6 LUCERNE CULTURE. 



IRRIGATION OF LUCERNE EIELDS. 



It may safely 'be laid down as an axiom that lucerne in its very 

 young stages should not be irrigated. The best germination and stand 

 of lucerne is always found on fields which have been brought up by 

 rain. Although lucerne has been found to be one of the very few 

 plants that will continue to grow and to flourish under constant, 

 and repeated irrigation, yet it is injurious to flood it until it has 

 attained at least a couple of inches of growth above the ground. As 

 with all fine garden seeds, too early flooding of the small plants 

 seems to cake the surface soil and stunt them. The surface soil 

 being caked seems to have the effect of cutting oft' the necessary 

 air supply and surface moisture, and the young crop will, as a rule, 

 become a pale sickly green or yellow, instead of having the fresh 

 green and the vigorous growth of a young crop in loose unirrigated 

 ground damped by successive showers of rain. Flooding lucerne 

 in its early stages (especially in dry weather) is always injurious. 

 Lucerne in its early stages is as delicate as in its matured state it 

 is hardy. Frost will quite destroy a field of young lucerne in its- 

 second, third or fourth ..leaf, if it happens to be standing in loose 

 dry ground. Frost, however, has little cr no effect upon the very 

 youngest lucerne if the surface soil is quite moist. We have stated 

 that to irrigate young lucerne is bad, but to save it from destruc- 

 tion by frost, when the surface is very dry, it has to be irrigated to 

 moisten the surface. Therefore, to avoid this dilemma, do net sow 

 it later than the end of March to the middle of May. There is no 

 prescribed rule as to the. periods between each watering for lucerne. 

 Much depends upon the porosity and absorbtive power of the soil. 

 For instance, in sandy soils' one application of water will yield a. 

 growth of green food for a- considerably longer time after it than 

 would one watering on a tight clay soil. Generally speaking, the 

 more often it is watered the more it will yield. In Oudtshoorn we 

 are informed the lucerne fields are flooded about once in two months, 

 and that only if there is sufficient water to do this. In some dry sea- 

 sons there is not sufficient for this. In Karroo soil of a sandy allu- 

 vial nature, such as is found along the banks of the Great Fish 

 and Sundays Rivers, we should say that even only four waterings 

 a year would be sufficient to produce constant grow r th, and an enor- 

 mous quantity of green fodder, probably 12 to 15 tons of valuable 

 green fodder per acre per year, and it may be much more. On rich 

 soil and with plenty of moisture lucerne will yield from 30 to 60 

 tons of green fodder per annum. But this yield is unusual and 

 should not be calculated upon except under heavy manuring. 

 Lucerne wall yield good crops of fodder even when irrigated with 

 quite brack water for years in succession, though, of course, the 

 fresher the water the better. In applying flood water to lucerne it 

 is advisable to let the very muddy water pass unused for about 

 five or six hours after the first rush down the river. Very silty 

 water will kill lucerne in those parts of the fields where there are: 



