1 84 



journal of Agriculture. 



[io -March, igio. 



agriculturist of America, is a fair presentation of the results of American- 

 experience, which Victorian experience has confirmed. 



Soils on which it is difficult to grow Lucerne. — It is more difficult to grow lucerne 

 on some soils than others, and on some of them it is not wise to make the attempt. 

 First, any soil that is not more than 2^ feet above the water line is too shallow for 

 continual lucerne growth. It needs a depth of at least 3 feet to water, and if the 

 distance is even greater all the better. In laying tile underdrains for a foundation 

 to a lucerne field seek, then, to get the level of the water line down at least 3 or 4 

 feet. 



On peaty soils with little clay or sound earth within them it is not often that 

 lucerne will thrive. There are some excejitions to this rule, though thev are not ^vell 

 understood. 



On nearly barren sands it is doubtful if it is worth while trying to establish 

 lucerne fields. They must be continuously fed in order to produce this forage, so 

 rich in mineral elements, and it must be remembered that these mineral elements 

 must come from the soil. 



Clays. — While the most luxuriant growth of lucerne is usually from a porous soil, 

 a loam or gravelly alluvium, yet clays drained and stored with vegetable matter are 

 ])roducing some of the best growths of lucerne in the United States. This is 

 especiallv true of strong, tough limestone clavs that, when in their natural state, 

 hold water " like a jug," but when underdrained and well manurerl become more 



ii;h ]iLLK.-5L;RAPER. 



o])en and pervious to both air and moisture. On such clays lucerne revels, and when 

 ])loughed up and other crops are planted on the land it is astonishing to see with 

 what vigour they grow, revealing plainly the very great benefit that the lucerne has 

 been to the soil," both by adding nitrogen through the decay of its leaves and roots, 

 and by bringing up mineral matters from the sub-soil, and by decaying and leaving 

 ihe air and water passages through the clay, always before too dense to permit these 

 helpful agents to work their will. And when lucerne is sown again upon these clays 

 after one or two years of grain or hoed crops, manure being scattered over the land 

 in the interval, it' is found that the lucerne responds wonderfully and yields better 

 than it did after its first seeding. 



As an aid to improvement of Victorian practice and to the determina- 

 tion of the . modifications of practice in other countries required to suit 

 local conditions, the Commission has carried on an experimental and 

 demonstration farm at Tatura for the past two years. One of the 

 fundamental problems to be dealt with here was to determine what plan 

 of preparing land for irrigation was best suited to the soils and grades- 



