LUCERNE IX THE TRANSVAAL. 45 



afternoon, the following morning. The windrows may then be- 

 raked into cocks in 24 hours, and these carted to the drying shed 

 in another 24 to 36 hours according to the state of the weather. In 

 the drying shed it is allowed to remain from 8 to 10 days or so ; if 

 very dry and brittle, a showery or damp morning is selected for 

 baling, when the hay is generally sufficiently flaccid to allow of its 

 being baled without too much loss by breakage. 



In America where the crop is mainly fed on the farm it is 

 customary to stack the hay, but in the Transvaal baling is gener- 

 ally practised, as it renders the crop so easily handled for market. 

 When baled there is less danger of injury from the weather, and of 

 loss of crop in feeding, but it is perhaps more difficult- to prepare 

 for baling than for the stack. Baled hay only occupies about one- 

 third the space required for stacked hay. 



DISEASES AND PESTS. 



In the Transvaal our young stands of lucerne are sometimes 

 'at.cn down by a green caterpillar, the larva of a yellow moth known 

 as Colin clcctva. The Government Entomologist recommends the 

 use of a light brush-harrow or roller to crush the caterpillars. 



The lucerne leaf- spot (Pscudo-peziza medicaginis) is also abun- 

 dant, and must have some injurious effect on the crop. By burning; 

 off an infected crop while the plants are young, this disease may be- 

 greatly reduced and kept in check. 



Dodder or love-vine (Cuscuta) is a serious parasitic pest, which 

 often causes much loss to growers ; fortunately we have but little 

 of it here. It is introduced by means of seeds among the lucerne 

 seed, and when once thoroughly established proves difficult to 

 eradicate. When it is once seen, no time should be lost in burning 

 all infected plants, by which means it may be kept in check. 



AS A GREEN-MANURE. 



For improving the soil, lucerne is one of the best crops that 

 can be grown, and for this purpose it may be planted in orchards. 

 Like other leguminose / crops, it has the power of acquiring nitrogen 

 from the air, by means of bacteria living in symbiotic relationship, 

 on its roots. This nitrogen is then deposited in the soil. 



In the Transvaal lucerne fields I have rarely been able to find 

 many bacterial-nodules present on the roots, and often none at all. 

 The largest crop of them which I have seen was in the field of the 

 Hon. J. A. Neser, M.L.A., at Klerksdorp, in a moist, light, sandy 

 loam. On transplanting some of these plants, together with a good 

 deal of the soil surrounding them, to the Botanical Experiment 

 Station, Skinner's Court, Pretoria, the lucerne grew, but the old 

 nodules gradually disappeared, and very few new ones could be- 

 found. 



