CUTTING LUCERNE.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 17982, 28 January 1924, Page 3

CUTTING LUCERNE.

It has always been claimed that the proper time to cut lucerne was when the crown shoots had begun to appear, which was usually when a few blooms were noticed in the paddock. Farmers have always been advised not to delay cutting to the point • where the new growth would be clipped off in the mowing process. Now comes Mr L. P. Graber, *of the Wisconsin College of Agriculture, who says that he lias cut two crops annually from six different plots and three different varieties, and that the old advice is wrong. He says: "Cutting the lucerne later made the hay verv coarse, tough, and lacking in leaves, but I was not testing on quality, but to determine the effect of removing the crown shoots by cutting. At the time these delayed cuttings were made, young shoots averaged Jabout five inches in height, and consequently,, for the most part, were clipped off in mowing. Still, these plots have never shown the slightest injury from' this treatment either in the form of delayed succeeding growths, or a weakened condition of the plants. In fact, these plants were among the thickest and most vigorous in our series. There seems always to be an ample number of delayed shoots and dormant buds on the crown to offset any loss on clipping the most advanced shoots. There is something about the more mature stages of cutting that tends to give lucerne far greater strength, vigour, and energy than is true with the earlier cutting." Mr Graber's advice is to cut when the paddock is in full bloom-