78 The Journal of the Royal 
'* Some of the seedlings were transplanted, and in some 
beds the seeds were sown very thinly and left to grow 
without being disturbed. The seed being good it 
germinated freely and grew fairly well for a month, or 
more, but after that it began to remain much the same 
and made little progress for some time, after which it 
began to die off, especially as the dry v/eather ap- 
proached, and eventually dwindled away until it failed 
entirely. We had to keep it regularly watered and free 
of weeds, — sour and nut grass, — otherv«ise, I believe, it 
would have ' killed ' out before it did, as h could not 
keep these other ' gourmandisers ' in check. This is 
the only trial on a fairly large scale we have made with 
it at these gardens. 
''The soil where we had it is a very stiff, clayey soil 
and I don't think very suitable to the growth of alfalfa. 
I think it requires a better drained and more friable 
soil and humid atmosphere than we have here so near 
the coast, but in good soil further inland where it 
would not be so much exposed, I think it ought to 
grow well. 
''Some time ago Dr. Ford obtained six plants (six pots 
full of seedlings well established) and had them planted 
up the Demerara River at Dora (I planted them myself) ; 
next morning every particle of leaves and stems were 
eaten up by cushie ants, which upset this experiment. 
Dr. Ford was very anxious to establish it for his bees 
as a honey-producing plant. 
"We have a few pots of alfalfa growing at present a 
the gardens. We intend growing them in larger tub 
for the purpose of securing seeds, as it is possible that 
