^LUCERNE CULTURE. 



the generality of Karroo soils than upon the black soils of coast 

 and grass districts. In the black soils the growth of numerous 

 weeds and grasses militates severely against the monopoly of the 

 soil by the lucerne. In the reddish and yellow soils of the Karroo, 

 on the other hand, there is comparatively very little weed and grass 

 growth to hinder the complete establishment of lucerne upon the 

 soil. This is a strong point in favour of Karroo soils for lucerne 

 growing. There is still another point in their favour, and that is 

 that most Karroo soils are well supplied with lime, whersas the 

 generality of black soils are deficient in lime. Lucerne is a great 

 lime feeder. It glories in a sub-soil with lime in its composition. 

 The deeper the soil in all cases the better,, but a depth of three or 

 four feet even will grow very good crops of lucerne for many years. 

 On shallow soils, however, manuring may in many instances have 

 to be resorted to after a few years. R )ck near ths surface is very 

 bad nearly as bad as constant water near the surface. Some of 

 the best lucerne soil in the Karroo that we know of lies along the 

 Sundays River and the Grsat Fish Rivar, especially whan* these 

 rivers are near the sea in the lower districts. 



PREPARATION OF GROUND. 



The ground upon which lucerne is sown ought to be ploughed 

 as deeply as possible, and brought to as fine a tilth as possible 

 with the harrows, to make an even seed bed for the fine seed. i-The 

 ground should not slope so much as to cause the water to run. mver 

 the surface without penetrating; it more than a couple of inches, 

 nor should it on the other hand be too dead level, especially in clay 

 soils, where drowning may take place in some spots of the field. 

 .A gentle fall is the most suitable, ensuring sufficient penetration, 

 and at the same time no unnecessary wash and lodgment of water. 

 The yield from lucerne on very sloping ground is almost //, com- 

 pared to that on ground with just a very gentle slope. In fact, on 

 very sloping ground, it would pay better to grow some grain crop 

 than grow lucerne. But on ground of the right tilt, we calculate 

 that lucerne pays us at least five times better than growing wheat 

 on the same ground. Where grasses are troublesome, the ground 

 should be extra well ploughed and harrowed. Manuring land for 

 lucerne is seldom or never practised in Oudtshoorn, which is at 

 present the greatest centre of lucerne culture in 'South Africa. 

 New ground especially requires no manure to grow the best crops 

 of lucerne. >Ve here, prefer the " ridging system " for flooding 

 lucerne. The ridges can be made with an ordinary 75. Eagle 

 plough, at the same time that the ground is ploughed and prepared 

 for sowing. A single breasted J plough would be even better than 

 a 75. plough for making the ridges. Some people make the ridges 

 with beams bolted together in the form of a triangle ; but we pre- 

 fer the plough, as the ridges made with a plough are more substan- 

 tial and durable. 



