LUCERNE AND SANFOIN.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1319, 8 September 1880, Page 2

LUCERNE AND SANFOIN.

Lucerne is of the leguminous order of plants. It has been cultivated for centuries on the Continent of Europe, where it is very highly esteemed as a fodder plant. It is a perennial plant of a very deeprooting nature. The stalks grow to a height of from eighteen to thirty-six inches, according to the depth and richness of the soil, and are covered with leaves which, together with the stoma, are excellent food for all kinds of stock. In a rich loamy soil of a calcareous nature, with a free subsoil that will allow tho roots to penetrate to their full extent, lucerne will be found to thrive well and give three or four good mowings in a year. Moist flats are best suited for lucerno, and it is quite useless 'o attempt to glow it on land of a harsh and dry nature. In j preparing the ground for lucerne, deep, ploughing and minute pulverisation is necessary. Subsoiling also is recommended by some, as it enables the plants to defy a severe drought. An English, writer says that the ground should be l trenched, and a liberal quantity of manure buried about a foot from the surface. He maintains that the expense of this process is fully counterbalanced •by the early maturity and continued success of the crop. An operation involving so much labor as trenching does can scarcely be carried out here until wages are even lower than they are at present. If labor couM be procured here at the same rate as at Home, it is questionable whether it would be wise to expend so much on one crop, unless the whole of the farm could be treated in a like thorough manner. Trenching is a great advantage, in fact almost a necessity for plantations of trees; but one would be inclined to think that stirring the ground to a depth of 18 or 20 inches would be sufficient for the requirements of a forage plant for many years.

Lucerne takes two years to como to maturity, after which time it may bo mown several times in one provided the land is good and well worked. Each mowing should give from throe to five tons of good nutritious food per acre. To continue productive for a number of years it requires an occasional top dressing of manure. Lucerne, like a good many other "plants, thrives best after turnips or rape. As soon as the turnips are fed off the land should bo ploughed as deep as possible, subsoiled, and ploughed again, harrowing and rolling following each ploughing. The earliec lucerne is sown in the spring the bettorAugust ia the best month for sowing s bul; September is not too late. If deferred! to a later period, there is a great risk of the fly eating off the young plants whilein seed leaf. The seed may be sown broad.cast or in drills ; it is generally drilled in England to admit of the horn being worked among it to keep down the woods, | and also to stimulate the growth of tha | young plants. About eighteen or twenty pounds of seed per acre is sufficient it drilled; for broad-cast sowing a few more pounds are required. The seed should b& quite fresh, as there is some do«;bt of it coming up freely if more than one yew old. The seed being small only requires a light covering of earth.. In countries where lucerne is most commonly cultivated, it is often Sio.wa with a thin crop of barley, or other spring corn, on account of the protection, the corn is supposed to afford the young plants. An English agriculturist, however, who has paid 4 j great deal of attention to the culture of j lucerne, is of opinion that it is mora pro- | titable to sow it alone in drills about nino inohes or a foot apart, so that tJie ho& may work freely and keep all weea& under, whereas in sowing broadcast with corn the weeds must be allowed to grow unchecked. Lucerne is either grazed, cut green for soiling cattle, or made into ha;. As green food> it is much superior to clover for milch cows, causing them to yield milk abundantly, and imparting no unpleasant taste to the milk or butter. Some care is necessary in giving it t° cows when green, as they are liable togs blown with it, the same as with clover, it they are allowed too much at once. Lucerne contains less water w 1 composition than any plant of the san) ® j order, excepting sanfoin, which cod* tainft about the same percentago o . water, viz., 77i per cent. Lucerne con* ! tains 20- per cent, of flesh-forming #" : fat-produoing material; clover and vetc ■' have or Ift per cent. Lucerne ma ; excellent hay if cut at the right twu which) is as soon as the blossom Being a plant of early and rapid J<■ f it ia ready for cutting before eithe? sa" or clover, and if well made the nay preferred to any other by horses, b i and cattle. To make good hay requires a great deal of «aro andatte > if carried too green it, will heat an in stack, and by leaving it t° g? dry, the leaves drop off in moy'ngi ■ . fattening and milk producing q should recommend it to graoere farmers. A paddock of luoerne i u be established on every farm, strike down to Buoh a depth as y it to defy the most scorching thereby ensuring a certain supp y # food in dry seasons. It w,« j esa ni extensively used in New n ftho* other parts of Australia, h 0 ;» In» [climates being well suited for ■ moist season there _ « _ $ five or six cuttings in 8 1 ' ve jri article in the fcaader s ° ompara ti* ago, speaking ot tne . merits of lucerne and P # good says that the latter, tnoi. g c | rcll ttgrasa, will not, under the & seat o» stances, produce so much f° r j or I as lucerne. Besides being P g^en or H |in quantity and quality to e eX pensi T& H , meadow hay, lucerne is , req u '(f fl ' than any annual crop, as it u p |U ■ | a little manure each y ear ■ ! productive powers. _ „ H Sanfoin is also a deep root nffH plant, and is a common crop in the South of England. I H so high as lucerne, biit> bunchy ft>rm> 0110 It prefers a ° ], ol veve r i I soil,, rather dry j ™jime, grown in any soil o° n _ vided it is weU dramedand^ subsoiK Sanfoin Qow© to maturity, tQ j u cer» every respect, it is , 8 ore parati°® the time of sowing) P

the after culture being t& e tbo Bamc * Ic makes si® 08 ' Id b*r, t> ut » h 's h f tcr th , a , n l ll ' tety Re produce, nnder favorable circle- J™y 3bout two or three tons per cttDJßt3 Tho hardiness of sanfoin is such acre- t or wettest seasons do not tS#»» e ' have any injurious effect npon «TL!fc£taT l » of a less flatulent ?han lucerne or clover, and is an l f"d for horses ; a liberal quankeep them in good working con- - _______