60 



of Ulooioo (probably 15 in.), had a crop yielding two cuts within 

 A few weeks in the first year. They did perhaps sow in water- 

 courses, where the spring water was shallow, such localities beingf 

 praised by them. Messrs. Simson Brothers, of Limestone Ridge, 

 near Naracoorte (22.34 in.) 2 had 30 acres under lucerne. Mr. I. 

 Vaughan, of Angaston (21.93 in.), gives a good dressing of manure 

 in July of each year. He sows and harrows in a few oats, which 

 will give a nice cut about September. The same course is re- 

 commended by the Murray Bridge Bureau (13.90 in.), with barley 

 or wheat; and Mr. E. J. Hector, of Port Pirie (12 J in.), sows 

 15 Ib. of Cape barley or oats per acre in April or May for the 

 North, later in the South without a cereal, and uses on a well- 

 pulverised seed-bed only 4| to 5 Ib. of seed, while others sow up 

 to 12 Ib. and more. Mr. R. Cross, of Kanmantoo (17.44 in.), got 

 from 60 to 70 tons of hay from lucerne sown thirty years ago. Mr. 

 T. Lewis, of Burra (17.77 in.), recommends lucerne for light soils of 

 Eastern plains. Mr. Weyland, of Bowhill (11 in.), grew lucern? 

 on rubbly land without irrigation. 



The Veile's formula for manuring an acre of lucerne is super- 

 phosphate 352 Ib., muriate of potash 176 Ib., gypsum 352 Ib. Pro 

 iessor Lowrie recommends 400 Ib. of a phosphate, 5 cwt. and up to 2 

 tons gypsum, and later 6 cwt. of wood ashes, or even 10 cwt. 

 Where lime is wanting 6 to 8 cwt. bonedust is most profitable, and 

 also annually, in winter, according to the crops cut, from 4 to 10 

 cwt. Others recommend from 480 to 720 Ib. of Thomas phosphate 

 and the same of kainit, or from 120 to 160 Ib. of muriate of potash. 

 "Thomas phosphate is for such a perennial crop preferable to super- 

 phosphate. 



.According to these formulas, and another used in New Jersey 

 Experiment Station, where a little nitrogen ^in three years 90 Ib.), 

 was given beside the phosphoric acid and the potash, the lucern^ 

 -crop was enriching the soil very much by drawing nitrogen from the 

 .air. The three years' crop at New Jersey contained actually 

 912.8 Ib. of nitrogen ! What a large sum would be required to 

 apply the 822 Ib. of nitrogen by means of fertilisers after deduct 

 ing the 90 Ib. supplied ! 



Professor Maercker's experiments at Lauchstaedt proved that 

 4 cwt. kainit on good soil given to barley and afterwards yearly man- 

 urings, with 5 cwt. kainit and 3 cwt. Thomas phosphate gave the 

 largest profit per half-acre, viz., 14/3. An increase to 10 cwt. of 

 Thomas phosphate Increased the crop by 2.39 cwt. of lucerne hay, 

 but not the profit, which was only 6/3. 



It should be mentioned that lucerne does not grow well where 

 there is an excess of iron in the soil, but it feeds most heavily 

 on lime, potash, magnesium, and phosphoric acid, so that a top- 

 dressing is advisable after some years if you do not manure every 

 year. Without lime you cannot expect large crops. Mr 

 Jared G. Smith, an agrostologist, says : "There is no better hay 

 plant than alfalfa in regions where it will grow, and the field 

 should be cut when the first flowers appear, before the stems begin 



