8 



Cultivation of the Grasses and 



the first year as compared with other forage 

 plants 



Notwithstanding all precautions, some 

 weeds and crab-grass will appear the first 

 year. These must be repeatedly mowed, so as 

 to prevent their going to seed. If they are 

 annuals they will give you no trouble after 

 the first year. 



The ground designed for lucerne should 'be 

 made as clean as possible. In its first year it 

 is delicate, and in very rich ground is" liable 

 to be smothered by weeds, and especially 

 crab-grass. All perennial weeds, as dock, 

 plantain, thorn-apple or in the vernacular, 

 "Tread soft" should be carefully extermi- 

 nated. Either Bermuda or blue grass, or in 

 fact any stoloniferous perennial grass would 

 be very hurtful to it. In view of this neces- 

 sity, a cleansing crop should precede it, 

 as cotton or turnips, fed on the. ground by 

 sheep. 



As the taproots of lucerne penetrate to% 

 great depth, the soil should be ploughed to a 

 great depth. A heavy two-horse plough 

 should be followed by a two-horse subsoil 

 plough. It would be well to cross-plough the 

 same way. The surface should then be re- 

 peatedly harrowed until it is perfectly free 

 from lumps. 



Lucerne seems to be indifferent to the tex- 

 ture of the soil, provided it be dry and suffi- 

 ciently rich. The writer has seen it grow 

 with luxuriance on the sands of the seaboard, 

 and the clay of the blue lime-stone country. 

 But two things are required, the soil must be 

 dry and rich. 



Too much pains cannot be taken with 

 ground to be sown in lucerne, as to cleanness, 

 fertility and depth of ploughing. It would be 

 best for any one who does not design to take 

 these pains, to let it alone. On land of ordi- 

 nary fertility and cleanness, lucerne would be 

 very profitless. 



If barn-yard manure be used, it should be 

 perfectly rotted so as to contain no seeds of 

 weeds. If it be not rotted, it is best to use one 

 of the commercial manures. One should be 

 selected which contains a small amount of 

 ammonia, and a large percentage of phosphate 

 and potash. One thousand pounds of this 

 manure to an acre would not be at all too 

 much. This should be thoroughly harrowed 

 in before the seed is sown. A top dressing 

 should be given every third year. 



Whether the seed should be sown broad- 

 cast or in drill, depends on the condition of 

 the ground as to cleanness. If the ground be 

 perfectly clean, broadcast sowing is the cheap- 

 est and best. If the ground in two or three 

 years becomes hard on the , surface, it can 

 be harrowed when the top dressing is ap- 

 plied. 



If the ground be foul, the seed should be 

 sown in drills, about twelve inches apart. A 

 coulter or very narrow scooter-plough can be 



run between the rows as often as may seem 

 necessary. 



About ten pounds of seed should be sown 

 to the acre. This seed now sells in New 

 York at fifty cents per pound, making the 

 cost of seed for an acre five dollars. In large 

 quantity it can probably be bought at a 

 cheaper rate. When sowed, the seed should 

 be brushed in, or rolled. The covering should 

 be very light, in fact if the seed be sown be- 

 fore a rain or during a drizzle, no covering is 

 necessary. 



Here it may be proper to remark in con- 

 nection with the sowing of all small seeds, 

 whether of forage plants or grasses, that if 

 they are covered an inch deep, vegetation is 

 doubtful, and if a clod is turned over upon 

 them they will not vegetate at all. The seeds- 

 man is often blamed when the fault is in too 

 deep covering by the farmer. 



It may be said that the process of prepara- 

 tion of land for lucerne is very expensive. 

 That is true. But let us compare this expense 

 and the results. Suppose an acre of land to 

 be worth $10, and the cost of ploughing, 

 harrowing, manure and seed be $40, in all 

 $50 Five tons of lucerne hay, if it be sold 

 at $20 per ton, is $100, a very good interest 

 on $50. In most localities where there is a 

 market for hay, lucerne would command up- 

 wards of $30 per ton. It should also be re- 

 membered that the results of the expenditure 

 last for a term of years, and not for one 

 year, as in the case of corn or cotton or grain 

 crops. 



Great efforts have been made to introduce 

 lucerne into England. Large premiums for a 

 series of years have been offered by the Royal 

 Agricultural Society. But the soil or climate, 

 or both, are unsuited to it. 



Efforts have been made to introduce it 

 in the Northern States of this country, but 

 also without success. The winters are too 

 severe. 



Lucerne is a child of the sun. It is a plant 

 of a warm climate. Its long taproots render 

 it comparatively insensible to drought. It 

 grows as well at the South as it does in France 

 or Italy. Yet it may be doubted if there are 

 ten acres of lucerne on any one farm at the 

 South. While we have a plant which yields 

 hay of a better quality and double in quan- 

 tity, as compared with any grass grown at the 

 North, our railroads are groaning under the 

 weight of Northern hay. 



In our present condition it can hardly be 

 expected that farmers will lay down much 

 land in lucerne, on account of its expense, 

 unless it be where there is a ready market for 

 hay. But every farmer should have an acre 

 or more of lucerne near his stable, according 

 to the number of his horses. In no other 

 way can he provide for them a fodder so 

 cheap and nutritious. The practice is growing 

 among persons living in our villages, to have 



