The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1907-01-10
PROF. n. T. HANSEN'S
SIBERIAN JOURNEY
Tour of That Far North Country is Repaid by the Capture O
Rare Plants and Seeds
THREE NEW. KINDS OF ALFALFA BROUGHT TO AMERICA
Also Several, Varieties of Russian Potatoes From Which They Make
Alcohol in Large Quantities

Professor n. f. Hansen, head of the
department of horticulture and forestry
in the agricultural college, returned
home last week from a six months
trip through northern Europe and
Asia, where he was sent by the United
States department of agriculture 10
find new plants and fruits suited to
the cold, dry plains OF the northwest.
He brought back with him many new
and rare plants that will be of meal
Culable benefit to the farmer and stock
man in the cold portions of this con-
tinent. His principal object was to
trace the distribution of the alfalfa
family in Siberia, which he was
obliged to relinquish on account of the
winter setting in when he was in
Siberia for the government in 1893.
At that time he traced the Turkestan
alfalfa to its northern limits in al
overland journey of 1000 miles III
TurkeStan, western China and south
ern Siberia, and on this trip he took
up the broken trail and followed where
it led, clear across the continent OF
Asia.
The alfalfa grown in this country at
present is a variety taken from north
ern Africa by the Spaniards to South
America and thence to California, and
thorough tests have proved that 1t Is
not hardy enough to withstand the
cold dry winters of the northern states.
1t was with the idea of finding a per-
fectly hardy representative OF this
family that Professor Hansen went to
Siberia in 1898 and again last year.
Upon his return this time the pro-
lessor brought with him three kinds
of alfalfa, two that will grow in a dry
soil with light rainfall and intense
cold, and one that will grow in the
woods. They are entirely new varltles
to this country, but have been grown
on the dry steppes OF Siberia for CEN
turtles. They have a yellow flower,
while our native plant has a blue
flower.
Professor Hansen brought back
enough seed for a good test, but at the
present time there is not a pound OF
it for sale as it is all picked from wild
plants in the Siberian steppes. 1t will
be thoroughly tested by the experiment
station here under the direction OF
Professor Hansen, after which it will
be distributed among the farmers OF
the northern part of this country. 1t
is expected that alfalfa will be used
as a rotating crop, and it can be grown
as far north on this continent as white
men care to live.
In addition to the three v~aritIes of
alfalfa Professor Hansen brought back
several new species of tap-rooted Siber-
ian clover and a Siberian Timothy
which the natives of Siberia use to
fatten their stock and to make hay.
These species grow in the coolest
regions in a short summer, with very
little rainfall, and it is hoped that
it will prove equally valuable in this
country.
In Russia Professor Hansen picked
up several v~arities of potatoes, which
the Russians use to make alcohol,
and he brought back seventeen barrels
ofthem to be used, for experimentation.
These potatoes grow in dry ground
and are very heavy yielders, turning
out between 500 and 800 bushels to the
acre. They are very high in starch
content and are very valuable for fat
tening stock, butare too coarse ortable
use. In addition to these Professor
Hansen brought back innumerable
specimens of fruits, berries and cereals,
which it is hoped will prove Of much
value to our horticultural and agricul-
tural resources.
Professor Hansen has been gone
from Brookings since June 2S, and on
his journey made a complete circuit
of the globe and travelled from seventy
degrees to twenty degrees north latitude.
He left Washington, d. c., and went
first to England, where he represented
the United States at the International
Congress of Hybridization and Plant
Breeding at London, and afterwards
looked up disease-resistent potatoes,
the latest Developments in plant evo-
luton for agricultural purposes and
other matters OF business for the de-
partment in different parts OF England.
From England he went to Denmark
and through Norway and Sweden to
Lapland and Finland. In these
countries he secured some varities Of
the sh~ort-season cereals, especially for
Alaska conditions. He then went into
European Russia and thence through
Siberia and northern Manchuria, over
the Siberian railway to Vladivostock
and across the channel to Japan. He
stopped q day at Honolulu, and upon
his arrival at San Francisco went d.
rectly to Washington to make his re-
port to the secretary OF Agriculture.
Professor Hansen tells an interest
ing story of his experiences. On his
first trip he journeyed from Tashkent,
the capital of Turkestan, over 1000
miles overland, following alfalfa to its
northern limits. He secured five car
loads of various seeds and plants and
shippedthem home to the department,
and they were distributed over the cold
= coasts the>ns OF this country. He
are risking their OWE up his investi-
wrecked fellow beine.st RACED in that
every human effort Il the Siberian
them that 60 down to tn