LUCERNE IX THE TRANSVAAL. 39 



seed led. For this purpose deep ploughing, followed by the sub- 

 soiler, is desirable. 



Great care is required in levelling the ground so that the water 

 may flow over it evenly and uniformly. If there are e.evatkns in 

 the field the lucerne plants on them do not receive an equal propor- 

 tion of the water, and the stand becomes uneven with a resulting 

 reduction in yield. The excess cf water, which then fltws into the 

 hollows, runs off and is wasted ; it does net benefit these pknts 

 which it reaches, whereas if evenly distributed there need be no 

 waste. 



IRRIGATION VERSUS DRY LANDS. 



Wherever it is possible to do so, lucerne should be planted 

 under a well-laid- out irrigation scheme rather than en dry land. 



In parts of California and Argentina it has been found prac- 

 ticable to grow lucerne without irrigaticr.. It has been suggested, 

 therefore, that in the Transvaal, where irrigation water is scarce, 

 and where summer rainfall is by no means inconsiderable much 

 higher, in fact, than in the lucerne belt o)f California/ it might be 

 possible to grow it ES a summer crop, without irrigation'; we have 

 therefore been carrying out an extended series cf experiments to 

 deteimine this point. At the Botanical Experiment Station, Skin- 

 ner's Couit, Pretoria, we have stands of lucerne on unirrigable land 

 whiolr are new 4^ years old, and which have given as many as four 

 light cuttings in a favourable season, though only two were obtained 

 in the dry summer of 1907-C8. The growth of the plants on this 

 soil, whioh is heavy clay-loam with a pot-clay sub-soil, has never been 

 as vigorous on the unirrigated as on the irrigated lands, and the 

 cuttings are never heavy. This is partly due to the fact that on 

 dry land the growth is less succulent than on the irrigated field, 

 but the yield of hay is also less. My conclusion is that though on 

 such soils dry-land lucerne will not be a success as a forage or hay 

 crop, it gives a useful amount of early spring and late autumn 

 grazing. At Pctchefstrocm, on a poor, thin soil overlying an iron- 

 stone gravel, the growth has been far less satisfactory. On the deep 

 alluvial lands of the Yaal River near Yereeniging, dry- land lucerne 

 sown two years ago has made an excellent growth, and yielded 

 several cuttings of hay. At eight months from seed I found speci- 

 mens 28 inches high, and bearing 3G stalks from a single crown. 

 A good crop has been obtained this season on dry lands in the 

 Kaap River Yalley, near Barberton. Before we can draw final 

 conclusions from these experiments, it will be necessary to sec how 

 the stands persist. 



The subject is worth continued and persistent experiment. 

 The amount of irrigable land in the Transvaal is so limited, and so 

 much of it is required for other crops, such as v\Lc^l u:d winter- 

 forage, that it would be a great advantage if good dry-land stands 

 of lucerne could be secured. Although the results so far obtained 



