LUCERNE

Northern Advocate, 7 November 1932, Page 8

LUCERNE

ITS ESTABLISHMENT AND CARE, KINO OF FODDER CROPS. 1„ ilic course of a broadcast talk from IYA, Auckland, Mr W. AlexanBov, agricultural advisor, Kcmptborno, Pressor and Company, Ltd., made the following; comment:

One has to go a long way back in history to trace tho origin of lucerne. This crop is as old as man himself, and, like man, is now widely distributed ’throughout the inhabited world. Having its origin in the warm and rainless regions of .Asia, it was tor many years looked upon as a crop snitulile only for syeh regions, but as time passed on lucerne passed on too and gradually established itself in countries of less congenial climate where if quickly became popular. li is surprising that a crop such uu|uesi ionable merit is not more widely grown in this Dominion. Our experience of it extends over a. good many wears and includes all sorts of soil D-pes and climate conditions. Lucerne has been successfully established in tbe far Bouth, in Canterbury, Marlborough, Taranaki, Manawatn, Wairarapa, Hawke’s Buy, Auckhind and the Fur North. No other crop surpasses Income for adaptability Just as no other crop surpasses it in yield, quality of fodder and dependability. j Outstanding Virtues. Lucerne has its least three outstanding virtues in its high yield per acre, superior quality of fodder and low cost per ton of fodder. Speaking of yield per acre, let me say 11 is not too much to expect to cut up to •do tons of green fodder from one acre of lucerne during one season. In the North and w ithout irrigation, from four to six cuts in the season may safely bo looked for. Even if each ent vieldod only six tons of green fodder per acre, and that would nor be n heavy crop, that would equal from 24 to ?.n tons green weight or 8 to 10 tons of hav.

A further most valuable feature of Lucerne is its capacity to produce succulent crops during periods of drought. Again because of its deep-rooting hab'it, this crop is less dependent upon seasonal rains than is any other crop commonly grown in the Dominion, Soil Requirements. Although very accommodating in flic matter of soil conditions lucerne suci coeds best on deep, fertile, well-drained loams. Lucerne is essentially a deeprcoting plant and only beeomes really permanent when it can send its roots clown to a distance of 19 feet or more. TC you have not yet tried growing lucerne and wish to do so, select the most suitable spot by adopting a process of elimination, discarding all lowlying areas and those known to have a hard pan until yon have left only t!io best-drained and open-textured soils to choose from. Lucerne will penetrate down to water but it cannot stand wet feet or having its roots flooded for any length of time. Preparing the Seed-Bed. Lucerne seed being relatively small the preparation of the seed bed becomes of prime importance. To enable this small seed to be sown at an even depth, but not too deep, a well prepared seed-bod is essential. This firm but fine tilth calls for a good deal of working with discs and harrows with frequent recourse to the roller. Fortunately this preparatory working of the laud also assists in destroying weeds that may have germinated so that the double purpose of cleaning and preparing the seed bed is achieved. The final operation prior to sowing the seed should bo to roll the area with a good heavy roller. This operation at once consolidates the land and brings the moisture up to where the seed will he lying and in addition will greatly assist in regulating the depth at which the seed is sown. Liming. In the course of the work of preparing the seed bed, the land should be treated to a dressing of carbonate of lime at the rate of about one ton per acre. Lucerne requires lime for its proper growth and for a start at least a fairly heavy dressing is necessary. I would recommend putting the lime on about one month before sowing the seed. Fertilisers. Having attended to the. liming, it next becomes necessary to apply at least a portion of the fertilisers intended for the crop. The capacity of lucerne to find its own supplies of nitrogen makes if unnecessary for ns to add anything more than phosphates and lime. The lime having been added leaves really only phosphates to ho considered. Now the position is like this; —.Superphosphate, whb-li lias over and over again proved to be the best form of phosphate for lucerne, is supposed to have a detrimental effecl on the growth of bacteria wlkmi if is used along with (lie seel. To overcome this possible defect and al the same time to give the lucerne access to the fertiliser it likes best, the

