664 



THE AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



themselves. There is a good deal of 

 lucerne grown in the County of Rodney, 

 and though the majority of the fields are 

 not treated properly, nevertheless they pay 

 handsomely, and largely increase the 

 stock-carrying capability of the land as 

 compared with what was possible under 

 natural pasture. All who have tried 

 lucerne are loud in their praises of it, and 

 the marvel is that they themselves do not 

 grow more of it, and that their example is 

 not extensively copied by their neigh- 

 bours. With regard to the American ap- 

 preciation of the value of lucerne as a 

 stock fodder, the following^ remarks from 

 Mr. F. D. Coburn, secretaiy of the Kansas 

 State Department of Agriculture, arc 

 worth quoting :—" The wonderful per- 

 formances this year of this widely- 

 exploited plant have attracted attention 

 anew to its worth, it having yielded two, 

 three, or four cuttings, and the stockman 

 ■who was possessed of even a small acreage 

 is in an enviable situation. The intelli- 

 gent Kansas farmers, whose State far and 

 away leads all others in alfalfa production, 

 are constantly bettering their condition 

 and chances for success by devoting larger 



areas to its culture, as is conspicuously 

 indicated in official statistics compiled by 

 the S^.ate l5oard of Agriculture. For in- 

 stance, the first official notice was taken 

 of alfalfa by the Board in 1«9L, when the 

 total returned was 34,381: acres ; this year 

 its field extends over 319,000 acres, show- 

 ing the phenomenal increase in the ten 

 years of over 828 per cent. This increase 

 is strikingly suggestive of the rapidity 

 and extent to which merit alone has 

 forced recognition of a very wonderful 

 field crop. This year's figures proclaim 

 an increase for the State of 43,134 acres, 

 or more than 15 per cent, over one year 

 ago. All portions of the State display re- 

 mark tble and increasing interest in alfalfa 

 growing, as is demonstrated by the large 

 gain. Alfalfa seems to flourish in well- 

 nigh all sections of the State, and after 

 once gaining a firm roothold can be safely 

 relied upon to produce from two to four 

 cuttings whether the season be wet or dry. 

 Preparations are going on for seeding ad- 

 ditional lands to this remarkable plant, 

 and in the light of all experience it appears 

 a most judicious thing to do." 



Points about Bonedust, 



" pRUNI," in the "Australasian," re- 

 JD marks:— a very large quantity of 

 artificial manures will be required in the 

 cereal-growing districts this season, and 

 farmers will act wisely in placing their 

 orders as early as possible, so as to make 

 certain of obtaining what they need. In 

 order to receive full benefit from the re- 

 duction in railway rates, it is also desir- 

 able that farmers in the same locality 

 should club together and order a con- 

 siderable quantity of manure at one time, 

 and provide for local storage until the 

 material is required for use. Some 

 manures improve by being kept two or 

 three months after being obtained from 

 the factory, and bonedust, which is largely 

 used in con.iection with grain growing, is 

 one of these, and this points to the desir- 

 ability of laying in a supply before the 

 actual time for applying it to the field has 

 arrived. The value of bonedust as a 

 manure, assuming it to be pure, depends 



upon its solubility. In this connection, 

 experiments conducted by Voelck^r many 

 years ago, are instructive and reliable. 

 He found that different kinds of bon-i 

 varied much in their solubility and prac- 

 tical efficiency as manures, and his ex- 

 perience has led him to the following 

 conclusions :— 1. Bonedust mide from 

 solid bones, even when reduced to a fine 

 powder, is less soluble in water, and acts 

 more slowly on vegetation than much 

 coarser bonedust made from porus or 

 spongy bones. 2. Fresh bones impreg- 

 nated with grease do not readily enter 

 into decomposition, and are less valuable 

 as a manure than bones from which most 

 of the fat has been removed by boiling in 

 an open copper. 3. Fat or bone grease 

 has no fertilising value whatever, and, as 

 it retards the solution of bonedust in water, 

 it is decidedly an objectionable constituent 

 of fresh bones as far as the agriculturist is 

 concerned. 4. Water dissolves much 



