LUCERNE.

Waipa Post, Volume XX, Issue 1180, 10 December 1921, Page 7

LUCERNE.

THE BEST TIME TO CUT. Lucerne failures are occasionally due more to cutting at the wrong time than to methods of cultivation, and in all the correspondence that has taken place on the subject this phase, in its hearing on the longevity of a stand, does not appear to have been taken into account. One correspondent implies a time that is obviously too late. Delaying a cut unduly encourages the risk of the young shoots at the root of the plant being injured, which plainly would give the plant a set back. This applies more particularly to row lucerne, but nevertheless has a general application. A test has recently been carried out at the Werribee Research Farm in Victoria to establish the best stage to cut lucerne. Three lots were kept for this- purpose and given equal treatment in every respect except in regard to the time of cutting. One plot was cut before any blooms appeared, the second when one-tenth of the plants were in bloom, and the third when m full bloom. From the " cut before blooming" plot six cuts were obtained in the season ; from the plot cut when one-tenth in bloom, five cuts, and from the plot cut in full bloom four cuts. The greatest yield was obtained from the plot on wni'ch the lucerne was cut when onetenth in bloom. The quality of the hay at that stage is good, but it is not so fine as the hay obtained when fthe lucerne is cut before blooming. As it blooms the lucerne deteriorates , in quality, and when in full bloom the stems are coarse and woody and the leaves which contain the bulk of the nutriment are dropping. The higher ac,h and protein content of the hay when cut before blooming indicates that the lucerne is more nutritious iwhen cut at that stage. At the same time the lower fibrv content as compared with the hay cut in full bloom is an indication of its higher digestibility. Last year the total returns per acre from the three plots were— Cut before blooming, 5 tons 4 cwt; cut when one-tenth in bloom, 5 tons 8 cwt; cut when in full bloom, 4 tons 14 cwt.