LUCERN. 



LUCERN. 



By careful weeding and hoeing, and frequent 

 top-dressings (for which purpose gypsum, cal- 

 careous matters, ashes, &c., are excellent), the 

 profitable duration of this crop may be extend- 

 ed eight or ten years, giving during that period, 

 on an average, three or four cuttings per an- 

 num: the first of which, in favourable seasons, 

 will be as early as the middle of April. It 

 should always be cut before the appearance 

 of the blossom. It may be made into hay, al- 

 though much better adapted for soiling. An 

 acre will, upon an average, produce fodder for 

 two horses, from the first cutting to October. 

 It is admirably adapted for milch cows, and is, 

 indeed, relished by all live-stock. 



" Lucern," as observed by Mr. Loudon (En- 

 cyclo. of Gard.) " is highly extolled by Roman 

 writers ; it is also of great antiquity in Spain, 

 Italy, and the south of France ; is much grown 

 in Persia and Peru, and mown in both coun- 

 tries all the year round. It is mentioned by 

 Hartlip, Blythe, and other early writers, and 

 was tried by Lisle ; but it excited little atten- 

 tion till after the publication of Harte's Essays 

 in 1757 (1 1764). Mr. Towers, speaking of 

 lucern, calls it ' the plant of plants.' ' I have 

 grown lucern (he adds) during four or five 

 years, and previously I had witnessed its great 

 success and extensive culture in the Isle of 

 Thanet.'" 



In cutting for a cow, it will always be ad- 

 visable to take the plant when it is tender and 

 juicy; and such it will be when about a foot 

 high. I have thus cut my plot over six times 

 after the first year; but they who leave the 

 plants to grow two feet high, will find the stems 

 rigid, fibrous, and less juicy; and that what 

 they gain in bulk will be lost in time and qua- 

 lity. Lucern is known to produce much milk, 

 perhaps more than any other of the artificial 

 grasses (Legtiminosee) ; but some complain that 

 it communicates an austere or bitter flavour. 

 I doubt the fact, but would always recommend 

 that it be not given quite fresh to a cow, par- 

 ticularly at an early period after calving. 



If the required quantity be cut over night, it 

 will be fit for the stall by ten o'clock of the 

 following morning, and again the afternoon 

 meal should be exposed to the sun for 2 or 3 

 hours before it is used. " As to the trouble in 

 managing an established crop, it is really no- 

 thing. Though I allow it is good to hoe twice 

 during the summer, as the plot is cut piece by 

 piece, yet one general fork-digging at that pe- 

 riod of early spring when the plants exhibit 

 the first symptom of growth, so as to remove 

 every weed, and loosen the surface of the soil, 

 will be amply sufficient to secure the safety 

 and full developement of the herb. Upon the 

 whole, lucern is a plant of the utmost value ; 

 for if the seed be good, the ground rich and in 

 heart, and rendered deep in the first instance 

 by a thorough trenching, the young plants start 

 into lively growth, attain strength in the short- 

 est possible time, and yield a bulk of luxuriant 

 herbage that cannot be surpassed. If the plant 

 require four years to attain its maximum of 

 power, it is still a giant even from its infancy, 

 advancing from strength to strength. A well 

 prepared field, if kept clean by the forking, 

 will remain productive for more than ten years; 

 738 



but as a change of crop always promotes abun- 

 dance, it would be advisable to prepare a suc- 

 cessional plot every six years." (Quart. Journ. 

 of Agr. vol. ix. p. 96.) 



About 80 pounds weight per day of 24 hours 

 is sufficient for the largest cow, and half this, 

 with corn, for a horse. No stock should at any 

 time be permitted to graze upon it. 



There are several varieties of lucern, with vio- 

 let, yellow, and variegated flowers, which are 

 supposed to be only a variation of the same 

 plant, arising accidentally from the seed. 

 However, neither the yellow nor the varie- 

 gated is ever so strong as the purple flowered, 

 and cannot, of course, be so profitable to the 

 cultivator. Lucern may be estimated as the 

 choicest of all fodder, because it lasts many 

 years ; will bear cutting down four, five, or six 

 times a year; enriches the land on which /it 

 grows ; will fatten cattle, and often proves a 

 remedy for the diseased. 



Those who wish to acquire more minute in- 

 formation relative to the management of lucern, 

 may consult the Rev. Walter Harte's learned 

 Essays on Husbandry ; Rocque's Practical Trea- 

 tise on Cultivating Lucern Grass; and British 

 Husbandry, vol. ii. p. 307. 



Lucern is sometimes called French clover, and 

 has been introduced into the United States as a 

 new plant under the name of Brazilian clover, 

 called in South America Alfalfa, the Spanish 

 name for lucern. It is a kind of grass which 

 in some situations has been cultivated with 

 great success in the United States. It is not, 

 strictly speaking, a clover, though in some re- 

 spects similar. It is a perennial, and in favour- 

 able soils the roots are said to live and flourish 

 a great many years. Its advantages consist in 

 affording a greater amount of foliage for any 

 kind of stock than any other plant, with the 

 same labour and expense. "Several years 

 since, while residing in the State of Maine, we 

 made several experiments with lucern, which, 

 although some of them terminated unfavour- 

 ably, satisfied us that the most favourable soil 

 for it is a deep, sandy loam ; and as the alluvial 

 soils on this river are generally of this charac- 

 ter, we last spring resolved on giving it a fair 

 trial here. We procured from Boston a small 

 quantity of seed, which was sown on the river 

 ' bottom' the last week in May. As the soil had 

 been badly managed for several years previous, 

 we had feared that the great growth of weeds 

 would check and smother the lucerne, and to 

 guard against this, and get a chance to extir- 

 pate the weeds, we sowed the seed in drills. 

 This was done very expeditiously and exactly 

 with one of Ruggles, Nourse, and Mason's seed 

 sowers. 



"In the latter part of the month of July, the 

 lucern had reached the height of 18 inches on 

 an average, and had considerably blossomed. 

 We cut it and fed it green, partly to hogs and 

 partly to milch cows, both ate it voraciously. 

 In just four weeks from the time it was cut, it 

 had again grown to nearly the same height as 

 before, and was cut a second time, and on the 

 first of November it was cut a third time, the 

 crop being heavier than either of the preced- 

 ing. A piece of common red clover (very 

 flourishing) immediately adjoining, the soil 



