LUCERNE GROWING.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIII, Issue 148, 21 June 1912, Page 9

LUCERNE GROWING.

SOME VALUABLE INFORMATION. Waikato .burr farmers are greatly indebted to Mr. Primrose McConnell for the very valuable information contained in the paper read by him at the Dairy Conference, which formed part of the programme at the recent Waikato Winter Show. The a-uthor pointed out, and his remarks must have come as a distinct surprise to a good many of his hearers, that many of them were probibly under the impression that science must have some immediate, connection with a laboratory-; not realising that tney may be farming scientifically, and, strictly speaking, know nothing whatever of science. For instance, they may be "rowing lucerne on a large scale, and not be aware of the fact that they were endorsing some of the latest findings of agricultural science. Forty years ago, the best farmers farmed as scientifically —in so far as the tilling of the soil id concerned—as we do to-day, but they were not aware of the fact. Mr. McConnell proceeded to point out that probably all present would admit that in cultivating the soil a fanners main object ohoulj be. not only to get us 'much out of it as possible, but also to leave as"mu'e"h in it after the harvest as possible, so as to maintain, or even improve the original fertility. To do thi? in a country like New Zealand, where farmyard manure is most conspicuous by its absence, is no easy task; but it is not impossible, and in many instances it h-.is become imperative. Improved land has now become 3o dear that a purchaser of such can only hope to succeed by adopting , most modern methods of agriculture. Turning out much produce from a small area is now ;i necessity, and will become more so as time goes on. Now, the question that each farmer must set himself to answer is. "How can 1 do this, and maintain — or, better still, increase—the soiFs fertility?" In dealing with lucerne, not as a forage crop, but as a valuable fertiliser, Mr.- McConnell explained that it belongs to the order of legumes, and i= thus related to the clover.-.. Its special deeprooting habit enables it to resist long periods of drought, and to draw food ingredients from a depth which no other plant can reach; and it has the marvellous power of producing highly nitrogenous fodder, and at the same time leaving the soil rich in nitrogen. In this connection is quoted an extract from -a report of one of the Rothamstead experiments. On one field, wheat, after bare fallow, was compared with an -adjoining field of lucerne. Neither crop received any nitrogenous manure, and after a period of eight years it was found that one average yearly crop of lucerne contained more than thirteen times as much nitrogen as the average yearly crop of wheat /stra-w a.nrf grain), thus showing the immense superiority of lucerne over a grain crop as a producer of nitrogenous food for stock. But still more wonderful results have been demonstrated. On an analysis being made of the soil from the two plots, it was found that in the top nine inches of soil, the lucerne plot contained 5241b more nitrogen per acre than the plot which had been cropped with wheat. This amount of nitrogen is equal to about 30 cwt of nitrate of ;odu, worth in New Zealand about £24. No doubt it came as a great surprise to nearly every one of those present to learn, on Mr. M-cC'onnell's authority, that a company lias been formed in the United States, whose business it will be to place the manufactured products of lucerne on the market. Among the products will be a syrup which contains as much sugar us cane or maple syrup, and is also of a very fine fiavo-ur. The lucerne is cut every twelve days, or about twelve times in the season. Referring to the commercial value of the discovery, an American paper says that with sugar at ->d per lb the lucerne would bring about £5 to X.H per ton. Some experts go so far as to predict that, in the course of time, lucerne may become too valuable to use simply as a fodder for stock. And there is another valuable property of lucerne, namely, that-, of being able to leave behind an enormous weight per acre of root growth, which decays and forms a supply of humus tor following crops, and although it makes a strong demand on such soil constituent.- as lime, phosphorus and potash, its deep-rooting habit enables it to draw food supplies from a great depth, and limits considerably the necessity for the surface application of manures.