34- Journal of Agricidiurc. [lo June, 1909^ 



The Growing of Lucerne for Hay. 



There is a wide spread belief that onlv rich river flats with exception- 

 ally deep soil are suited for growing ha\ . Time will show this to be a 

 mistake. The Mallee .soils with manure will give equal yields, and much 

 of the clay and sandy land of the North onlv needs such treatment as 

 will restore to the soil the humus it has lost by growing wheat to make 

 lucerne hay the best paying crop which can be grown. This does not 

 mean that all soils will grow lucerne. Some of the thin clav soils of the 

 Northern irrigated districts will not, and there are places where the growth 

 is checked by an excess of common salt in the soil. This latter has 

 proved the case in parts of the experimental plot at Tatura. 



9. SMALL WHKEL HAV RAKE LMa» L\ NEW .SOUTH WALE.S. 



On suitable soil from 3 to 6 crops a year can be grown, and yields 

 from half a ton to one and a half tons to a cutting are reported. Nothing 

 less than half a ton v\ill pay, and the aim of every grower should be to 

 raise the yield to a ton a cutting. It is believed that in most of the 

 irrigated area the yield can be doubled by careful watering coupled with 

 manuring the soil. The trouble with the clav soils is lack of vegetable 

 matter. To provide this, is an important problem of irrigation in Northern 

 Victoria. 



Harvesting and Marketing Hav. 



The quickest way to turn hay into money is by pressing and forwariling 

 to market. In this, the use of modern hay-making machinery is an im- 

 portant factor. It not only relieves hay-making of its most laboiious 

 and disagreeable features, but reduces its co.st by half. Using a sweep 

 rake, a hay stacker and a power press, hay can be cut, pressed and made 

 ready for sale or shipment for los to 12s. a ton. It can be cut and 

 stacked for 5s. a ton ; and it has been pressed this season b\ one Victorian 

 grower for 4s. 6d. a ton. The accompanying photographs taken at the 

 Cohuna demon.stration this \ear show the tools used for gathering and 

 stacking. With these implements the onlv hard manual labour required 

 in hay-making is to ])Iace the hay on the stack. Horses cut, rake, haul 

 and lift it on to the stack. Likewise, in i)ressing, all the hard labour 

 needed is to feed the hay into a hoi:)p-er. \\\m\ fasten the wires on the bales. 

 Hor.ses or a steam engine do the rest. In Xew South Wales, methods 

 requiring much hard manual labour are still largeK pmi)lo\ed. 



