GROWING LUCERNE.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue LXVIII, 17 October 1914, Page 3

GROWING LUCERNE.

. In a paper read recently at a meetly *¥ A Sae. kv*lle braich «f the Bureau of Aprieult—e, some valuable information on the cultivation' of lucerne was conveyed. It is only within ibe last^ha-lf -century that this valuable fodder plant has been urown to any extent in New South Wales, and at M e $>™!K time t l here are something like 120 000 acres devoted to it in the parent State.

Many fnrmers have nob given this forldw a trial because they think the sml is not coocl enough to grow it, but it will grow on almost any soil to a certam extent The best soil for lucerne is <i deep alluvial. The deeper the soil the better the growth of lucerne. It will stand the severest droughts, and^ thougn it. may lie dormant for two or three months in a dry time it will ;shoot out immediately after the first good shower of rain, when perhaps all other toader crops are past recovery Lucerne is a very long-lived plant yielding .profitable returns, from the time it is twelve months old un to twelve to fifteen years. It averages rrom three to four tons of hay nei- acre per season, but yields of six to seven tons are common in New South Wales,PREPARING THE SOIL. The first thing a farmer has to do when he intends to plant lucerne is to work tne. soil thoroughly, and clean it ot all weeds as far as possible, especially couch grass, which will very soon destroy the lucerne jf allowed to. The amount of seed sown to an acre is generally from 151b to 181b. When the seed has been sown it should he harrowed, and then the ground should be rolled, if it.is not of too stiff a nature It the nround is very stiff, it is better not to roll it, as if rain falls before -the seeds germinate the crusted surface will stop the -seed from germinating as it should.

If it is found at any time that the lucerne requires manuring, the fiollQWW ing mixture is reemmended by the Department of Agriculture as a suitable mixture:—lewt bone dust, 6cwt superphosphate 3cwt sulphate of potash. I has should be applied at the rate of 2cwt per acre. One of the greatest enemies of lucerne is dodder. This plant will make very quick growth, and will soon ruin a lucerne paddock. It fastens itself to the plants of lucerne, and.. gets~all- the .-nourishmentror its; growth out of the plants, and becomes independent of the soil for :-Topd. '.-■'" . '-••;;•' •;■• ■•■ " ■■ • .'.-. ■- ■-. V veUTTING FOR HAY" The time that lucerne should' be cut tor hay is about when one-third of the piants are i;i flower. If ifc i s left to get older it begins to shoot again from the Dottojn. and the cutting will' greatly reduce the next crop, as a large majority ot the voung shoots will be, C ut off. ' FOR STOCK FEEDING. Lucerne should not be f ed^off by stock m the field in the early stages of its growth, and in any case lucerne that is continually eaten off by stock will 'not last nearly so long as if it were mowed when required, and the ground cultivated. The damage caused to lucerne by. feeding; it off is very great, as the i stock distribute all kinds of weed seed, which in all probability; will germinate m the lucerne, and in the course of a few years the stand, will be over-run with weeds, and'will become practically useless. " ";