HISTORY. 55 



lish farmers that the lower sides of their lucerne 

 fields remained thrifty after the upper ends were 

 half destroyed, just because of the fact that the man 

 with the scythe commenced on the upper end before 

 it was time to cut the immature plants, and by the 

 time he had reached the bottom of the field it was 

 sufficiently mature, so remained in vigorous condi- 

 tion. 



The article follows from "Bham's Dictionary of 

 the Farm," published in 1853: 



Lucerne is a plant which will not bear extreme frost nor super- 

 abundant moisture, and its cultivation is therefore restricted to 

 mild climates and dry soils; but where it thrives its growth is so 

 rapid and luxuriant that no other known plant can be compared to 

 it. In good deep loams lucerne is the most profitable of all green 

 crops; when properly managed the quantity of cattle which can 

 be kept in good condition on an acre of lucerne during the whole 

 season exceeds belief. It is no sooner mown than it pushes out 

 fresh shoots, and wonderful as the growth of clover sometimes 

 is in a field which has been lately mown, that of lucerne is far 

 more rapid. Where a few tufts of lucerne happen to be, they 

 will rise a foot above the surface, while the grass and clover 

 which were mown at the same time are only a very few inches 

 high. 



Lucerne, sown in a soil suited to it, will last for many years, 

 siiooting its roots downwards for nourishment till they are alto- 

 gether out of the reach of drouth. In the driest and most sultry 

 weather, when every blade of grass droops for want of moisture, 

 lucerne holds up its stem, fresh and green as in a genial spring. 

 The only enemies of this plant are a wet subsoil and a foul sur- 

 face. The first is often incurable; the latter can be avoided by 

 good cultivation. 



It is useless to sow lucerne on very poor sands or gravel or on 

 wet clays. The best and deepest loam must be chosen, rather 

 light than heavy but with a good portion of vegetable earth or 

 humus equally dispersed through it. If the ground has been 

 trenched, so much the better; and if the surface is covered with 

 some inferior earth from the subsoil it will be no detriment to 

 the crop, for it will prevent grass and weeds from springing up 

 and save much weeding. The lucerne will soon strike down be- 



