Alfalfa ra New York. 409 



not tried the plant in various ways I should probably have deter- 

 mined that it was not worth attention. My errors and instruc- 

 tions will render the work easier for those who choose to attempt 

 future experiments, and whether they succeed or not, they will 

 render agriculture some benefit by communicating the result of 

 their experiments." 



Among others who experimented largely at the same period 

 was Mr. John Stevens, of Hoboken, who sowed lucern on three 

 plots in 1793, but reports the plants as thin and scattering, and 

 not " fit for much," and says: 



" 1. From the almost total failure of lucern on No. 1, we may 

 fairly conclude that the seed was committed to the ground too 

 early in the season, especially as the clover that was sown with 

 it succeeded very well. 



" 2. The indifferent appearance of No. 2 may, I presume, be 

 attributed principally to the want of a proper melioration of the 

 soil. A fit matrix for vegetation was thereby, in the first place, 

 wanting, and in the next place the plants of those seeds which 

 did vegetate were nearly suffocated by weeds. 



" 3. The luxuriant growth of the lucern on No. 3 would 

 countenance a conclusion that lucern may succeed very well when 

 sown on barley without clover. 



" 4. Upon the whole, these experiments, as far as they go, 

 indicate that lucern ought not to be sown early in the season; 

 perhaps, midsummer may prove the fittest time for sowing it. 

 That every care should be taken to render the ground as mellow 

 and as free from weeds as possible, and that, therefore, it would 

 be most advisable to prepare the ground the succeeding year by 

 a crop of potatoes, pumpkins, or other horse-hoed crop, with which 

 a generous coat of manure should be laid on so as to supersede 

 the necessity of manuring the lucern, except, perhaps, with a 

 top dressing of ashes, etc. 



" Perhaps no subject of rural economy will eventually prove of 

 more importance to the American agriculturist than the culture 

 of lucern. From the habits of the plant it appears admirably 

 fitted to our climate. It requires heat and endures drouth, and 

 on a soil properly adapted to it, it will last from a dozen to 20 

 years in full perfection." 



In 1792, Mr. Peter De La Bigarre says: " It is not true that 

 lucern can grow everywhere. It requires a light but substantial 

 ground, not too dry or too wet; it delights in a deep and gravelly 

 soil or rich sand, where it may root down easily, rather upon a 



