LUCKRNK IN NATAL. 33 



after each cutting, .especially if the surface soil is dry and 

 crusted, will do a surprising amount of gcod. After the 

 alfalfa is two or three years old, the disc harrow can be used, 

 and the alfalfa should be disced at least each spring just as 

 it starts. Disc both ways with the discs set nearly straight 

 and weighted, then harrow down smooth. The disc destroys 

 all surface rooted plants, and does not injure the deep, 

 sturdy rooted alfalfa. The cutting and splitting of the 

 crowns invigorates the growth and thickens the stand. 



"Our first experience in discing alfalfa was in 1898; afield 

 had been seeded to alfalfa in the dry year of 1894, and a 

 poor stand resulted, crab grass was thick and the stand of 

 alfalfa so thin that it w r as not worth keeping. Late in March, 

 1898, this field was harrowed with a disc harrow, the discs 

 sharp and set at as great an angle as possible ; it w r as imme- 

 diately cross disced with the discs set the same way. The 

 ground was thoroughly pulverised and the alfalfa apparently 

 destroyed. It soon started, branched out quickly, and we 

 made three good cuttings from the field that summer. In 

 1900 we w r ent a step further in discing alfalfa. 



" Two fields of alfalfa two years old were disced one field was 

 disced March 28th. The first cutting made May 31st, disced 

 June 6th; the second cutting for hay made June 25th, 

 disced June 27th ; the third cutting of alfalfa made August 

 13th, and the alfalfa disced for the fourth time on August 

 25th. The last cutting of alfalfa was made September 13th. 

 This shows four discings and four cuttings of alfalfa on 

 'iip-land in a dry year. The alfalfa in both fields made fine 

 late full growth, and went into the winter in good condition. 

 From these experiments w r e feel safe in recommending disc- 

 ing all alfalfa of two years standing or more. Make the first 

 discing early in the spring, and then disc immediately after 

 each cutting. If the stand of alfalfa is fair to good, set the 

 discs at a slight angle. If the stand is poor, and the growth 

 of crab grass thick, set the discs to cut deeply. Discing is 

 of as much value to alfalfa as cultivation is to corn." 



The foregoing will not perhaps commend itself to the present 

 lucerne growers in Natal, as there would appear to be no imme- 

 diate necessity for cultivation between crops, but later on I think 

 such cultivation will be advisable, as the plants will probably show 

 a tendency to form tussocks. 



AYhere, however, lucerne is grown on up-lands without irriga- 

 tion, the directions quoted are invaluable, for they show how a 

 field of lucerne which has come up badly, and which is crowded 

 with coarse grasses, and which is apparently a total failure, can be 

 brought into a good yielding condition without doing all the labour 

 of ploughing, preparing seed bed and sowing over again, besides 

 saA'ing perhaps a whole year in time. 



