LEGUMINOUS CROPS. 553 



Working the Seed-bed. 



In April the land thus prepared for sowing is treated to an application of 

 water. No doubt some will wonder, but so it is. It is found that if the soil 

 (already warm and well worked) is also moist, the seed germinates quickly 

 and also evenly. Sowing in a dry seed-bed has been one of the common 

 causes of failure on the irrigation areas. In such cases the seed is sown 

 with the intention that the ground shall be irrigated after sowing (perhaps, 

 too, with the hope that rain will make irrigation unnecessary), but the 

 method is rarely satisfactory. In many cases the effect of the irrigation 

 water is to cake the surface over the tender little seedlings, which are there- 

 fore unable to reach the sun and air. It does not need to be pointed out 

 That to attempt to disturb the surface- at that stage is almost as fatal to the 

 little plants as to leave it alone. The lucerne seedling is a very tender thing 

 indeed, and disturbance in its early life is one thing it takes as most unkind. 

 All cultivation of lucerne must be after the plant is well rooted — and to sow 

 the seed in a dry seed-bed is simply sowing a crop of troubles. One grower 

 who tried this method had a novel experience ; the water floated the seed off 

 the higher portion of the ground and deposited it on the lower, giving him 

 half his area much too thick and the rest much too thin. 



In April, then, the land is furrowed out between the check banks with 

 special furrowing shovels attached to an ordinary cultivator. These shovel 

 points, which really belong to the Planet Jr. type of fittings, make the 

 furrows 2 feet apart, which means three or four of the points on the culti- 

 vator. The water is then turned into these furrows from the head ditch, 

 and the land thoroughly saturated; the water is confined to the furrows as 

 much as possible, and it advances slowly along the furrows, soaking down- 

 wards and laterally, and giving a far better result than would be obtained 

 by flooding between the check banks without furrows. It takes the water 

 three or four days to reach the lower end. but the furrows are not allowed to 

 overflow. 



Should the land have been fouled with weeds, it would be well, perhaps, to 

 .forego (in part) the advantages of the fallow period, and to form the check 

 banks and furrows earlier in the year, turn in the water to germinate the 

 weed seeds, and kill them by cultivation. A further irrigation in view of 

 the sowing of the lucerne will probably then be necessary, according to the 

 state of the ground when the beginning of April arrives. 



The Sowing. 



The land being thus well irrigated, as soon as the surface is dry enough to 

 carry the teams, the tine cultivator is employed to produce a level and fine 

 surface. The seed-bed is now in an ideal condition, and the seed is sown 

 at once, the drill being generally no more than half a day behind the culti- 

 vator. If by any mischance the ground unfortunately dries out before the 

 seed can be sown, it is better to cultivate and irrigate again before sowing 

 rather than to attempt to do any good on the dried out surface. If, for any 

 other reason, the seed fails to germinate after treatment on these lines, it is 

 better to leave the whole thing until next year, and to use the paddock in 

 some other way in the meantime. 



The seed used on the farm is obtained from Tamworth. that being the 

 only seed now sown for farm crops. Many varieties and sub-varieties have 

 been sown, but Tamworth Broadleaf lucerne has given far better results 

 than any other. 



