KING OF ALL FODDER PLANTS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3313, 12 September 1917, Page 8

KING OF ALL FODDER PLANTS.

Lucerne has been termed the king of all fodder plants with good reason. With its aid and security of tenure of pastoral lands and full valuation for improvements, etc., the possibilities of Central Otago may yet be widely recognised. Lucerne, where it is well known, has been acclaimed as just as valuable to the farmer as the cocoanut tree is to the South Sea Islander. All stock do well on lucerne—from the barnyard fowl to the fattening or breeding animals on the farm. Dairymen have found this fodder a veritable sheet-anchor in summer or winter. Mixed with ordianry grasses, we have a milk-producing ration of the best. Made into ensilage, or, better still, turned into hay, and provision is assured for milking cows throughout the winter. Horses are fond of it, and when chaffed with the same weight of oaten sheaves we have a splendidly-balanced ration, and one on which hard work can be done without loss of flesh. It takes some little time and trouble perhaps to get a stand of lucerne; but it is worth all the trouble, and Central Otago land-owners could not do better than take up the growing of this valuable crop in earnest. In the Argentine and United States its worth is known, and millions of acres are planted to lucerne, and each year the acreage is being increased. The soil and climate have proved most favourable in Central Otago for tho production of fodder and seed, and there is ample justification for sowing large areas with the promise of satisfactory monetary results. In the Central there are vast areas, such as the Maniototo Plains, 'lda Valley, the Manuherikia Valley, and the foothills of the Leaning Hock Mountains, the Dunstan and Earnscleugh Flats, and the Clutha Valley, which might well become worldfamous in the quality of its seed, as well as for its fattening qualities, while incidentally benefiting the Otago province. We are past the experimental stage in regard as to whether lucerne-will "do." Growers have already taken two, three, and four cuts of hay in a season. Stock can be grazed if ordinary common sense is displayed, so that bloating is avoided and paddocks are not grazed too severely or stocked when the ground is watersoaked. There is the great factor, too, that legumes .of all crops leave the land richer than poorer for their growth, even when the crops are cut and used for fodder, and lucerne (or alfalfa, as it is called where better known) stands at the head of all the legumes, with its deep-root system, utilising the free nitrogen of the air that is in the interstices of the soil through the activity of certain bacteria which reside in the nodules on their roots. The main things to make sure of first are right cultural methods if a good stand of lucerne is desired. Starting with a fairly fertile soil, well drained, which has been turned up to the winter frosts, in the spring one should endeavour to secure a clean seed bed. If the lime content of the soil has been lowered much by previous cropping, it must be supplied, say, on top of the ploughed furrows ere working in the spring. The reason why the soil has to be inoculated is simple. Legume plants in themselves do not draw nitrogen from the air, but the bacteria which live in the nodules on the roots give them this power, so it is only wise to make certain that our proposed lucerne ground has the helpful bacteria. All that is required is to scatter soil from a wellestablished lucerne paddock at the rate of 1001 b to 2001 b per acre on the land to be seeded on a dull day, as direct sunlight is fatal to the bacteria. Lucerne no doubt will grow on almost all soils without inoculation, more particularly on land that has been sown to clover. Still experienced old-time growers consider it best to inoculate, as the plant is made more vigorous, and there will be a much heavier weight of foliage, while there will be less proneness to disease, and that is what we want. The furrow, when dry in the spring, should bo well worked and the soil firmed, with <vn inch or so of loose roil on the surface. The seed is sown in October-November at the rate of, say, 161 b of Feed to the acre, and then the inoculated soil, and the area brushharrowed. Less seed might be used if sown in rows, and subsequent cleaning might be easier than if broadcasted ; but weeds must be kept down in the early stages, and the grower alone can determine whether his land is free of weeds. When the plants are well-established, and have attained a height of about Bin or lOin, it is as well to run the mower over them, taking about 3in off the tops. This lies as a mulch, and protects the young plants, and the operation should be repeated if the plants grow up again and come into flower, find it is just as well to leave several inches at the end of the growing season. No stock should be allowed to graze on lucerne the year it is seeded.