TREE LUCERNE OR TAGOSASTE.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXXIII, Issue 10968, 16 July 1898, Page 4

TREE LUCERNE OR TAGOSASTE.

Fir,— With yonr permlntlon I will give you the leeuit of piaoiloal expeilecns io p,ard!cg tbe caltlw.im ot tagosaats lo Hnrcko'a Bay (ant en extract lrom & nurberymen'a book), I will then leave tbe readers of your valndblo paper to judge as (o whether the tagoseite or tree incerne U the valuable fodder plant It 1» araoked np to be. Abcm fire yean ago I obtained irom the carator of the Adelaide Botanical Gardens a paoket of the genuine teed of the togoiaste, which I handed to a praotloal Dnreeryman, with Instrnotlonß to plant oarefully. In the crane of time the plants oame up, and were traniplanted Into rloh groacd, Tbe lesalb U that the tagoiaate plants are now over five years of age, and more Intlgnlficent trees for their age coald not be teen. The height of the plantß la five feet ; the foliage on one of the trees would uot (id a snipe, the branohea are of sbrsggllDg growth, the ihmb— for that Is all it la— oannot be olassed as robnst or hardy, far lv hot weather Its foliage ihtl; ke up ; the only redeeming feature is that its pea-ahapod blosioma are rather pretty. Aa a fodder plant It Is a rank failure, at least In Hawke's Bay. I had cattle and horaea rnoning where it was planted, and neither of them tonohed it. I may say that Mr Frank Webßter, of Hastings, has had a similar experience to mine in trying to cultivate the tßgo< Baste. I will be heppy to show any of yonr readers the tree loceine, and they cm jadge for themselves if It li the fodder plant It Is claimed to be.— l am, &c., A, B. Greene, Hasting), July 16th, 1898.