FIELD CROPS. 29 



LUCERNE OR ALFALFA. A hardy perennial, which re- 

 quires the same preparations as for red clover. Sow ten 

 to twelve pounds of seed per acre, in shallow drills about 

 twelve to fifteen inches apart, either in September, Octo- 

 ber or February and March. Some April sowings have 

 done well. Keep clean of weeds and grass for the first 

 summer, after which it will take care of itself ; cut as 

 soon as it begins to bloom, and feed to cattle or horses. 

 Repeated cuttings may be had during the spring and sum- 

 mer. Lucerne prefers a mellow soil, does not succeed 

 well on a hard pan subsoil ; makes a very rich hay. One 

 sowing stands a number of years, will flourish in sandy 

 soils and climates too warm for clover. 



JAPAN 1 CLOVER. (Lespedeza striata) A spontaneous 

 growth of some value as a pasture, but not worth culti- 

 vating where other clover or grasses will grow. It pro- 

 duces but few seeds, and we know not how to propagate 

 it other than to take up the surface soil where it has just 

 grown and scatter it where the plant maybe wanted. Da 

 this in August, September or October. It is an annual. 

 It rarely grows high enough to cut for hay. 



There are other varieties of clover, such as Bokhara, 

 Sweet Melilot, Cow-grass, Yellow Trefoil, etc., but they 

 are not so valuable as the above. Sweet Melilot may be 

 worth something as a bee pasture, or as a renovator of the 

 soil, but is not in our opinion, worth planting for any 

 other purpose. 



GRASS SEEDS. 



Nearly every kind of grass requires the same prepara- 

 tion of the soil before sowing the seeds. The most import- 

 ant thing to do is, to thoroughly plow and finely pulver- 

 ize the surface soil. Deep plowing is not at all necessary. 

 Grass sown on cotton land through which the sweep has 

 been run, frequently takes root as beautifully as upon 

 land with any other preparation. Break the land and 



