LUCERNE.

Timaru Herald, Volume CVII, Issue 16618, 24 August 1918, Page 5

LUCERNE.

king of fodder plants. The following arc some of the points ln;.dc by Mr Alex. MePherson m his address on Lucerne at the- Chamber of ComniCTca meeting oii Monday niglit: Lucerne has a high digestibility and ;c is highly relished by all classes of farm animals. It is used in i'iv. e different ways;—(l) As a soiling crop, that is '-cut and fed to animals in a green state, . (2!, as .liay,. (3) .as silage, (4) as pasture. (5) a« chaff or ground into meal. In feeding value choice grades of lucerne, hay nearly approximate wheat "bran it is held that 5 tons of lucerne hay equal in feeding value 4£ tons of bran. At the present price" of bran lucerne hay should be worth £4 19s per ton. The leaf is more valuable than the stem, as 4 to 1. this must be kept? in mind when deciding to make hay. Thft lucerne Ki'.quld be cut wlieu tile shoots were appearing, or in the early blossoming Ftage. Four tons of newly cut high grade "lucerne will make a ton of liay, but 3J tons of older plant yield a, ton ■ —qf much less feeding value, besides waste from stock refusing .to eat the coarse stems- Several early cuttings can be obtained in a season—from four to seven, sometimes eight.. At Belfast freezing works three cuts gave a. total of over 25 tons per acre, equal to 6A tons of hay. This at £4 19s per ton meant £3O 18s 9d per acre. In a test r.t Asliburton : some, varieties gave 8 tons pc-r acre of green lucerne at the first cut, which, as hay, meant £!) 17s 6d per acre. An Ellesmere farmer besides getting a hay value of .-£39 12s from a lirst cut, reached 14001bs <of xjed worth Is per Hi; and a third /rowtli after the seed was cut was Valued at- £1 per acre, total from the four acres £llß 12s.

Lucerne will grow almost anywhere. In America it is grown from sea level to an altitude of 8000 ft. It will do to in New Zealand. It will .--tand extreme temperatures. The irrigated doArizona arc of the hottest; :uid it. is L-rown -u-liore the winter frosts last 140, days. It is grown where the average rainfall is only 14 inches; and again where it is 65 inches. He had teen .lucerne in California planted over fifty years ago, and still produoina excellent crops. ; An Ohio farmer said of 3t: Lucerne will grow as long as you take care of it. Plant it wh«?.r<? you want it to grow .and leave it to your widow and children."

Lucerne will grow in any soils excent these that arc wet and acid frotn ht-ing badly drained, thoso with a liarci Diiu sulj-ioil, or thoss subject- to flood water.?. Its vets run deep, therefore the underground watep- levcil :mist net. toe near tlie surface. It ma.y thrive it j

the water level is four "feet below the soil, but not lor many years. Heavy, stiff, or sticky clay land is unsuitable nntil drained and well limed. Lucer>:i: is deep-rooted, therefore it is the subsoil, not the sun ace soil that has to be considered.

Mr MePherson wont into dot ail on tile -method of planting lucerne. To bo successful it must be drilled, not sown broadcast., ;md the drills should be tar enough apart to permit- of inter-cu! tj vatiqi.- and -weeding in the early stages. The only fertiliser admissible is lime, in soils that are deficient in lime, as the natural habitat of lucerne is a limy soil. Lime, where needed, should be applied, :i ton of burned or two tons "of crushed lime, if possible a month oi' two months before seeding. The seedbed should be worked fine, and compacted by heavy rolling; a loose seed bed will not. do. pure;, and. of high <»orniirintioii, should be sown at, a rate of 151 os per acre, in drills say 21 cr more inches apart; in heavy soils 1 to 12- inches deep, in medium soils 2 inches." in sand 2i to 3 inches deep. The sotrnig time is spring, when the ground is warm enough to ensure rapid germination, and sowing., can be continued to the <ukl of "March Intereultivatiou should begin when the plant"is an inch above ground, frequently afterwards, and thorough cultivation to a depth of G or <3 inches when the last oicr> of the* first reason is removed. The first cutting should not be made until the enriv flowering stage is reached. The cutter of'the uir.wei- should be high enough to avoid injuring new buds, and in" the last cut of the s o? ison a. long stubble should be left Lucerne should notbe used as a, pasture until the third year. As t'o ninnnrinii, Sir McPheison said i.liat ho bad not used a snoonful of any fertiliser or any sta.hls manure in his trials; notlmia: but lime, and he b: liec=3 one could nob use too much lime.

Mr McPliwboh mentioned that when in America ho saw ship loads of ba'icd lucerne hay going to Australia to feed starving stock during a- drought, and it wns depressiusr to think that New Zealand, so much nearer, had none to send. Tl\e grinding of lucerne meal is an established industry in the Western States, ar.d the meal is sold at high prices to poultry raisers : n the Eastern States, and is also compressed for cattle feeding. In Argentina nearly all tho beef is raised on or is finished on lucenic pastures, and it i<? asserted there t'l.'it it is lucerne that has niads the great Argentine beef trade pjssib'e.