‘TURKESTAN LUCERNE OR 
jp Shp ALRAGPA 3 eo 
__ EXPERIMENTS AT BURNIMA 
NEW SOUTH WALES. ~~ 
i? 
4 . 
(Continued. ) 4 
Sowing the Seed—North of the Ohio 
Raver alfalfa should be sown in the spring ; 
@urther south it may be sown either in fall 
#r spring, though fall sowing ig more likely 
%o prove successful. Young alfalfa is un- 
aubie to compete with weeds. If alfalfa is 
tsown in the early fall, at a time when 
weeds do not usually germinate, its start 
uu the spring enables it to overcome the 
weeds. For production of hay, alfalfa may 
be sown either broadcast or drilled. If sowx 
‘broadcast, 20 lb. are used to the acre. In 
@rills 6 or 7 in. apart, 15 Ib. will be suffi- 
wient, When sown for seed production, 
as in the case of the seed distributed with 
this circular, ib should be in drills 18 in. 
apart and cultivated sufficiently to keep 
_ down weeds and maintain an earth mulch 2 
«or 3 in. deep, especially during the first 
thalf of the growing. season. This seed 
should not be sown with any nurse-crop, 
and the seed should not be drilled deeper 
Shan an inch or an inch and a half. On 
mnoist soils much less than this is better. 
Planted in the above manner, 20°1b. of 
seed will’sow two acres. é ; 
Treatment the First Sedson.—Diills 
should be cultivated frequently enough to 
keep down weeds until the alfalfa’ has a 
good start, and it is better for the young 
alfalfa to mow. it frequently, setting ‘the 
«utter bar rather high, the idea’ being: to 
«ut back the young plants, so that they 
will branch freely. Frequent cutting also 
aliscourages weeds. 
~ Saving Seed.—In sections- where alfalfa 
muakes two or three cuttings a year, and 
at does this in nearly all parts of this coun- 
try where it is now grown, the second crop 
as usually the one saved for seed. It 
should be allowed to stand until the seed 
-godsshow by their dark color that they 
are ripe. “It should then be cut and run 
through a clover huller, or the seed may be 
threshed out with a flail-—‘Pastoralists’ 
Review.” i 
CULTIVATION OF VINEYARDS. 
By Me. H. Sprineperr. 
Pioughing should be commenced not 
Zater than July; if earlier it will @ive the 
aaim a better chance of penetrating to the 
subsoil. Striking out. should. be. done 
with a single-furrow plough drawn by a 
good. steady horse, and should not. be left 
zo am inexperienced ploughman. ° A slow 
thorse is preferable to a fast one, as the 
ploughman has more time to work round 
the vines. In striking out. use leather 
ivaces and a short swing, say, 18 in. long; 
Yong swings are more likely to knock off 
the spurs and injure the rods. Take off 
the large wheel and standard, turn the 
headpiece so that the longest partis on the 
left side of the plough; if the plough 
alraws too near the vines alter the draught 
2 notch or two towards the right; if 
wrawing from the vines change to the left. 
pF. vg 
(abhi By, 
THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER, 
The ploughman can also adjust the course 
,of the plough by pressure to the. right or % 
left" as required. Two inches is “deep:. 
enough to strike out along the vines; a 
light plough with long handles is best for 
this work, as it is easier to work in and out 
as it passes the vines. He had only used 
the old Yoh ploughs for striking out, and 
these, he thought, could be improved by 
having movable handles and extension 
headpiece. After striking out two more 
‘rounds with the single-furrow plough, then 
use the double-furrow. Strike out at every 
other row and finish at the row between. 
Care should be taken to strike out the fol- 
lowing year in the row where you finish 
this year. If the crowns of the vines are 
not spread very much and are not too high 
the double-furrow plough can take out all 
-but one furrow, which can be taken by the 
finishing plough. A plough that is good 
for striking out is also good for finishing. 
To set your plough for finishing take off 
the little wheel and the standard ; then lift 
the big wheel, which will let your plough 
lean to the off-side. Set vour plough to 
take as wide a furrow as possible, and then 
should you some to a wide place to take off 
you will be able to do so without going an 
extra round. It is far better to have a 
good wide furrow left for finishing, espe- 
cially on sideling ground, as you have more 
for the plough to grip to. If your land 
is stony, take off the coulter. The plough 
will go into the hard patches better, and 
not slide away from the work so much. If 
the vines are medium size, say about 15 in. 
across the crown, the strip left along the 
‘row, after finishing, should pe from about 
6 in. to not more than a foot in width. 
