LUCERNE.

Waipa Post, Volume XXI, Issue 1242, 13 May 1922, Page 6

LUCERNE.

A WONDERFUL PLANT. Mr F. W. Greenwood, 8.A., Instruo tor in Agripulture, gave a most interesting lecture on lucerne at the Weraroa Farm School. In speaking of the origin of this legume he said that it was supposed to have been first grown on the central and southern plateaux of Asia. In 450 i 8.C., at the time of the invasion of Greece by Xerexes, mention was found of it, and it was extensively used as fodder for the horses' of the Roman army. From Italy the plant travelled to Spain, and thence to the Spanish South American colonies. After this it became widely known, and soon found its way to all parts of Europe and America, and ’later came to Australasia, being first grown successfully in the Dominion in Marlborough between forty and fifty years ago. In one important respect lucerne differed from other legumes, as its roots are known to have reached a depth of thirty to forty feet in search of moisture. It was, however, a mistaken notiop to imagine that it would grow anywhere under the same conditions of treatment. The soils most suitable for its cultivation are a good river silt, a .sandy soil (once it was given sufficient body by green manuring, etc), and a limestone soil. All practical investigations had tended to show that one of the most important features of soil, having reference to its suitability for lucerne, was the sub-soil. Stiff clay sub-soils and ironsand. pans, while they did not absolutely preclude its establishment, often made it so difficult as to render growing it a poor commercial proposition. The question the farmer should ask himself should not be so much “Can I grow lucerne on my farm?” but “Can I grow it profitably?” Mr Greenwood stressed the importance of thoroughly cultivating the soil. As the young plant was apt to suffer seriously from frost or from the early growth of weeds, drilling must be done either well on in the spring or early in the autumn, not before November for spring sowing, and generally not later than the end of February for an autumn sowing. The land should be ploughed, then crossploughed or disced, provided that the paddock was not overrun with twitch, which was often spread by discing. The ©pring-toothed cultivator should be used either after or in lieu of the discs, or immediately succeeding them. The, surface for sowing should be rolled and the drilling followed by a light chain harrowing. He advocated liming the land before drilling 'with not less than one to two tons per acre of carbonate of lime. Twelve ito fourteen pounds of seed per acre had proved a suitable quantity, and either broadcast sowing or in drills 21 inches apart was recommended. He also dealt at length with cutting and feeding off lucerne. 'So far as the uses of the legume were concerned, he .said that a well-balanced ration was one which combined about one part of proteid or nitrogenous matter to six parts of starches., sugars, hydrates, and fats. Red clover hay, which contained proteid 1 to 5.8 of carbohydrates and fats, and green oats, containing 1 of profeids to 6.2 of car-bo-hydrates and fats, might well be said to be well-balanced rations. Lucerne hay was Ito 3.7. From that it would be seen that it was a concentrated food containing a high proportion of proteid or tissue-building, rather than heat-producing materials. It should, therefore, be fed with greens, watery foods, such as maize, grass, turnips, mangolds, etc. ' Hequoted Coburn, the famous American authority, as saying: “The alfalfa plant furnishes the protein. to construct and repair the brains of statesmen. It builds up the bones and muscle of the war horse, and gives his rider sinews of iron. Alfalfa makes the hensi cackle and the turkeys gobble. It induced the pigs to squeal and grunt with satisfaction. It causes the contented cow to give pails full of creamy milk, and the Shorthorn and white-faced steers to bawl for the tfeed-rack. Alfalfa softens the disposition of the colt, and hardens the bones and muscles. It fattens lambs as no other feed, and it promotes a wool clip that is a veritable golden fleece. It compels skim milk calves to make gains of 21b per day. Alfalfa drills for water, working 365 days in the year without any recompense from man The labour it performs in penetrating the subsoil is enormous. No other agricultural plant leaves the soil ifi such good physical condition as alfalfa.”