SOWING LUCERNE.

Shannon News, 15 January 1924, Page 4

SOWING LUCERNE.

fffprh FOR INOClji^'iAoy.

The nodules, which attach them- \ selves to. lucerne and other legumes i doseTy delated to it, secye nitrogen | from the air; These nodules are ■ colonieiTot Useful bacteria, which sup- | W nitrogen directly to the lucerne, nlanf and Iproduced healthy, green i growth. fhHlrectly ;ntfro|ren is added to the soir without any cost to the farmer. Seething is thereby got for nothing. Nitrogen added in the form of'manured c6st'tf-4n'6i-e costly than either phosphates or potash. If these nitrogen-fixing bacteria are not present in adequate numbers in a soil on which, it is intended to sow ludernC they should be added.

METHOD OF INOCULATION OF lucerne.

The usual method used in this province is to work into the ground some top soil from an old lucerne field. “Mdst of the soils of the Auckland province are not ideal for lucerne , growing, bUt lucerne can be grown j profitably by 'good cultivation and j manuring. Inoculation is also essential,” stated Mr T. H, Patterson,' in- j structor of the Department of Agri- j culture, Auckland. “In establishing > lucerne farmers are well advised to inoculate the soil just previous to sWifig the seed, or ffiix the soil, manure, and seed together and sow through the drill. Inoculation helps to start the crop well’. A good start with lucerne makes for a successful stand. Weeds are . the difficulty in getting lucerne established. Therefore anything which will help at the start should not bq .neglected.” BLACK MEDIC AND LUCERNE. Commenting on a i.eport which appeared in the “New Zealand Herald of January 4, regarding Mr H. G: Levey's lucerne, near Tauranga, Mr Patterson Stated that it was a fact that Inoculation was not essential on fnany- Soils-hf the Tauranga district. TheSe" soils along the Tauranga Harbour, whdrfe “black'hiedie” (medicago iupulina) ‘ Was grdWing well, did not "generally heed- inoculation. This blackseeded 'clover cbuld be seen growing in Marlborough district, right along through the Seddon and Ward district, and down the coast of the South Island to ICaikoura. These districts, Mr Patterson stated, - were ideal for lucerne. On the foreshores of the Tduranga* Harbour black medic flourished, and lucerne has been established quite well without adding inoculated soil. Black medic, however, is not widely distributed in the Auckland province.

INOCULATION NECESSARY FOR LUCERNES.

. inoculation is a necessary preliminary exfcept in the favoured localities, referred to. The opinion is held by ! mhhy farmers that clovers generally soil for lucerne, and did away with the necessity for inoculation. Th'i's was hot so. It had been "shown experimentally that plants of "the "Same gOhhs 1 Us lucerne, namely, medicagos, did prepare the soil. Apparently the same type of bacteria adhere to all members of the medicago genua But white, red, and alsike clover, for instance, belonged to another genus and attracted a different group of bacteria; which were not attracted to lucerne. “Where farmers ' have afiy 'doWbts,” 'd'dde Mr Patterson “they should inOOtilate the soil.”