Rows (the Ground without being clean); and especially those at each
End of the outside Rows, that is, the Corner-plants, are largest of
all. I need not say, that had all the other Plants as much Room and
Tillage as the Corner ones have, they would be as large, and produce
each as much Hay; for those which stand perfectly single in Places by
themselves, are seen to be larger, and produce more, than those Corner
ones; and of the larger and longer Roots our Stock does consist, the
more Nourishment they are capable of taking, as has been shewn. Where
some Plants of the Luserne have been planted Two Feet asunder, in poor
dry Land, which was kept clean from Weeds, and frequently digged, each
Plant has sent forth upward of Three Hundred Stalks, and these have
been Six or Seven Inches high by the Middle of _March_.
And it must be likewise observ’d, that the Crop will be produc’d in
Proportion to the Nourishment it receives; for if the most gigantic
Luserne plant, which, when pamper’d by the Hoe, has made a Produce more
like a Tree than an Herb, remains a few Years without that or some
equivalent Culture, it will by little and little cease to produce more
than a few poor sickly Stalks, just to shew its Species; and then, if
this Culture be repeated, will recover its pristine Strength, and yield
as great a Crop as ever; but, if that be longer omitted, will die: The
Vastness of its Root avails nothing, unless it has Food in proportion
to it.
Hence it appears, that the most fatal Disease incident to Luserne is
starving, and that rarely suffers any of its Plants to arrive at the
full Period of their Growth or Age; it prevents their Fertility even
in the Prime of their Youth, and kills them before they have liv’d out
Half, or perhaps the Tenth Part, of their Days. How long its Life might
otherwise be, nobody knows, unless a Plant could be found to die when
well fed; for when it is, ’tis so tenacious of Life, that, I am told,
beheading will not dispatch it[199].
[199] But I have cut off the Heads of some myself to try, and could
not find that any one would sprout again, tho’ _St. Foin_ will;
perhaps I tried at the wrong Season.
’Tis therefore necessary, that our Rows be plac’d at such a Distance,
as that their Intervals may be wide enough for the Hoe-plough to raise
an artificial Pasture, sufficient to sustain the Number of Plants in
them.
Whoever shall make Trials of this Husbandry (for that is all I propose
to others), I would advise them to begin with Rows that have Intervals
of Thirty-three Inches; for, if they begin with much narrower
Distances, they may be by that means disappointed of Success: But
tho’ they should afterwards find a Way to hoe them at somewhat nearer
Distances; yet the Loss of a few Perches of Ground would not be much;
neither can they be wholly lost, since the Roots of these Plants may
be prov’d to extend much farther horizontally, than from Row to Row at
that Distance. And the wider the Intervals are, the more Earth will be
till’d in a Perch of Ground; because Six Rows, which will be therein at
Thirty-three Inches Distance, will admit the Hoe-plough to till more
Earth, than Nine Rows at Twenty-two Inches Distance from each other:
And, besides, ’tis not proper, that every time of hoeing, the Plough
should come very near to the Plants, unless when Grass comes amongst
them; and then they may, in Thirty-three Inch Spaces, be perfectly
cleansed in this manner: _viz._ Plow a good Furrow from each Side of
every Row; and then with Harrows, or other Instruments proper for that
Purpose, going cross them, you will pull out both Earth and Grass from
betwixt the Plants; then, after a convenient Time, plow these Furrows
back again to the Rows; this will in a manner transplant the upper Part
of the Roots, and bury the Grass, tho’ it be not dead, by lying open to
be dry’d by the Sun: Then harrow the Ground to break it more, and to
level it, and go once over it with a very light Roller, to the End that
the Hay may be raked up the cleaner.
I am aware of the common Prejudice, which is, that People, when they
have never seen a Plantation of these Plants in Perfection, are apt to
form to themselves the Idea of such small ones as they have been used
to see; and thence imagine it impossible that this (tho’ a double)
Number should be sufficient to make a Crop. But they might, with equal
Reason, imagine the same of Apple-trees at a Year’s Growth, which are
less than these at the same Age; and so plant a Thousand Trees in the
Room proper for one. The Antients direct the Planting of Seventeen
_Cytisus_ Plants in a Perch of Ground; and I do not believe, that ever
those Seventeen could yield a Crop equal to Two hundred Twenty-four
Luserne-plants; for as many Ounces of Hay as each of these yields, so
many Ton of Hay will one Crop of an Acre produce: Thus by weighing the
Product of one Plant (supposing them all equal) the Quantity of the
Crop may be determin’d, and prov’d greater than Fancy from their Number
represents.