super at the rate of I to cuts per acre should he .applied to the soil and in* worked in .about a fort night after the lime has been applied. An alternative way of using the super is to mix it with lime, using equal quantities

of each, holding the mixture for a couple of days before sowing with tho seed. I prefer the first method, that

is—applying the super a fortnight after the lime and then sowing the seed with 2 rwt blood and bone pcs acre. It should be made elear that the possible harmful notion of super on the lucerne bacteria applies only to the initial sowing out and not to any subsequent treatment of an established stand; there super is the correct manure to use, Innocnlation. There is yet one more operation necessary before sowing actually takes place and that is the innocnlation of the seed. Many crop failures are due to the absence of nitrifying bacteria in the soil, and, to guard against such conditions, it is necessary to introduce artificial cultures as prepared and sup- 1 plied at small cost by the Department .if Agriculture, Wellington. All that 1 need say nitont this particular operation is this —and 1 would particularly impress this point upon listeners-in —write at once to the nearest officer of the Department of Agriculture or direct to the Department ol

Agriculture, Wellington, stating the quantity of seed you propose to sow and ash for the necessary supply of culture to he forwarded so as 1o leach you about one week before you intend sowing. Full instructions in regard to the use of the culture accompany each bottle and you have only to follow these instructions carefully. Sowing the Seed. We come now to the actual sowing of the seed, and the first questions that present themselves are varietv and quantity to sow. Wide differences of opinion exist as to what is a reasonable seeding for lucerne. Some say IS to 201bs. of seed per acre, others S to Kfibs. It is definitely true that there is not sufficient, space on an acre ot land to provide room for anything like the number ot plants that would germinate from n 201bs seeding, nor from a lOlbs seeding either. I would say that, given good germinating seed and a well-prepared bod, inibs of seed per acre should be sufficient to make a full stand of lucerne in the shortest possible time.

Now. for sowing’, 1 would say mix 10 lbs. of innoculated Marlborough seed witli 2 ewts. of blood and bone per acre and sow this in drills 7 inches apart using the turnip coulters on the drill. If the seed has to be sown broadcast, thou use ,121-bs instead of 10 and carrv on. For covering' the seed a set of light chain harrows or a harrow made by tying together some bundles of hawthorn or even tea-tree is cprite sufficient.

Par the small holder, or The man who wants only a small area of lucerne, it is a good idea to sow the seed in rows about- 1") inches apart as a crop sown that way can be hand-hoed and kept free of weeds.

Cultivation. The cultivation problem is also a vexed one, hut I think the weight r.t evidence is all in tavonr ot fairly drastic cultivation, especially during tlie autumn months. A practice that is finding much favour with lucerne growers is heavy cultivation, preferably with a spring-tooth cultivation, after talcing off the last crop in the season and then drilling two bushels of black barley or Algerian oats in amongst the lucerne. Either of these cereals will make good growth throughout the winter and come in very useful for early spring feed. The first crop of the season may be mostly oats or ■barley as the ease may be, but all the rest of the season’s cut will be clean lucerne, duo largely to the cleaning influence of its cereal companion of the winter. Chronological Table. July.—Select and plough the area. August.—Double cut with the discs. September.—Harrow and disc. October. —First week: Sow out one ton per acre carbonate of lime. Har-. row after liming third week. Sow out cwt per acre Westfield super. Harrow after super. Fourth week: Write to Department of Agriculture, Wellington, for supply of culture —state quantity of seed to be sown. November.—First week: Disc, harrow and roll area. Sow out lOlbs innoculated Marlborough seed, together with 2 cwts blood and bone per acre through the turnip coulters in 7-inch drills. Cover with light chain or brush harrows.

Decembor-April.—l fii rvfst in.H crops. April.—Lost week: Cultivate* freely and drill in two bushels of black barley with three cuts basic super per acre.