LUCERNE

Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21456, 24 April 1935, Page 7

LUCERNE

CO THB EDITOR Ol" TU 9BMBS'. Sir,—There appeared on the "Farm and Station" page of "The Press" of April 20 some remarks made by an English dairyman on the mineral contents of lucerne. "Lucerne is the one crop which has kept me out of the workhouse," declared Mr Glover, speaking to the Milk Recording Society of Leicestershire and Rutland. "Some think this is a bee in my bonnet, but I have grown lucerne for 45 years, and I do not believe the doctors, any more than the farmers, realise the valuable mineral elements in the plant." Some time ago there was much said about the mineral elements removed from the surface soils of Canterbury by grazing animals, which must be replaced by artificial means. It has often occurred to me that there must still be ample supplies of these necessary minerals contained in the lower strata that once were the surface, and over which ho grazing animals ever wandered, but too far down to be reached by the shallow-rooted plants that form our pastures. That our farm methods may exhaust the supply of these minerals is obvious, when we realise that every cow in the herd giving her quota of 600 gallons of milk for the season has lessened the stock of mineral salts available by 361b. A herd of 30 cows reduces it by more than three-quarters of a ton. Each ton of meadow hay consumed off the farm diminishes the supply by 1311b. Every 1001b of beef or mutton consumed off the farm has further reduced the available supply by 3.3 per cent. These figures, of course, depend on the supply of minerals available in the surface soils. But lucerne, because of its ability to reach down to much greater depths, can tap the hidden supplies so far out of reach Of pasture plants. The average composition of lucerne hay is:— Per Cent. Water .8.4 Ash, equivalent to mineral elements .. .. ..7.4 Protein .. .. .. 14.3 Crude fibre .. .. .. 25.0 Nitrogen, free extract .. .. 42.7 Ether extract .. 2.2 100.0

Of this, 51.8 per cent, consists ol digestible nutrients. Some years ago I had an opportunity to prove my theory (to my own! satisfaction) that lucerne was able to supply all dairy cows required, including the mineral elements, I was milking 30 cows at the time. One day an energetic salesman called with a cattle lick which would supply what all the Canterbury land was short of. He told me the splendid results my neighbours were getting in increasing the milk flow and improving the health of their herds. I realised that none of the men he mentioned were lucerne growers. Eventually we arranged that he should leave a sample, to which all the cows had access each time.they came in to be milked. The cows were left to decide if they required the licit. When he called again in about a month, and saw the result of the trial, for his sample was practically just as he had left it, I explained that the cows had been feeding on • lucerne hay, and that evidently supplied all they required. I entirely agree with Mr Glover's remarks when he went on to say that lucerne would improve the quality of the milk, and make it more valuable for fo9d, especially for children. Even if they doubted his word on all the matters, the fact that one could get up to four cuts a year might convince the. hard-up farmer what he was missing. Six cuts of lucerne have been obtained at least by one farmer this summer. What is the farmer missing who has none to cut?— Yours, etc., A. H. WHEELER. Styx, April 22, 1935.