_s._ _d._
_April_ 14. One single unho’d Plant of Luserne had
Thirty-one Stalks, which, by Silver-Money, weigh’d green 23 0
24. The same dried to Hay, weigh’d 6 6
14. The Stalks of one single ho’d Luserne-plant green,
weigh’d 56 0
24. The same dry’d 14 6
14. Eighteen Inches in Length of a Row, being five
indifferent Plants, weigh’d green one Pound and an half
_Avoirdupois_
24. Dry’d to Hay, it weigh’d 28 6
25. One Foot of an ho’d Row, being One hundred and Sixty
Stalks of two Luserne Plants of Six or Seven Years old,
weigh’d Two Pound green
But the same dry’d, to the 9th of _May_, weigh’d no more
than 31 6
Which last is about Three Tons to an Acre.
This I am certain of, that the least competent Number of Plants will
bring the greatest Number of Crops: since I see the Stalks of a
single ho’d Plant grow higher in Fifteen Days, than one amongst near
Neighbours does in Thirty Days.
The greatest Difference between the Culture of this and St. Foin is,
that Luserne Rows should be more grown, before the Plants be made
single in them by the Hand-hoe, lest the Fly should destroy some
afterwards, and then they might become too thin. For Luserne is
sometimes eaten by the Fly, as Turneps are, tho’ St. Foin be never
liable to that Misfortune, if sown in a proper Season. Luserne must
also be more frequently ho’d[200], in some Proportion to the more
frequent Crops it produces.
[200] The Hoe-plough is the Instrument to bring it to Perfection:
but then I doubt it must lie still some Years, lest the plow’d Earth
injure the Hay that is made upon it; and when it is come to a Turf,
and the Luserne wants renewing, the Four coulter’d Plough is the
only Instrument that can prepare the Turf to be kill’d, and cure the
Luserne; which Plough must be used in the following Manner: Turn its
Furrows toward one Row, and from the next; that is, plow round one
Row, and that will finish Two Intervals, and so on; and the next
Plowing must be towards those Rows, from whence they were turn’d the
first time; take care the first Furrows do not lie long enough on the
Rows to kill the Plants, which will be much longer in Winter than in
Summer. But you may leave every Third or Fourth Interval unhoed for
making the Hay on, which will be yet more beneficial, if the Swarths
in mowing should fall thereon. This unhoed Interval may be plowed
when there is Occasion, and another left in its stead.
I shall not go about to compute the Difference of Expence bestow’d
in the _Roman_ Culture and in this; yet it will appear theirs was
incomparably more chargeable, and that the Excess of Charge was
occasioned by their Error in the Theory of Husbandry.
They sow’d it so thick, that the Plants must needs be very small; and
when Ten of them were no bigger than one good single ho’d Plant would
have been, in the same Space of the Earth’s Surface, they could have
but a Ninth Part of the Earth’s Depth, which the one would have had.
The Defect of Depth must be therefore made up, in some Measure, by the
extraordinary Richness of the Surface. Upon this Account few Lands
were capable of bearing _Medica_. Their sowing it so late made the
first Waterings necessary; and the Shortness of the Roots required the
repeated Rigations, after the Crops were cut: For _Columella_ saith
in _Lib._ ii. _Cap._ 11. _Cum secueris autem, sæpius eam rigato._
But had it been cultivated by the hoeing Method, the Tap-roots would
have descended as deep as a Well, and, from the Springs below, have
sent up Water to the Plants, besides what the Hoe would have caused
the horizontal Roots to receive from Dews at the Surface above. At
how much a cheaper Rate Water is supply’d by these Means, than by
carrying it perhaps a great Way, and then sprinkling it by Hand over
the Beds, which were made Ten feet wide between Path and Path for
that Purpose, let any one judge; as also what a laborious Task it was
to pick out the Grass with Fingers from amongst it, in the hard dry
Ground in the Summer, after mowing the Crop, as _Columella_ directs in
his foremention’d Chapter, which the Horse-hoe would have done with
Ease, at a Twentieth Part of that Expence. However, since they saw
the _Medica_ was as impatient of Grass as the Vineyards were, ’tis a
Wonder they did not give it the same Culture with the _Bidens_, which
would have been much better and cheaper, than to cleanse the _Medica_
with Fingers. Indeed Fingers were made before the _Bidens_; but sure
the Effect of its Use in raising Juices to the Vine, had inspired the
_Romans_ with more judicious Speculations, than to give that for a
Reason why they ho’d the _Medica_ with their Fingers, rather than with
the _Bidens_.
