Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1895-10-03
lFhRMERyANp,I,L .ANTER.
GREEN MANuRINa.

md sSlssc Of 'Lacsrng Al rs'Iltlll.iSr |
,sh...n .hgeaeh; aust. -
How eap plants increase the fertility !
df TIT sbhs In two ways. One by add I
iigitId ittlsat part OF themSelveslwhich'
they. oftain from the s4r, and the Oth5
tr by searching many feet into the
gr6dndswitR rheirrb6ts' anN bfimgihg
fAtJhrnr1ace ,the chemicals and fer
t .qa TTatqrialS stored. there, and
filtered from the surface for ages
I7ts rs lucerne's method, Of benefit
Ing thaapil Thisletter,. ,frop a prac-i
tical farmer, SO completely. explains
hndsaahsweqs every point and Question,
Ihsn4sye fcsf,we oanhDL aadDtu 1t. u
| In September, 1894, !, wrote a short
article about lucerne. Ihavereceiyed
letters cjheernihg IL froai all parts OF
thdeeuntry, and. at the request: OF my
friepds.a all over the Union, | will talk
a little 'mtre about lucerne, its habits,
uses and culture Lucerne will grow
on any land that will produce wheat,
corn Or potatoes, and viii thrive on
many lands that none OF these will
'Hrow on. especially very light sand or;
gravel, though it does well on clay.
But 1t will not grow on any land that
the water stands within one foot OF
the surface, and there is no use In SOW
ing 1t In an alkali that is strong enough
to keep ,,r wheat from growing.
Though particular about wet land,
1t will stand any amount of
wet in the summer, as long as there is
plenty Of drainage. 1t will also stand
all the Water in the winter that may
fall in the shape of rain, or snow that
may melt 1t is very quick grower,
and will mature the fist crop in about
two months from the time that growth
comme9Sss- The SECOND ,crep will ma
ture in about six weeks from cutting,
and the thirdin about five weeks from
cutting of the ,secaHd. ii The second
crop is the heaviest, but the first is
little the best feed, as it grows little
longer. than the others. 1t will
yield about on an average Of six tons
per acre, and / have known it to pro-
duce double that quantity. 1t is a
perennial of the clover tribe, but will
outyield it two to one, makes just as
good feed, and has great advantage
over the clover, for it never falls down,
but stands up straight.
l"Sowing-The best method is to sow
broadcast aBbuti fifteen pounds iper
acre where the land is in good condi-
ton, but on very weedy land or clear
gravel, or sand that is'very poor, put
about three pounds more. You can not
get any crop from it the first year, but
do not get discouraged II the plants
are on in averige ten inches apart;
little, slim single stems about fdar
to six inches high. Your prospect
is good that you will get four
tons per acre next year, and the next
it will be as good as ever il will ,.apd
stand that way for ten years 1t is
best to sow with grain. Oats are the
best; thus you will lose no time but
can have crop from your land every
year. In fact it does better to have il
shaded when young. Sow at the same
time that you do spring grain.
cultivation. Where there is plenty
of rain there is no cultivation needed
4 for it would be unwise to manure it
as it thriyes fully as we'll on washed
sand as will on the best garden
spot, but in few years it will
make clear sand rich land, ow
ing to the decay of the root. TIL,
roots will sink themselves for dis
lance Of ten to twenty feet straigh
down. They are about one and hal
inches In diameter, and fully one-hal
of that root decays every year from TIN
. outside, and keeps growing large
from the center every year.
1T should be cut when in full bloom
A little old is better than too young
when the bloom is ready to fall off /
not too late. Do not cut too much a
once, for II you allow rain to come OIL
your hay after it is cut, it will not b
worth more than one-half TO
feed, and will be entirely worth
less : for market. Heavy dew
are mot good either Rake int
windows If cut with a moving ma
chine, and let dry until it begins t
let the leaves fall when handle
roughly, then pick it up and lay it i
piles, just one forkfull in pile t
cure. Do not roll it together or
4 will not load easily, then you vii
have to pull 1t to pieces thus losin
one-half Of the leaves. BY followin
| my directions you can put each o
perfectly clean at one fork-full, an
not waste time nor any of the leaves
But right here let me warn 20
against condemning it as WORTHLESS
lot of sticks until you try your horse
and cows, and see them cleaE up TIL
sticks before they do the leaves Their
are not many animals that TAX
to 1t when dry, without having it |
their manger for few days with oil
err hay; bptin few days you will Sc
the grass hay left while the lucerne
cleaned,pn A ton of lucerns will ne
go quitd'&s far as toh of timothy, i
not let hungry cattle get on it viii
green, especially when wet, for it wi
bloat them, which is apt to result
death. II you wish to pasture it, fir,
feed your stock all they cab and wi
eat, then turn them on the green /
cerne, and no harm will come to then
1t is the best thing to renew old, worl
out land that ever saw, and there
not weed or anything else in til
country that can stand it.-Cor. Sout
ern Farm.
Keep Farm Records.
: Every farmer is to great extent
! | MAMMA turer and ought To kean