The duration of lucerne is 6 to 10 years; though it sometimes, like clover, suffers from the winter. To make lucerne into hay, it should lie in the swath to wilt, and then be put into small grass-cocks with a fork (not rolled) to cure. After standing a day or two, the cocks may be opened two or three hours under a bright sun, the hay turned, and soon after housed. If spread like ordinary grass, the leaves dry and crumble ere the haulm or stalks are cured, and thus the best part of the fodder is lost. I have mixed lucerne, partially cured, in alternate strata with dry barley-straw on the mow, and found that cattle greedily consumed both in winter, when fed out in the yard. Lucerne may be sown till the 15th of May, at the rate of sixteen pounds to the acre. The soil should be dry and loose, rich and clean, and the subsoil pervious, so that the tap-roots may extend down […]
Source: wiktionary