CHAP. ii. LUCERNE. 937 



bandry about the middle of the seventeenth century. It flourishes 

 luxuriantly in deep, rich, friable loams, but it will thrive in sound 

 mellow soil of any kind where drainage is good ; and it does particu- 

 larly well when there is a large quantity of lime present in the soil. 

 Where such is not the case, and the substrata of the soil vary in 

 quality and consistence, the growth of the roots will be checked, and 

 the plants rendered poor and weakly, if not totally destroyed. It is 

 useless to attempt its cultivation on wet, marshy, or clayey ground, for 

 it will be injured, if not destroyed, by the stagnation of the water 

 around it. Land in which it is sown must be kept as free as possible 

 from weeds, otherwise the luxuriance of its growth will be greatl}- 

 impeded. In order to clear the land for lucerne, two successive crops 

 of turnips or carrots are recommended. Before sowing, the soil should 

 be brought into the finest condition of mould that is possible, and this 

 is best effected by previous ploughing and harrowing, or the growth of 

 those plants which tend most to render the soil fine and mellow. The 

 manure, which should consist of a rich and rotten compost, ought to 

 be thoroughly incorporated with the soil before the sowing commences, 

 otherwise it will occasion premature rankness in the early plants, which 

 is not unfrequently followed by decay. Top-dressings should be applied 

 at different stages of its growth, and for this purpose gypsum, ashes, 

 lime, and liquid manure composed of the drainage of the stable or 

 dunghill, may be advantageously employed. Wherever the plants fail, 

 their places should be supplied by transplanting. The crop should be 

 frequently hoed, so as to maintain the most perfect state of even garder 

 cleanness. With due attention to all these points, lucerne will stand 

 for a number of years, and may be cut as often as three times in each 

 season ; but, in order to secure a prompt, vigorous, and luxuriant 

 after-crop, it should be mown before its flowers are developed. 



Lucerne may be either drilled, or propagated by transplanting. It is 

 not advisable to broadcast the seed, as there is no opportunity of 

 cleaning the land, without which the crop suffers so severely that it 

 cannot be allowed to remain down so many years as would otherwise 

 have been possible. The season for sowing is towards the middle or 

 end of March, or not later than April. If sown broad-cast, 20 Ib. of 

 seed (which should, if possible, be new) will suffice for one acre ; when 

 drilled, 6 Ib. will be enough if the seed is deposited in equidistant rows 

 of 2 feet. As soon as the grain is sown and harrowed, the lucerne 

 should be sown, and a light harrow passed over it. Where lucerne is 

 sown with a view of being transplanted, the seed should be deposited 

 in the ground early in the spring, and carefully hand-hoed until 

 August, when the sprouts will be sufficiently large to be transplanted. 

 After this they will require but little attention until the following year, 

 excepting that it will be advisable to hoe the transplanted crops once 

 or twice during the intervening period. Lucerne is an exceedingly 

 deep-rooted plant, and is consequently well qualified to withstand 

 drought, and therefore to thrive in dry soils and dry climates. A 

 small proportion of lucerne is recommended in mixtures of seeds for 

 permanent pasture in all cases where the soil or subsoil is calcareous. 



