FACES FOR FARMERS. LUCERNE GROWING.

Waikato Times, Volume IV, Issue 222, 11 October 1873, Page 2

FACES FOR FARMERS. LUCERNE GROWING.

In the earlier day* ef tiie colony, wheu gram-erowmc alono claimed the afeteotioa x>f South Austr.Ua, being perhaps as long as the fertility of » virgin soil wouid laet— the most profitable or yielding at least the quickest murns-feut little op «o notice vu taken of the numerous and equally important fodder p U o t flj tha culture of which, combined with that of graiu forms a very material Jink in modern' fanning. Exhaustion ,p.f the •oil, ,tho natural result of in- ■ jutacient working, *.*& in mimy cases croppiu ,' continuously with the same or flaw!,- allied plants, gratingly showed its I damaging influence oy ng\ {culture, so much so that at the present tune large trnvt» of preuously fertile foods are left unoccupied, or at least uncultivated, being " wheat sick/ as our farmers torn i,t. *. different system of farming than that hitherto followed must thus be adopted, and tliis will force a regular system of rotation of crops upon our farmers, who also begin to recognise the importance of combining ' with it the cultivation of forage plants. A regular and sufficient supjjlypf .these not /inly enables them to directly increaso their income by the production of marketable goods m the shape of nmajt or dairy produce, which in many instances far surpass in value the yield of grain likely to be obtained from a giren area of land, but indirectly jalso it is . ol the greatest importance for improving pfcber parts of the farm not required immediately for the culture of fodder plants, by enabling the former to pa-apare manures. Eut few of the forage plants produced hy European farmers (though many others will be found to be adapted to our climate) have hitherto teen grown in South Australia. Amongst these lucerne (Medicago sativa) is not only one of the best, but also the one which is most generally sullivaled. A few notes on its culture and feeding capabilities may nevertheless be of service. Lucerne is a perennial herbaceous plant, which when once properly established will continue to yield large quantities or fodder for a series of years without requiring to have any large amount of labour bestowed upon it. Though it will grow on almost any kind of ground, friable and foo*e soil will bo found best adapted for its production, even although through a large admixture of sand it is rather poor. Tenacious clays will suit it best. Whatever ground may be selected it should be deeply worked to enable the roots to sink into the ground. * Subsoil ploughing from sixteen to eighteen inches in depth will be found highly beneficial, if not absolutely necessary. Another very important matter m the cultivation of lucerne is drainage. Like all clovers it i? 7f rj £? ii7 damaged by stagnant water lodging in the held. Where underground drainage, which is always the best, even in our dry climate, is impracticable, and where, nevertheless, low-lying ground is selected, it should be thrown up in rather high lands to allow surface water to dram off in the furrows. The gronnd having been sufficiently worked, and its surface finely broken by harrowing, sowing may be commenced. This should be done either early m autumn, shortly after the first good rains, as then the young tplants will have attained sufficient strength to successfully withstand the cold and wet of our winters', or in spring. Winter sowing is not advisable for reasons just named. Generally grain is sown with lucerne, which shelters the latter whilst young and tender. Before the grain crop attains its maturity it is mown off, leaving the lucerne sole occupant of the field. Opinions greatly vary as to the quantity of seed required per acre. When drilled in, from 6 to 81bs. ia counted sufficient; for broadcast sowings 81bs., or even more will be found requisite. To use 201bs. per acre as recommended by some, seems to be sheer waste of i-ed, besides preventing the plants from properly developing themselves, which becomes impossible when crowded too much together. For this reason, also, drilling the seed in is preferable to broadcast sowing, as by the former method the plants are placed at regular distances from each other. A little return may be expected during the first season, although farmers must be satisfied with obtaining one, or at the utmost two, short cuttings in the first year. Even where under favorable circumstances more luxuriant growth may prevail it is best not to weaken the plants by too severely cutting them down. In spring lucerne-fields should receive a slight top-dressing of well-rotted manure, and be harrowed over. Clean land only should be used for lucerne-growing • where this is not available hand-weeding will have to be resorted to. With the care and attention just named a lucernefield may lost (and yield profitable crops) for from eight to ten years, or even twelve years, tbree to four or more cuttings being available during each season. Depasturing lucerne paddocks, though often enough done in the colonies) is not advisable, not only because cattle by feeding too greedily on the succulent herbage are apt to gorge fchemselres, and thii3 endanger their health, but also because the plants suffer by having their crowns broken and damaged by the hoofs. Where lucerne is to be used for pasture it js best to thmly scatter it over the grass-paddocks without specially preparing the ground, as stated above. Though' pi uch less luxuriant, I have, nevertheless, seen it doing wall on very shallow and poor lands, even on steep slopes of hills, where intermixed with native and European grasses it greatly added to the feeding capabilities of the pasture, yieldine, even during the hottest part of the year, a bite of eree/i fod- ! der to horses and cattle depasturing there.— E. B. Heynk I in Sydney Mail. ' '

