AN INTERESTING EXPERIMENT.

Manawatu Times, Volume LXV, Issue 1819, 10 January 1913, Page 6

AN INTERESTING EXPERIMENT.

LUCERNE IN TARANAKI. The Taranaki Herald publishes u contributed article on the question of whether lucerne can be successfully grown in Taranaki, in which the writer says:— Mr David Todd, of Dudley Road, Road. Inglewood, has an experimental crop of one acre, which he is working according to instructions from the Agricultural Department, and which, by his invii.'tion, the writer had the pleasure of inspecting. The Department supplied the | seed —151b for the acre, lime an l ini oculated soil. Mr Todd did the | work. The land is on Mr Todd's 1 property ou the Dudley aud Bedford Roads, about two miles S.W. from Inglewood. It lies high and dry, with a slight slope to N. E., and is part of a 14-acre paddock on which last year a crop of swedes of 40 to 4? tons to tiie acre was grown, and on which i) 0 head of cattle were winterd. Originally this was heavy bush land, as may be gathered from the fact that though all the milling timber had been removed Mr Todd carted £55 worth of firewood off it to Inglewood when clearing up for ; ploughing. To prepare the land for the experimental crop it was ploughed, disked, and tine-harrowed; then a fortnight later it was again ploughed, harrowed and rolled with a Cambridge roller. Suitable weather for the sowing had to be waited for, so that the crop is rather later than is desirable to get the best results. However, as soon as conditions were favourable, the lucerne seed, mixed with enough basic slag to give it bulk for handling, was broadcast sowu on the i rolled surface, aud lightly chain I harrowed. The indentations left by the Cambridge roller acted somewhat as drills, and the seed evidently was worked into tliem by the chain harrow. The plot was carefully divided into four equal portions. On No 1. the lucerne alone was sown; on No. 2 lucerne and inoculated soil; on No. 3 lucerne, lime and inoculated soil; and on No. 4 lucerne and lime. These are minor details, really constituting an experiment within an experiment. At present the crop, which is nowhere more than three or four inches high, looks very healthy, and the cleanness of the land speak volumes for the care that must have been taken in its preparation, as anyone who knows what cropping on bush land means, especially considering that this is only the second season this land has been cultivated, will realise. It is very hard in the present stage of growth to tell which of the four plots above described is the best, or which treatment will give the best results. The important fact is that the lucerne appears to be established successfully, and that not only on the three plots specially treated, but quite satisfactorily on that on which it was sown without either lime or inoculated soil. If by this experiment it can be demonstrated that this most valuable fodder plant can be profitably grown in Taranaki Mr Todd will have earned the best

thanks of our farmers, and will deserve great praise for his enterprise and the care with which lie has carried out the trial.