Some people advocate ploughing vineyards 
twice, but he did not hold with it, as you 
can cultivate your land four or five times 
in the time it would take to plough’ it 
August 1, 1904 
once, and get the land in better trim: The 
depth to plough should be according to the 
nature of the soil:. Where thie clay is close 
to the surface do not turn the clay: on top. 
for it makes the land bad to work after- 
wards. The best thing to do where you 
want to break up the clay is to turn over 
-thé‘loam with one plough, and follow in 
the furrow with another plough with the 
mouldboard off.. With a good deep loam 
that has been ploughed the same depth 
for several years you may find your plough 
is riding on a hard pan, which, unless the 
ground is fairly wet, you will have a job to: 
break through. This pan should be 
broken through, and the winter rains will 
penetrate into the subsoil quicker and 
deeper, and prevent the winter rains from 
running away, carrying with it a lot of 
your top soil, and leaving plenty of small 
creeks. The. more water that one can get 
into the land during the winter months the 
better. He did not believe in harrowing, 
for the reason that the land is left too 
level. The first rains will settle it down, 
and any rains that fall later will run off. 
Ifa cultivator is used, the surface is left 
rougher and Jooser, and a heavy.rain will 
go into the land. He noticed when we 
got that heavy rain in December that very 
little water had run in‘the vineyards they 
were working; the loose, fairly rough sur- 
face of the land prevented the water run- 
ning away. They used nothing but a 
Planet Jr., No. 7, and the No. 40 Universal 
cultivator, finishing all the ploughing 
first, and then starting the cultiva- 
tors crossing the ploughing, and 
cutting out the middles left by the plough 
when finishing. After every useful rain 
during the dry months the cultivator 
should be jput to work to move the sur- 
face, which acts like a mulch and prevents 
evaporation. 
A Musical Education for Half-a-crown. 
o-—-—-——- 
The above heading will, of course, appear to most people as the height of absurdity; yet the 
absurdity is more apparent than real. 
It goes without saying that finished musical education in 
the regular course cannot be had for half-a-crown, 
or even with several hundred additional half- 
crowns; but can it be truthfully said that the person with a sufficient knowledge of music to play 
accompaniments on the piano or organ, to all the’ popular. songs of the day, has no musical educa- 
tion? Assnredly not. A musical educations sutliciont to 
home frequently, gets and gives more pleasure from the 
whose education large sums have been expended. 
To the more mo 
enable one to play accompaniments to the 
modest accomplishment than does many on 
est musical education thé above heading applies. Such an education “'The 
Australian Gardener” is now offering its music-loving readers for half-a-crown, believing that it is 
the greatest benefit we can give our subscribers. 
This ready-made musical education consists of Prati’s Chart of Chords for the 
piano and organ, 
which is the nearest approach to the ready-made knowledge of music yet attained by science, 
_ It isa short cut to harmeny, and is to music what the multiplication table is to arithmetic, a 
quick method of learning to play the piano or organ without a teacher. 
With this chart any one can, with but a small amonnt of practice, become an expert pianist. [+ 
is a complete self instructor, 
without difficulty, 
3 enabling any one'to play the 
brilliant accompaniments to any song ever written. 
piano or organ at sight. and to play, 
It is valuable to the advanced 
musician as well as the beginner, embracing nearly every major and minor chord used in music 3 and 
is endorsed by teachers and musicians 
everywhere. 
This chart is the practical result of years of study by Charles E. Pratt, the noted American com- 
poser and musician, whose compositions haye world-wide popularity, and a larger sale than those of 
any other American or European composer. 
Believing that the educational yalue of this Chart cannot be over-estimated, “ The Australian 
Gardener” has arranged with the 
its readers at the reduced price of 
publishers to supply Pratt’s Chart of Chords (published at 53.) to ° 
2s. 6d. each, with 2d. added for postage, and in addition to the 
Chart of Chords~the publishers have kindly agreed to send without extra charge a copy of the 
Coronation Musical Polio, containing 48 pages of sheet music, and instrumental by popular com- 
posers. 
Chart of Chords. 
Every home that has a piano or organ, especially where there are children, should have Pratt’s. 
This offer is made for a short time only, and “The Australian Gardener” readers should avail 
ma Dkess—* THE AUSTRALIAN GARDENER,” Adelaide. 
themselves of. it without delay. 
