550 THE farmers' handbook. 



Limestone country is particularly suitable for lucerne, and has the addi- 

 tional advantage of being naturally well drained. Lucerne under irrigation 

 does particularly well on such soil. Wherever large mallee timber growb 

 there is usually plenty of limestone in the soil, consequently in such country 

 lucerne usually grows to perfection. 



The consistent returns obtained from the production of lucerne hay on the 

 Yanco Experiment Farm during the past few years make a study of the 

 methods adopted at that institution worthy of consideration. 



The soil on the farm consists for the greater part of a heavy clay loam, 

 the top soil varying from 5 to 8 inches in depth and being underlaid by a 

 band of clay that varies from 2 to 22 inches in thickness in reverse ratio to 

 the top soil. I 



When to Sow Lucerne. 



Under such conditions care is essential in order to ensure the establish- 

 ment of a good stand, and the first thing to take into account is the time 

 when the seed should be sown. It might be said in one word — autumn. The 

 soil is then warm, it is possible to apply the water in such a way as to ensure 

 a saturated subsoil, and to work the surface so as to produce an almost ideal 

 seed-bed, and the lucerne can be got above ground sufficiently before winter 

 to enable it to continue slowly to establish itself during the cool months, so 

 that in the spring it is ready to respond to the increasing temperatures and 

 to such applications of water as the weather makes necessary. 



Spring sowing is quite possible, but the plant is more delicate and requires 

 more attention, greater care, and extra labour to ensure a profitable stand. 

 Young spring-sown plants necessarily feel the effects of the advance of 

 summer more, not being so well established as those sown in autumn, and 

 will yield at least one cut less in the first season than a stand sown five or 

 six months earlier. On this farm it is common now to sow blocks of 30 

 acres in the autumn and to do so with reasonable assurance of a good stand, 

 but of spring sowing the area would not exceed 5 acres. The methods 

 adopted in spring sowing are, in essence, quite the same as for autumn 

 sowing, the only differences being those obviously imposed by the season. 

 For convenience, the method described in this article is that adopted for the 

 autumn. 



Preparing the Ground. 



It will perhaps be appropriate to remark at the outset that as the un- 

 hindered flow of irrigation water across the field has at all times to be kept 

 in view, it is essential that all operations shall be conducted in the direction 

 of the fall. The ploughing must be in small lands and not round and round, 

 or it will be found that dips will remain in the centre in which water will 

 lie and will kill out the lucerne; on one occasion such a mistake was made 

 on the farm some years ago and the stand suffered accordingly. Similarly, 

 the ploughing must not be across the fall, or the inequalities of the ground 

 will interfere with the flow of the water. Cultivation (except of the very 

 lightest character) must be in .the same direction for the same reason. The 

 seed drill must work the same way or the rows of the lucerne, crossing the 

 fall of the water, will impede its advance and produce uneven watering with 

 possibly the killing out of certain patches. The surface cultivation to which 

 the crops are annually treated after they are two or three seasons old must 

 be guided by the same principle. In a word — all work likely to affect the 

 levels, even a little, must be the one way. 



