Although the practice of soiling cattle, _i. e._ of cutting their food
daily and feeding it to them in a green state, would be profitable to
many small farmers, it is especially to be recommended to those living
in towns, where pasturage is distant and expensive. Where an immediate
supply is required, corn may be sown broadcast, and cut as wanted,
until it begins to tassel, when all should be cut and cured, and the
ground sown again, and a third time in the same summer.
But if half that is said of lucerne is true, and we see no reason to
doubt it, it is valuable far above all other kinds of green fodder. It
starts very early in spring; may be cut four times in a summer,
yielding from four to nine tons to the acre, acccording to the
condition of the land. It is much relished by cattle, imparts no bad
flavor to milk, is a very fattening food, and one sowing will last ten
years. One acre is sufficient for four or five cows. It may be sown in
drills, if the land is foul, and kept clean by hoeing, the first year;
but on clean ground it may be sown broadcast. It is hardy under the
infliction of severe frosts; and surpasses all grasses in endurance of
drought, its enormously land roots affording it moisture from a great
depth. An English writer says, its roots have been found from ten to
fourteen feet below the surface; and an American writer says, that it
made, on his land, roots three feet long the first summer.
Where it is sown broadcast, it is difficult to get it through the
first year. But if sown in drills ten inches apart, and hoed once or
twice, it may be cut twice or thrice the first season, and be entirely
established before winter.
A light, sandy soil is the best; it should not be put upon heavy and
non-friable soils, though it will flourish on even these, when fully
established. Ten pounds of seed to the acre is enough, if drilled;
fifteen pounds, if sown broadcast.
The only reason, that we can imagine, why this plant should not be
extensively cultivated, is, the disrelish which our farmers too often
have to any crop requiring much care. To slash along with a plow is
all well enough; but to hoe and weed is rather tedious. But these
operations are required only during the first part of the first year.
* * * * *
CAMPHOR FOR FLOWERS.—Two or three drops of a saturated solution of
camphor in alcohol, put into half an ounce of soft water, forms a
mixture which will revive flowers that have begun to droop and wilt,
and give them freshness for a long time.