LUCERNE GROWING.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1395, 22 March 1912, Page 8

LUCERNE GROWING.

■• TESTS X'IMVKREROA FARM. Tho Agricultural Department is at present conducting experiments Jit tlie ni'teroa State Farm to lost the suitability of the environment for the cultivation ot lucerne, as well as to discover (he bost variety of the plant to grow. Already tacts have- been demonstrated.- It lias been conclusively .proved, for one thing, that im ideal seed-bed can be provided in the lociilitv,while there is nothing m the rlimato to- retard a vigorous development and- a conscqiicnt -heavy production. Ino first cutting from th<V testiiifs'pUds-a cutting which is usually not ot Milnciwit luxuriance of growth to justify its use lor hay, Being allowed to remain uii the ground ns a ninlch-wns 01-remarkable -growth, a,heavy mass.of vegetation tally ,!l feet in .lieigji.t..iK-'iiiJf produced in fitly davs from sowing. ' I'ho iiii-thud lif" establishing- the ucerno. was as follows":-Tlio U'a paddock had been" down iii grass for six years, htable manure, at the, rate, of C tons per acre, was spread on tho surface before ploughing; It was skim ploughed in Hay and ploughed again in July,-and 2cwt. ot basic sing per acre was then disced in. It was ploughed for the third time in October. On account of the ground being too wet, sowing was delayed until November 21. Uight varieties were sown- broadcastFrench. American Peruvian, colonial, Arabian. Turkestan. Hungarian, Hunter River. The whole of the'e germinated very satisfactorily, with the exception ot Hunter,Biver. •' '. - . •'. .. French.—This made the most rapid growth. It was cut just before, coming info flower, mid was fed to dairy herd in fifty days from sowing. American.—Tho leaf is longer and narrower than that of the French variety. Peruvian.—Similar to the American, but .tho leaves.are. slightly. smaller and are. more pointed, while it is not quite so tall it stooled out better. Colonial.—The proportion of leaf to stem is better than thafof any of the other varieties. . . . . , . Arabian.—Slower in growth, but there is a fair proportion of leaf to stem. ■Turkestan.—Tho habit of growth is an objection, the stem being procumbent. Hungarian.—Upright habit, of growth, with a large number of stems. Hiinjw River.—The germination, as mentioned, is poor and the growth was .slow, with Hie result that it became badly choked with weeds. The.best of those varieties for the locality cannot be 'determined from the first season's experience. The plants must be acclimatised and be tested under extremes of climatic conditions. .

'Tn a test 'being carried our .by Mr. .lames Knight,■;of Feilding, , with., several varieties, Provence lias mndi much the strongest growth. Little dilVerence is so far disoeninblc befween Peruvian, Arabian, and Turkestiih.' A"portion'of the land was limed. The difference- between the lucerne- in the lirosil and the imlimed portions is nio=-t strikiiK'. The liming was «fc tho ratp of Seiyt. to the acre. The seed was drilled—the drills being Tin. , apart— at the rate of M!b. to tlie acre. The plots received a manurial dressing of ljcwt. of superphosphate, 401b. of bone-meal, 20lb. of sulphate of potash, and 101b. of sulphate of ammonia. The seed was produced in tho South Island.

' Appearance of a Pest. The Agricultural . Department's Biologist, Mr. A." "If. Cockayne, re-mai'l-vs ' in'" 'the'.'Dppartmeiit's Journal that the great extension of lucerne growing has led ,tti flip general establishment of a weed that has been hitherto one of the rarest of our naturalised aliens. This plant, known as Eruca sativa. until this.vea; - had only-been recorded from "Port Fitzroy, near Cape Rodney, in the North Island, but during the past few months its presence has-been re'D'ortcd ns nuito general in newly-sown lucerne fields, from Control OtaM in the soiith to Ifinvera in the north. Erucn belongs to tho turnip family, and ■when in (lower closely resembles wild rndisli in'appearance. The flowers are light'yellow in colour, and the oetals are strongly marked with pinkish veins. Tho pods are oblong, nearly terete, with a long seedless beak. The seed is given by Stebler- as a sourceindicator of South French seed, and it would appear that tho majority of rho seed sown last season was of this origin. The plant, is an annual, from 2ft. to 3ft. in height, and seeds very freely, so that it is liable to persist in localities that are not grazed unon. •

Til lucerne "fields -f the first cut takes nlace before ..the Eruca' flower;, it is not likely to be of any. great danger; but, as it flowers very early, seeding is, not improbable before cuttiig takes nlace. •In. upwly-sown 'luceriic plot's* Eruca should bo carefully hand-nulled" before flowering. }lr. Cockayne does not look upon this weed as likely lo be serious except in lucerne. In the successful cultivation of this crop, cleanliness from weeds during the early period of its- establishment is. one of the cardinal principles to be observed."'' '