The other Use then of this Seed is for Provender; and it has been affirmed by some, who have made Trials of it, that Three Bushels of good _St. Foin_ Seed given to Horses, will nourish them as much as Four Bushels of Oats. When well order’d, it is so _sweet_, that most Sorts of Cattle are greedy of it. I never knew so much of it given to Hogs, as to make them become fat Bacon; but I have known Hogs made very good Pork with it, for an Experiment; and being valued at the Beginning of their feeding, and the Pork by the Score when the Hogs were kill’d, which, computed with the Quantity of Seed they eat, did not amount to near the Value of the same Seed sold for sowing; that being Three Shillings _per_ Bushel, and the Profit made by giving it to the Hogs was but Two Shillings a Bushel. The Goodness of the Seed, and of the Hay out of which it is thresh’d, depends very much upon the manner of ordering them. This thresh’d Hay, when not damaged by wet Weather, has been found more nourishing to Horses than coarse Water-meadow Hay; and, when ’tis cut small by an Engine, is good Food for Cattle, and much better than Chaff of Corn. It requires some Experience in it, to know the most proper Degree of Ripeness, at which the seeded _St. Foin_ ought to be cut; for the Seed is never all ripe together; some Ears blossom before others; every Ear begins blossoming at the lower Part of it, and so continues gradually to do upward for many Days; and before the Flower is gone off the Top, the Bottom of the Ear has almost fill’d the Seeds that grow there; so that if we should defer cutting until the top Seeds are quite ripe, the lower, which are the best, would shed, and be lost. The best time to cut is, when the greatest Part of the Seed is well fill’d, the first-blown ripe, and the last blown beginning to be full. The natural Colour of the Kernel, which is the real Seed, is grey or bluish when ripe; and the Husk, which contains the Seed is, when ripe, of a brownish Colour. Both Husk and Seed continue perfectly green for some time after full-grown; and if you open the Husk, the Seed will appear exactly like a green Pea when gather’d to boil, and will, like that, easily be split into Two Parts. Yet St. Foin Seed in this green Plight will ripen after Cutting, have as fine a Colour, and be as good in all Respects, as that which was ripe before Cutting: Some, for want of observing this, have suffer’d their Seed to stand so long, till it was all ripe, and lost in Cutting. St. Foin Seed should not be cut in the Heat of the Day, whilst the Sun shines out: for then much, even of the unripe Seed, will shed in Mowing: Therefore, in very hot Weather, the Mower should begin to work very early in the Morning, or rather in the Night; and when they perceive the Seed to shatter, leave off, and rest till towards the Evening. After Cutting we must observe the same Rule as in mowing it; _viz._ not to make this Hay whilst the Sun shines.