SUNDRY AGRICULTURAL PLANTS 89 



English farmers have never appreciated its merits to the same 

 extent as their Continental brethren. In part, no doubt, this 

 is owing to climate, and in part to soil. Lucerne is essentially 

 a plant for dry climates and dry soils. Cold, dry air has no ill 

 effect upon it ; but moisture, with or without heat, is directly 

 prejudicial. Its duration depends more on the subsoil than 

 the surface ; indeed, the nature of the surface is of small 

 moment so long as the subsoil is calcareous. In some parts of 

 the Continent Lucerne remains as good a crop twenty-five 

 years after sowing as in the third year of its existence, but in 

 this country five years is the usual term, and seven years may 

 be considered the fair limit of its vigorous life, even on suitable 

 land. It is interesting to note the diverse surface soils on 

 which Lucerne thrives, but investigation will always prove 

 that whatever the nature of the surface may be there is 

 a substantial agreement in the subsoils where this plant 

 flourishes. The distance to which the tap-roots penetrate is 

 almost incredible. In the first season they will often go 

 down two feet or more. I have been told of one instance 

 where a Lucerne root was traced unbroken to a depth of 

 sixteen feet. 



But for its unsightliness Lucerne would be more fre- 

 quently sown for permanent pastures than it is, a practice 

 advocated by the late Sir J. B. Lawes. The plant develops 

 so rapidly that it stands far above the surrounding herbage, 

 and imparts a broken and irregular appearance to the meadow. 

 Still, it must be conceded that a certain proportion of Lucerne 

 is desirable in every prescription of seeds intended for the 

 formation of a permanent pasture where the soil or subsoil is 

 calcareous. 



In many localities Lucerne cannot be cultivated suc- 

 cessfully, and to attempt to grow it on impervious clay, or 

 on any cold adhesive land, will only be waging a fruitless 

 war against Nature. Warm and calcareous soils are highly 

 favourable, and a sheltered field, sloping to the south, will 