Mr garnet Davwon, of Georgia, Unite 4 State«, has experimented extensively with stable manure and several of the commercial fertilizers. He proved from these experiments that Peruvian guano increased the yield 140 nor cent, when compared with the yiel<{ from the same quantity qf land without any manure whatever. He found also that common wood ashes and salt gave an increase of 200 l?er cent Large results have been obtained upon poor soils by other fertilizers such as from an acre of land manured with fish manure, which yielded 23QQ pounds of seed cotton ; another acre of land in a different locality manured with barn-yard manure, shell li Ine , and leached ashes, yielded an equal quantity of cotton seed ; another acre yielded 2200 pounds of cqtton seed, manured with baui-yard manute cotton seed, and Baugh's superphosphate of hm Q . The season wo* an unfavourable one, so the increased yield wa« believed to be entirely due to the fertilizers used. J all countries where land is cheap there is a tendency to attempt, the cultivation of too large an area in proportion to capital and labour— a couise which often leads to impoverishment, if not to ruin. A woi king capital of ten to twenty pounds per acre is required in England, and this is altogether apart from the capital invested in the land, which is seldom owned by the faimer. A farmer should have at least a sum equal to the value of his farm for expenses of stocking and working. Failing either in sufficiency of money or labour, he «limild sell land enough to obtain it, whether it be a fouith, half, or even three fourths of his present farm. A. correspondent of the Field, Mr E. Hobday, writes as follows on the value of soot in tin. garden :— "Soot is condensed or embodied smoke, and cli.-mmts tell us it is rich in nniinoniiii-iil v.lli. It may bo «]>|.ii( with advantage to nearly all garden crops j but the b.'*.t modo of application is as a top dressing to growing cro,*, or as a liquid manure. Iv mauurial vuluo it bus an aei id principle esueciallv dn-

tasteful to in-i'its ; and it may be used with advantage in checking then* depredations. There is often a great difficulty on some hot soils in getting up young plants of the Brossira family, from the fly being so troublesome during their early <jro\\th. Jt h no uncommon occurrence to have a crop of vounj plants elearoi off in twenty.four hours if overlooked or neglected ; and the seedsman frequently gets blamed for supplying bad seeds, when in reality the young plant? on emerging from the ground have been devoured for want of a little watching and attention. In attacking insects, a stitch in time saves nine. Frequently stirring the surface, and scattering a little soot over them early in the morning, wiU not inly save them, but the application of soot imparts increased vigour to the plants when ouce they can get clev of their insect enemies. Jt is best to sow nil seeds in. drills ; there is thus iuqreased facility for using x the hoe. Should au unfortunate row of peas be attacked ty sparrows «arly in the seasop, if a Kttle soot is dusteg aver them thejparrowg will seek other food- In using maiden Joam from old pastures ((which are frequently injfepted t witU v wir.e-woiKp3) for cucumbers or ro«l<m(, or fruit> tree borders, % have always found the benefit of a dash of soafc niifced witMhe -sod iv scattering thoni. JFr,esU soot is also .especially useful ■*« destroying surreptitious fungoid growth, frjqmntly ge3?ei-*t^l iv pit* iißed with, fermented materials, *m«U ac leaves or itao. J .will Relate an instance o^ *Ui» that ,came HnSer my i»otic» this spring. In January la3t, a pit her.c wai filled with leaves for early cucumber*.; -bat, after th,o cucumbers had been planted fOino days and \ver« growing rapidly, in the course of q. single night a fitpgug had chot up from the fermenting materials., was rapidly pqrmeetuig Abe <srJUoJ« abmi of «oil, jand vm attacl^og gadf iv.mw>at.9 tfyxbwt -of .ouoamber plants. A heavy dressiug ftf S9»t mu St S>W «Jministored, and th&y were abo watered wJWki www «oot wntor, and the fuwga» disappe^e^ niinoAt nsj^idl/ m it imA formed, wtthouA io.i»g*h« eligl^teflt .i^UR/; i» fißat I bare never before hjwj .Qvcu^bqrs fl^Jie tmitctyw mutte ptsfli&fi. Half a gallon .of jQftl; 4w«oMed «t# Amm^. c/ *oft v,Mfyu f «jd afterwa-ds .ol*rkf W^ to,<&is>Po»^ {^9 (fcii* &»qiwi ! it«isaU lump of fresh m^.v-fti W<^i'&c<sM4tosjirbeß.etis\tl fpr syringing almost £Ktt^K&£, iwpfitiiag i&epMM .vigaur to the foliage in a nstftiftp^e vissw. |$wfc iwtewtti of cfchpffdluo .of eoofc iv