A Broadcast Crop.

So much for the small plots. I was then shown a 5-acre paddock of lucerne which had been sown broadcast, and had just been cut for the second time this season. The green lucerne was still on the ground, and was being turned over for drying by a very handy little turning machine, which did the work quickly and with the minimum of bruising and shaking be- page 14 fore the forage went into the stack to make lucerne hay. The broadcast crop has the advantage for farmers —where labour is scarce and dear—of covering the soil so as to keep down the growth of weeds, and thus the labour of cleaning between the drills is avoided. Up to the present Mr M'Connell is very pleased with the results of the broad-cast culture as compared with drilling, in the case of lucerne. But the land should be fairly clean to start with, otherwise drilling is best.