248 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. {1 Avrit, 1902. 
ploughings and sowings, as in the case of cereal crops. With the small area of 
50 acres of lucerne at his command, no Karroo farmer need lose a single head 
of stock in the severest drought. Witha mower and ahorse rake he can cut 
from his 58 acres, during one year, fully 250 tons of the most nutritious fodder 
for feeding his stock during droughts. One ton of lucerne hay would often be 
the means of saving £100 worth of stock in a drought, and this 1 ton would 
only cost 5s. to cut, cure and stack! £100 return for a 5s. investment ought 
to be, in mining phrase, a payable proposition. 
Lucerne hay does not deteriorate if not used at once. Professor Wallace 
gives an instance in Australia where a stack of lucerne hay was perfectly good 
more than seven years after it was put up. Lucerne hay is not eaten and 
destroyed by mice and rats, as is the case with oat hay. The nutritive value of 
lucerne hay is, besides, much higher than that of oat hay. There is a curious 
notion among most Karroo farmers that lucerne hay is ‘‘no good alone” for 
feeding to horses in hard work. They fancy that there must be oat hay, barley, 
or mealies added to the lucerne hay to give ‘“ substance.” 
On this point we quote the following remarks recently appearing in an 
American agricultural paper, the Louisiana Planter:—“ Alfalfa hay is one of 
the richest foods for stock; it takes the place, in the farm dietary, of wheat, 
bran, cotton-seed meal, etc. It is suitable alone for young growing animals and 
horses at heavy work.” The italics are ours, and we trust that this quotation of 
American opinion and experience will dispel from their minds the erroneous 
idea prevailing amongst most Karroo farmers as to the want of “substance” in 
lucerne hay. We may here remark that the high nutritive value of lucerne 
itself has been clearly demonstrated at the well-known scientific experimental 
fields at Rothamsted, in England, where over a period of six years lucerne 
yielded an average of about 153 lb. of nitrogen per acre per annum; whereas 
over a period of eight years vetches gave an average of only 84 lb., Bokhara 
clover only 70 Ib., and red clover only 14 1b. of nitrogen per acre per annum, 
as against 153 Ib. per acre from lucerne. 
RESTING THE VELD. 
And, lastly, we would draw special attention to this very important 
advantage of lucerne-growing to the Karroo farmer. It enables him to relieve 
and rest portions of his stock-tramped veld by grazing most or all of his stock 
upon his lucerne fields during the growing and rainy seasons, and thus allow 
the useful grasses and bushes to grow out and to seed for the much-needed 
improvement and renewal of his pasturage. 
He thus enabled to put into practice the highly beneficial “ paddocking 
system” of grazing pastures, as practised in Australia and elsewhere. This 
system of alternate rest and use has been found to quadruple the carrying 
capacity of pastures. Thus does lucerne-growing not alone yield in itself a 
far better yearly return per acre than cereal-growing, butit is also the means 
of bringing about a steadily increased stock-carrying capacity of the whole farm. 
In conclusion, we wish it to be distinctly understood that we do not 
recommend lucerne to be sown on “‘dry lands” in the Karroo. By “dry lands” 
we mean ground that cannot be flooded at any rate, on an average, five times 
during the year, and well flooded, too. 
There is no denying the statement that drought is the one great drawback 
to the Karroo—the main leakage through which the Karroo farmer’s profits filter 
away from timetotime. Drought may, in fact, be said to be the great consuming 
dragon of the Karroo farmer’s profits; there are few Karroo farmers, indeed, 
who have not felt his terrible fangs. Surely the drawing of this dragon’s fangs 
should be worth the doing! The providing of artificial fodder for stock against 
drought is the only forceps that will draw them. The man who allows his stock 
to perish for want of providing water would be looked upon as mad by the very 
man who allows his stock to die by thousands for want of providing food. It 
