The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-10-24
LUCEaN, OK ALFALFA,
For Southern Forage Purposes.

For Southern Forage Purposes.
From numerous tests of this splendid
plant in the past twenty years we are JUS
titled in commencing it to our farmers.
With anything like fair soil devoted to its
cultivation, lucern can be made q very
valuable crop on the southern farm, an acre
of it with good treatment being worth more
than two or three acres of cotton, II a
farmer would only put himself in posi-
ton to derive the fullest benefit from it,
OF course q farmer who has no stock has
little use for good pasture or meadow, but
TO any farmer who realizes the value of
keeping all the stock ne can and raising all
the food he can for them, Iucern is a
valuable plant for him.
Bermuda grass is hardly more adapted to
the southern climate than lucern is, and
if our farmers, both large and small, could
once be induced to establish planting Of
it proportioned to their respective needs, it
would unquestionably prove the most
profitable part Of the farm.
1t requires little more care, perhaps, to
establish good setting of lucern than it
does Bermuda, but it will pay for all the
care and trouble in the end. On second
thought, it is not any more trouble to
establish lucern than it is to fix stand
OF Bermuda. Lucern, if sown in October,
or early November, in the lower part of
Georgia, is about as easily established as
any crop we know. 1t is only a question
Of good seed, sown IN a proper manner. and
keeping out the weeds for year or two
We are confident that the day is coming
when there will be hundreds Of acres Of this
royal clover III is known as French clover"
aud has been grown for many centuries)
grown IN the south where only an acre can
be found now. Sown properly on fertile
sofia rich sandy loan wherever practica-
hia 10 1trr acrfr- kFoFa aNs1
crop that can be planted in the south.
1t will not grow on worn out land. nor will
it do well on clayey soils, but on candy loans
naturally rich or made rich by liberal ap-
plication of manure it will make an amount
of forage far greater than the major
lty of plants likely to be used by the stock
growers of the south in the time to come.
There may be some other plants that will
give more forage at q single cutting than
lucern, but when it is considered how per-
manent it is and how many cuttings can be
taken in year Especially after the first
year. there are few plants that can surpass
1t in the quantity of forage afforded.
Lucern, once properly established, will
endure for fifteen years or more SAY it did
not endure more than seven or eight years,
it would be very valuAble), yielding after
the first year three to six cuttings annually.
If it is treated as fairly as 1t deserves to be.
If the land is very rich to start with it
will thrive for years without being MANFRED,
but on ordinary soils it will require periodi-
cal manuring to keep it In good condition
In the south the best time to SOW lucern
IS in the fail, from Oct. l to Nov. 10, for
then it will get a good start on the weeds
and spontaneous grasses. 1t should be sown
broadcast. using enough seed to insure
perfect stand. Twenty to twenty-five
pounds of first-class seeds will be sufficient,
but if the seeds are not fresh and Copper cent.
good, more than this should be used. 1t is
better to SOW little too much than not
Q4ite enough.
Prepare the soil by as deep blowing as
possible little while before sowing time
and harrow it thoroughly. Sow tue seeds
evenly aud then give the soil good rolling.
This Is all the covering needed when sowing
lsmade in October. II needed plow in as
liberal a quantity of manure as possible.
a mixture of cotton seed, bone dust and
ashes is as good fertilizer as any. After
the lucern has been started and its growth
or lack of growth indicates lack Of am
mo1la in the soil there can be no better ap-
pEcatiou than nitrate of soda, broadcasting
$50 or 200 pounds of it early in the spring.
Quite a number we know have been
disappointed in their attempts to grown
luceru from using worthless seeds, sown at
The wrong time and without proper prepare
ZION Of the soil. Ii any of our readers have
at any time experienced failure under these
conditions let them try again and follow
closely the suggestions made above and they
VIII pr hably change their estimate as to
the availability of lucern as forage crop.