Additional Crops for Cows and Sheep. 147 



is too often accepted that as it prospers on light soils it is not 

 suitable to the heavier ones ; but provided there is a depth of 

 subsoil, and the land is not waterlogged, it does well. In 

 trials I made on a piece of ground specially selected for its 

 wetness, on a stiff loam overlying Wealden Clay, it prospered 

 and held for several years, never failing to crop well. Prefer- 

 ably, however, too wet land should be avoided, if for no other 

 reason than that such ground is difficult to work and clean in 

 wet springs. To the cow-keeper lucerne is particularly valu- 

 able, and though it is not advisable to feed it too hard with 

 sheep, it is common practice to give sheep a run over the last 

 crop in the year. It also makes a good "flusher" for ewes 

 before taking the ram. It is possibly not so popular in the 

 great sheep-breeding districts on the chalks, because it is 

 better suited to soiling than to hard feeding by sheep ; for 

 though sheep thrive well on it the plant will not hold if 

 closely fed. 



The seeding offers no special difficulties beyond those met 

 with in laying down other seeds, and it may be sown, as it 

 most often is, in a spring-sown corn crop or on bare land. 

 It pays to drill it because the hoe or horse-hoe can then be 

 used in the following spring to get rid of weeds ; although it 

 is, however, sometimes sown successfully broadcast. A fine 

 seed bed allowing the seed to be deposited within an inch of 

 the surface promotes germination, and from 25 to 30 lb. per 

 acre of seed suffices, with drill rows from 9 to 12 in. apart. 

 April is the ordinary month of sowing, but lucerne may be 

 sown up to June. As it does not crop to the full in a year 

 after planting, it is not unusual to sow some other crop with 

 it, such as trefoil or Italian rye-gi-ass, which will die out by 

 the time the lucerne comcH to full growth in its third year. 

 Occasionally more permanent grasses are sown with it, but 

 as a rule it may be regarded as best to aim at getting a 

 whole lucerne crop. This crop gives out more often from 

 smothering by surface ])lants than from any other cause, 

 therefore a clean seed bed is preferable. Owing to the quick- 

 ness with which a fresh growth follows a cutting, and because 

 small patches are generally cut daily for soiling, so preventing 

 horse work on the land, most of the cleaning has to be done 

 just before the spring growth starts. Once the plant is well 

 establish d. the cleaning work need not be too gently done, 

 and all the surface should be worked. Lucerne searches deep 

 for food, consequently it thrives where more shallow rooting 

 plants would not do well over a prolonged period. Three 

 cwt. of superphosphate of lime and 2 cwt. of kainit on light 

 land, or 5 cwt. of basic slag on heavier land in place of the 

 superphosphate, are repaid in the cropping ; subsequently an 



L 2 



