HS 



THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



Vol. VIII. 



JUNE 30, 1840. 



No. 6. 



EDMUND RUFFIN, EDITOR AND PROPRIETOR. 



LUCERNE, OK FRENCH CLOVER. 



From tlic New England Farmer. 



A correspondent asks for in/ormation resjiecting 

 lucerne, particularly whether any experiments have 

 been made with it in this section of'country. We 

 wish some ol'our Iriends w^uld give us inlormation 

 on this subject ; in ihe mean lime the li)llowing 

 selections atiord the best answer we can give our 

 Iriend at present. 



"I have read with great interest the letter of Mr. 

 John Lowell, in the Monthly Genesee Farmer of 

 November last, and (juite concuf with him in his 

 opinion ol'ihe value ol lucerne. My impression is 

 that two or three acres o( it used lor soiling cattle, 

 would add one-third to the produce of a farm ol'one 

 hundred acres, both Irom the greater number of cat- 

 tle that could be kept on the larm, and tlie larger 

 quantity of manure that could in consequence be 

 made, so that its good etfects would be seen in all 

 the crops. 1 beg to oH'er you the result of my 

 experience in cultivating it here. 



'•The very rapid growth of weeds in this country 

 is a very great difficulty in the way of the cultiva- 

 tion of clover ; so much so, that 1 have found it 

 impossible to grow it in drills, as the practice is in 

 England. [ sowed three quarters of an acre ol' 

 it in drills in 1834 ; in 1835 it cost me $53 to weed 

 the crop, yet in 1837 half of it vvas already choked 

 by the growth of grass, clover and other herbs. 

 Part of it too was killed in hollows where the wa- 

 ter lodged in winter. Seeing the culture by drills 

 eo unsuccessful. I sowed some lucerne seed broad- 

 cast and thickly, in a square plot of sandy loam, 

 in my garden, on the 19th of July, 1836. In iwo 

 months after this was sown I pulled out a root, 

 which then measured 30 inches from the to() of 

 the leaves to liie point of the root. In 1837, it 

 was cut on the 9tli of June, and on the 9ih of 

 every subsequent month to October, growing each 

 month about 18 inches. It was cut also five times in 

 1838, and if the spring had not been so cold, I 

 think it would have been fii to cut by the middle 

 of May, as it becan to sprout in April, but vvas 

 choked by the cold; the temperature having de- 

 creased in the latter half of the month of April. 

 The conclusions which my experience seems to 

 afford, are the following : 1st. That lucerne sliould 

 be thickly sown, (Mr. John Lowell says 20 lbs. 

 to an acre,) upon sand or sandy loam, with slopes 

 sufficient to carry off water, and without liollows in 

 which water can lodge. 2d. That in order to pre- 

 vent grass and weeds creeping into the lucerne, 

 there should be a border round it of 5, 6, or more 

 yards in width, in which should be grown every 

 year, mangel wurtzel, potatoes, or other roots 

 which require the soil to be well weeded. 



"Lucerne would be best, preceded the previous 

 year by a crop of potatoes to prepare the land, 

 and as it needs not be sown till the end of May or 

 early in June, the land may be ploughed once or 

 twice previous to the sowing. 



"Lucerne will grow vigoiousl}- on pure sand; lor 

 a genileuian who has recently resided at Dunkirk 

 in France, tells me he was surprised to see its 



Vol. V1II.-41 



great growth on the pure sands adjoining that 

 town. 



"1 have known lucerne to continue to grow lor 

 sixteen years in England.'" — Genesee Farmer. 



The following dialogue is from the pen of the 

 author who furnished ihose published in our previ- 

 ous numbers. We take it from the 'Cabinet of 

 ^Jgricultural Knowledge.'' 



We are happy to announce that the author of 

 those interesting dialogues is about to publish 

 them in book form, revised and enlarged. The 

 book will be a valuable one in every farmer's 

 family. — Farmers^ Cabinet. 



Dialogue between a father and son — Lucerne. 



Frank. — Father, you said you would tell me 

 more about the island of Jersey — since then, I 

 have seen an account of the growth and produce 

 of lucerne — a crop which you say grows there — 

 which is truly astonishing. I find that it yields 

 lour crops lor hay during the summer, and after 

 that, abundance of feed lor cows and sheep. Is 

 it a species of meadow grass or clover? 



Father. — It is much like a narrow leaved clo- 

 ver, but the blossom is very unlike, being of a 

 beautiful blue color. The growth and produce is, 

 as you say, truly astonishing; and having had re- 

 peated opportunity to make myself acquainted 

 with the crop and in every stage of its growth, 

 from its cultivation, I am able to speak very de- 

 cidedly to its great superiority over every other, 

 provided the soil be suitable, and the culture well 

 attended to. The crops to which I allude were so 

 remarkably productive, and I had such constant 

 access to them, that I was induced every evening 

 to enter inio a journal, whatever had transpired 

 during the day, worthy of observation ; but lor this 

 circumstance, it would be outoi'my power, at this 

 distance of time, to speak so decidedly as to their 

 rapid growth and large yield: I have now, liovv- 

 ever, an opportunity to quote chapter and verse 

 from this journal, which I will do, lor your inlor- 

 mation. 



The Rev. Mr. P. having a field of an acre and 

 a quarter, which had been suffered to run to weeds 

 and bulrushes, determined to clean it, and seed it 

 with lucerne ; he had it therefore trenched with 

 the spade, to the depth of the staple of the land, 

 which was in some places very shnllow, the sub- 

 stratum being a hard gravel. By this operation, 

 the richest part, or surface soil, was turned down 

 on the gravel, and the subsoil was brought to the 

 surlkce, to be enriched by luiure dressings. The 

 work was done lor fifty cents per perch, of twenty- 

 two leet squaie, and the seed wns sown broad- 

 cast and harrowed in by hand. O.i the appear- 

 ance of the plants, they were not supposed thick 

 enough to form a crop, but b}' careful manage- 

 ment the field has produced immense crops, both 

 of green food and hay. The journal commences 

 with 



Field No. I. 



September 13/A. Mr. P's field of lucerne, mea- 

 suring one acre and a rjuartcr, alter soiling two 



