LUCERNE.

Taranaki Daily News, 22 July 1920, Page 7

LUCERNE.

WHEN TO GROW IT. The following information on lucerne growing has been prepared by Mr. J. W. Deem, Government Fields Supervisor, Wanganui: THE USE OF LIME. Like all legumes, lucerne is very fond | of lime j in fact, it cannot be success- j fully grown unless there is a fair supply 1 of lime in the land. The average soil of this coast is rather deficient in lime, and ! when being prepared for lucerne it xliouhl get from 10 cwt. to 20 cwt. per acre. If possible, half of this should be applied with the previous crop and the bal- j ance worked in when preparing the seed- j bed for lucerne. In mo9t instances carbonate of lime (ground limestone) is recommended, especially when a portion of the lime can be worked in with a previous crop or on an early ploughing. But where the liming has to be done a short time before the seed is sown it is advisable to work in about 10 cwt. of carbonate of. lime, then just before the final rolling apply from cwt to 5 cwt of burnt lime. Again, if the land is inclined to be wet, if one has a considerable distance to cart the lime, the burnt j form is recommended. Roughly, io cwt. of burnt lime is equivalent to a ton of carbonate of lime, and a considerable saving is thus made in carriage by using the former. On the other hand, burnt lime is about 35 per cent, dearer than carbonate, and the latter is much easier to handle. MANURING. There is some diversity of opinion as to whether lucerne should be manured o: not. A few hold the opinion that by applying manure with lucerne the weeds and surface-rooting grasses are encouraged at the expense of the lucerne,, which is a deep-rooting plant. Another objection raised by the non-manuring school is that the application of manure causes the lucerne to send "out an abnQrmal number of surface roots, thus checking the growth of the tap-root. In my opinion the whole question depends on the nature of the land. If it is strong clean land, with a good subsoil containing plenty of plant-food, then probably all that is required is proper cultivation and a good dressing of lime. If, on the other hand, the soil is of a light nature and resting on a subsoil poor in plant-food—-like a great cftal of the Taranaki subsoil—the application of manures is beneficial. Leaving out the whys and the wherefores, the fact remains that the best stands of lucerne on this coast have had a'liberal dressing of phosphatic manures, either with the previous crop or at time of sowing.