Oh! But this was made with Iron, and _Medica_ had, in those Times, an
Antipathy to Iron; and after it was sown, the Place must not be touch’d
by that Metal; therefore the Seed must not be cover’d with a Plough,
nor with Iron Harrows. But if they had made Trials enough, to know that
half an Inch was a proper Depth to cover this Seed at, these _Virtuosi_
would have been convinc’d, that it had no less Antipathy to these
Instruments, of what _Matter_ soever they were made, if they bury’d it
Five or Six Inches deep, which the Plough must do, and the Weight of
Iron Harrows in such fine Ground not much less. Had the Plough been all
of Wood, the Furrow would have lain never the lighter upon the Seed;
and if the wooden Harrows had been loaded with a Weight capable of
pressing it down as deep, it would have been no more able to rise, than
if it had been buried with Iron Harrows: This _Columella_ seems to be
sensible of, when he says, _Rastellis ligneis_; _viz._ That it was not
sufficient for them to be made of Wood, unless they were diminutive;
for then they were light ones. ’Tis probable the Plough suffer’d none
to come up, and the heavy Harrows very few, tho’ perhaps Plants enough,
had they calculated what Number were sufficient: But unless the Ground
were cover’d with them at first, it seems they had not Patience to wait
till the Plants grew large enough, to fill it with a bare competent
Number, and thought it not worth while to weed and water, what they
fansied to be an insufficient Number. ’Twas expected that the Thickness
of the Plants should help to kill the Grass: Yet upon due Observation
’tis found, that when their excessive Numbers have brought a Famine
amongst them, they are forc’d to prey upon one another; and tho’ the
stronger survive, yet even those are so weaken’d by Hunger, that they
become the less able to contend with Grass, whose good Fortune it
was, that Superstition would not permit the _Romans_ to interpose, by
attacking it with Iron Weapons.
I hope these Hints may be improv’d for the Abolition of old Errors, and
for the Discovery of new Truths; to the end that Luserne may be planted
in a more reasonable Method than has been commonly practis’d: And when
the Theory is true, ’tis impossible the Practice should be false, if
rightly apply’d; but if it fail of Success, the Event will be a Proof
either of a Misapplication, or that the Theory is false.
Luserne should be order’d for Hay in the same Manner as is directed
for St. Foin in the foregoing Chapter: But it must be observ’d, that
Luserne is more worsted by being suffer’d to survive its Virginity
before cutting; and therefore the richest and most nourishing Hay is
cut whilst the Stalks are single, without any collateral Branches
shooting out of them; and when they are so, neither Blossoms nor even
their Buds appear. But of that sown in the old Fashion, the last Crops,
for want of a new Supply of Nourishment, grow so slowly, that ere it
is high enough to be cut, the Blossoms are blown out, and the Stalks,
tho’ very small, are become _woody, hard_, and _dry_, and make the Hay
nothing near so nourishing as that of the first Crops.
But in that which is ho’d, the last Crops of it will, by virtue of the
greater Quantity of Nourishment it receives, grow faster, and be of
an Height fit to cut before blossoming, and thence being as young and
vigorous, make as good Hay as the first Crops; so that Hoeing does not
only procure more and larger Crops, but also better Hay.
This is most certain, that unless we can keep our Luserne pretty clean
from natural Grass, we cannot expect it to succeed, let the Soil be
never so proper.