150 
Land under lucerne should be broken up afler a ley of from five to seven years because the yield 
greatly diminishes after that time, as shewn by the above result. 
Hecke, from a moderately good lucerne soil at Allenberg in Hungary, obtained the following annual 
produce of hay per acre; — 
4 year . . 3080 Ibs. (28 cwl.) 
gut, (GIG GB. SD 
5 © 2 “SRO 4. (ee 5 
Be) oe Bera at isi oe) 
let pe par? 3S) es 
Average 4050 lbs, (37 cwt.) 
Growth commences at the end of April or the beginning of May, when fruit-trees are 
beginning to flower. The first cutting of the season is ready about two or three weeks 
before red clover; between and after the red clover crops cuttings are again obtained and 
wl are excellent. For this reason, as Langethal puts it, if red clover is regarded as the king 
wnong leguminous fodder plants, then Incerne must be considered as his accompanying 
queen, In a single season, according to the situation, from three to five cuttings may be 
taken; the second and following cuttings are almost as productive as the first. 
It is important always, to cut some time before flowering; if not, the stems harden 
and, in that condition, are not so readily eaten by stock. Lucerne is most valuable as 
green fodder. It is less suitable for inaking into hay, as the leaves very readily fall olf, 
and drying is difficult. 
According to Ritthausen’s experiments, 100 Ibs. of lucerne are composed off: — 
Leaves , 48 Ibs, 
Stems : ' che +5 
Leaves with 14°/o of water, contain 29,2 /o of albumin and the slems 16.2%. 100 Ibs. of 
lucerne hay, therefore, contain: 
ord 
Albumin. 
In the leaves ; : 1% = Ibs. 
In the stems : : 8.4 ,, (taking the average, somewhat less) 
Total 22.4 Ibs. 
From these dala, it is clear that the relative as well as the absolute proportion of albumin in 
the leaves is considerably greater than in the stems. 
If the produce per acre is assumed to be 8800 Ibs. (80 owt.), the amount of albumin produced 
will be; — 
Albumin. 
In the Jeaves . * 1232 lbs. 
In the stems. 738 ,, 
Total 1970 Ibs. 
If half of the leaves fall off during harvesting, that is represented by a loss of 616 Ibs. of albumin 
of which about 508 Ibs. (the half) is digestible. If one pound of digestible albumin is valued at 3 d., 
the loss per acre is nearly £ 4. 
That the actual loss can be very great is shewn by Weiske’s results. He obtained the following 
amounts of organic matter per acre: — 
Lucerne either green or dried Lucerne dried by the 
without loss of leaf. ordinary method, Lory 
Albumin. O94 Ibs. 444 Ibs. 153° Ibs. 
Fat, ‘ : ; 105, BD, 50, 
Fibre : é ’ 873 ,, Slt, oo ,, 
Non-nitrogenous extractives 1082 ,, VaR; 173 ,, 
