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Manawatu Standard, Volume XI, Issue 1643, 24 February 1886, Page 4

Has any farmer, big- or little, m tliis district ever tried growing lucerne, or as it is called on the Pacific sloj.e,' alfalfa? The recent dry season,— now 'happily terminated, or at least interrupted— -wirl/h its consequences m brown pastures and shortness of feed generally, suggests that a trial should be made of this valuable stock food. It is found to grow well m California and Mexico, m desert .country where no other green thing will fiouri>h. It sends its roots deep down into the earth like Abyssinian n-elb, and pump* up moisture to sustain it m luxuriance ■where other plants would wilt helplessly. It i« a prolific crop, a j rich milk producer, and makes' capital hay. The one drawback to its use is that it will not bear. the trampling of stock kindly, but if cut for them it. will grow, up again and again during a season, and iv the year yield an enormous quantity of feed per aero. It ia easy work mowing it, . the juicy stems yielding to the ocy the like butter to a hot knife, and the cartage is the main trouble. It may not be so profitable a crop as tobacco, but if one does not want to grow wveds of any kind it is the nexii best thing — if it will grow at all well — for it grows so thickly that it will smother any weed that dares to fliow its head m the same patch with it. It is the great fodder plant of the drier parts of California, and it ought to be a profitable thing to grow here.