Lucerne Sown Research Articles

A comparison of the yield and composition of various mixtures of lucerne and grass sown in alternate rows with lucerne sown as a pure stand

Abstract Various lucerne (Medicago sativa L.) /grass associations were compared with lucerne sown alone over a three-year period on high-fertility soil at Invermay Research Station. Companion grasses induded cocksfoot (Dactylis glomerata L.). timothy (Phleum pratense L.), perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.), short-rotation ryegrass (Lolium perenne × L. multiflorum). phalaris (Phalaris tuberosa L.), meadow fescue (Festuca pratensis Huds.), tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.), and prairie grass (Bromus catharticus Vahl.). All mixtures out-yielded lucerne sown alone in the first year, but differe:1ces in yield were small thereafter. The inclusion of a companion grass helped to control weeds except in the phalaris treatment. Although all the grasses had some merit, cocksfoot and tall fescue were considered superior to the others. Mixtures of lucerne with cocksfoot and tall fescue were more productive in winter than lucerne alone, weed control was good, and the balance of lucerne and grass was satisfa...

Lucerne investigation I. Identification and classification of lucerne ‘varieties’ and ‘strains’

Detailed investigations on identification and classification of lucerne varieties and strains were conducted at Cambridge for four years, 1949–52, on lucerne sown in row plots and on twelve typical varieties planted out in replicated trials as single spaced plants, using 200 plants of each variety. A number of physiological and morphological characters were examined and the resulting data was analysed statistically.The characteristics used for classification are those which showed considerable variation between varieties, but at the same time these differences were maintained consistently from year to year. They proved to be unaffected by a different way of growing the plants or by small differences in soil fertility or season. The results are shown in Tables 1–17, and three basic classifications with distinguishing features of types and varieties are given. The correlations established between various characters on twelve varieties are given under the heading ‘Correlations’ at the end of the results.(a) The first classification into early, mid-season, late and extra-late types, based on the time of flowering, spring and autumn growth, gives a fair indication to the growers regarding earliness and productivity of various varieties.(b) The behaviour of certain varieties from South America, and in particular Saladina, an Argentine variety, which is vigorous and productive under native country conditions but has lost this ability under Cambridge conditions, indicates plainly that classification based on these three characters can be applied only to the country under whose conditions it was established. Therefore any variety especially obtained from a country of extremely different environmental conditions and management system should be checked in these respects even if a description is given.