LUCERNE CROPS.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLI, Issue XLI, 12 February 1921, Page 9

LUCERNE CROPS.

HAWERA FARMERS VISIT LOCAL

CROPS

On Monday last there was a :fine' gathering of members of the Hawera branch- of the Farmers' Union, binder the presidency of Mr F. .Mills, the object ibeihg to visit lucerne paddocks in this neighbourhood. ' Mr J. W. Deem and Mr A. J. Glasson, of the Agricultural Department, were present, aod their observations on the various crops were most interesting and instructive to those present. Mr Mellville's (Turuturu Road). This was a 10-acre paddock sown down in December, 1919. The ground, was ploughed in early spring after a <;rop of.swedes and worked.at intervals till the crop was sown on December 26Fifteen pounds Marlborough seed were ; sown per acre, .with sewt basic 6uper .and 2cwt. of inoculated -soil. Lime a\ the rate of a ton per acre was applied .after the first cut in Aprit. This was not put on when the ground was 'being prepared owing to its not .being .available at that time. The crop wa6 top-, dressed with 2scwt. of ;Gollanders' lu•cerne manure in August a 1920, and a further Application of lime of .6cwt. per acre in September, 1920. The paociock yielded four good crops thie.last-season, ! besides light grazing inthe autumn. It .vw.as.at present 'being cut and fed out to the cows, this ibeing the -third .cut•tingjthis season. After each cutting the cultivator was put over. The .pad- . dock : was in capital, condition, lucerne vigorous, even, and of a good deep scolour. The ground evidenced .good ..cultivation, and with proper care the crop : should.improve each

. Messrs Ogle Bros.' (Ararata). The .first four acres on far side' ;of jpaddock were sown in November, 1906, ahd was therefore 'between 1.4 and 15 .years .old. It was sown with MarJr borough and Hunter River seed in ; egual parts at the rate of lfilbs per acre, together with a mixture of ciover iand ryegrass. The ground had been cropped for. .several years previously with oats and root crops, and lucerne followed swedes and mangels. The iground wasworied well up to time of sowing and well rolled to secure a good firm bed. Seed was sown broadcast with basic, slag at the rate of S&wt per ;acpe. No inoculated soil was used, and no lime was applied to this area before or after sowing, but top-dressing •of Sewt. of basic slag per acre has been xepeaied at intervals every two or three year-s. It is snow three years tsinoe last top-dressing. Lucerne came away so well the second year* that it was dee&ded tto -work" ;tiie Italian rye an clover-out of the'crop, and this was - gradually accomplished by working the ground with spring-tooth cultivator and tine harrows after each cutting. Three crops for hay or ensilage ai»e taken off annually, besides short periods of light grazing in autumn and spring. Crops m 1920-21 were heavier than in any previous season.

The second area of three acres ad- ' joining was sown in November, 1910, with Marlb'orough seed at the rate of 20 lb per acre, broadbast, with 3 cwt. (basic slag. Lucerne followed swedes and mangels, and treatment of ground before sowing'was similar to first area. Similarly^ too, this area did not rembre any lime or inoculated soil before Pc aAer sowing, hut has been top-

faesed iwith dag at **t*rvalf> of two or three years. The ground always receives at least two strokes with cultivator after each cutting and was very clean. Mr. Deem remarked that "Cue most

interesting feature here was the rage of the crop, and should foe a complete answer to those people who say that lucerne Would last only &v 4or six years. -Another important point was the manuring. Some people, too, contended that manuring would Kll ou* lucerne, but this paddock, which had been regularly manured at intervals, proved the contrary. Phosphatie manures would do the lucerne good. If, a choice; had to be made between cultivating and manuring, cultivating should come first, but a'ibit of manure in the early stages enabled lucerne to get the advantage of weeds. They would notice in this area that the crowns of the plants were very big and strong. t ■ I Plot No. 8, 5 acres, sown November, 1913, broadcast with 22 lb Marlborough seed and 3 cwt. basic slag, no lime or. inoculated soil at time of sowing. Third year the crop was top-dressed with a mixture of lime and super, equal parts, at the rate of Qewt. per acre. Cultivation after each cutting. j

Mr. Deeni remarked, in reference to this crop, «that he remembered on one occasion when he saw it it lookedv like a hen-run—all dust—«o well had it been cultivated. At one time, however, it would have appeared to the inexperienced that it was going to be no good, b.ut persistent cultivation had made it a really good paddock. The lesson to he learned here was that if the lucerne plants were in the ground, good cultivation would eventually make a good field of it. They must not be afraid of cultivation. Mr Gane (Nonnahby).

Sown in 1914, following a crop of oats and swedes. It was disced three times and rolled five times. Five cwt. of lime per acre was applied before discing, and 3 cwt. basic slag with crop. It. was not cultivated till after Christmas the second year, but was absolutely clean the first season. The crop had not- been looked after as it should have been since. For two seasons it was grazed only, which, Mr. Gane considered, was not so bad if the ground was properly cultivated after grazing. He poinled-'out that although •he had not got the same quantity of lucerne per acre by grazing, he had a large acre of 50 acres, and faced as they had been with labour problems the grazing had'not been amiss in*his case. One paddock of 20 acres that had been fairly well cultivated this season was no w looking in capital order;.the next was ibeing cultivated, and could be properly restored with more cultivation, whilst the third required still more cultivation! Mr Gane said that the crops had had scwt. of lime per acre each season, but had never really had proper treatment. They would, however, demonstrate what amount of abuse lucerne would stand and then come back again when given a chance. He found it responded very quickly to deep/cultivation.

Mr. Mills remarked that this crop demonstrated the interesting. fact that lucerne could be grazed and still be successful. There may be times when farmers could not conveniently cut their crop, and this area showed that it might then be grazed and reoover. This was an encouragement, and he was satisfied that Mr. Gane had a really good paddock in spite of the ill-treat-ment it had received.

Mr. Deem again cautioned farmers not to graze for the first twelve months or two years; if possible, to .avoid doing so till the plants were properly established. ySo far as cultivating was concerned, he might tell those present that they heed not ibe afraid of a little soil 'being dragged on to the crown of the plants; as a matter of fact, the more soil that was put on the crowns to a reasonable degree, the more the plants spread out and the ibigger they grew. He,would impress upon them the desirability of not cutting young crops ibefore they were quite ready to cut, unless it was absolutely necessary to do so in order to prevent weeds from seeding. Cutting too soon checked root development. In subsequent operations there was no specific height at which crops should be cut • they must be guided always iby observing when the young shoots were breaking away 'from the crowns of the"plants.

(To be continued.)