Part 41

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.

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, in some Proportion to the more frequent Crops it produces.

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.