22 FLO&A OF AUSTEALIA. 



fection, and from the care requisite to keep it from grass and 

 weeds, it is not thought that lucerne will ever come into general 

 culture in England. It has long been cultivated in France and 

 Switzerland, and therefore we must look to the experience of the 

 Continental farmers for the best means of eradicating the dodder 

 now prevalent amongst it here. As a preliminary measure it 

 may be well to sift the seed of the lucerne in a fine sieve, in 

 order to get rid of any dodder seeds that may be adhering to it ; 

 and then, in soils which are supposed to be infested with weeds 

 and grasses, to sow the lucerne in drills about nine inches apart, 

 so that there may be greater facility in keeping the crops clean. 

 This method has advantages over 'the broad cast sowing, as the 

 crop may be cleared by horse-hoeing instead of harrowing, and 

 the quantity of seed required is only from eight to twelve pounds 

 per acre, whereas the broad-cast requires from fifteen to twenty. 

 M. Vaucher cleared his artificial fields from dodder by perpet- 

 ually breaking and dividing their stalks with a rake. Others 

 have mowed their lucerne which has been infested with the 

 dodder, before the dodder has had time to develop itself and pro- 

 duce seed. In this case the parasite has died away, and the 

 lucerne has sprung up with renewed vigour. When, however, 

 matters have proceeded too far, a change of crops is necessary, 

 so that when the dodder springs up, it may not find any plant on 

 which it can be nourished, and so perish without doing injury. 

 The subject is one of great interest and importance to agricul- 

 turists, as well as to those who are purchasers of lucerne hay, and 

 therefore it may be advisable to collect additional information re- 

 specting the ravages of the dodder, with a view of preventing its 

 further progress in these colonies, or at all events of ascertain- 

 ing the best means of eradicating it. 



SUBSTITUTE FOR COTTON. 



T T is not perhaps generally known that the Zostera marina, or 



sea-wrack, which Mr. Harben thinks will supersede the use 



of cotton, is nothing more than the common weed which is used 



