New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1909-03-31

IN the semiarid and northern sections
of the country. One of the alfalfas
will be great thing to. SOW in the
clearings in northern Michigan, Wis
consin. Minnesota and Maine, where
the timber has been cut away It is
especially adapted for that sort of soil
and conditions.
after returning to Russia shipped
my seeds and plants from Riga to
Washington via Copenhagen and then
returned to Moscow to get ready for
a trip into Turkestan and Persia to
look for Persian clover, which is one
of the best of the fodder plants OF
India and other rainless regions. The
Russians are Introducing it into all Of
their arid sections. My journey from
Moscow to Tashkend, the capital of
Turkestan, was made by railway via
Orenberg over a newly built track
which the Russians have recently con-
structed in order to bring food sup
ply and raw cotton into their markets.
II got a good supply of Persian
clover seed and expect to get more.
1t is especially suitable for western
Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and the
western parts of our cotton belt.
81 visited eight different nations,
travelling several hundred miles among
the Mohammedans and picking up
what could. That country has been
sealed up by Russia, and the officers
do not allow foreigners to go in there,
so that I had to get a special permit.
But everybody was very courteous and
helpful, both the officials and the peo-
pie, and had no trouble at all.
''Since the opening of the new rail
way the people have secured access to
outside markets and are now shipping
some extraordinary grapes from Tur-
kestan called the 'maskah.' They are
grown under irrigation and have been
cultivated by the Mohammedans for
raisins and table use for ages, but they
have never been shipped out of the
country, and the seeds and cuttings
have not been accessible to foreigners
before. The maskah is very large
grape with a superior favor-much
larger than our Hamburg grape. Igot
some vines and cuttings, which hope
will be of value to the Californians
and other people in semiarid regions.
l obtained a number of other varieties,
including two seedless grapes, bigger
than any we have now, which will be
the subjects Of experiment by the agri-
cultural department, but 1t will be sew
hof0Vn h1Jto
any Of them to private growers.
81 came home across ancient Trans
caucasia, via Tiflis and Batum, over
the Caspian sea, and took steamer
for NIarseilles which stops at many
ports to discharge and take on car
goes, so that had an opportunity to
go ashore and see a good deal. left
the steamer at Corsica and went over
into Italy to study the lucernes, which
are the alfalfas of Greece and Italy.
From Marseilles went to Algiers and
made a journey into the heart of the
desert of Sahara to study the aifalfas
there.
II brought some seed from that des-
ert also. The Arabs have grown al
falfa as fodder for ages. 1t was car
ried over into Spain by the Moors
from Africa, from there to South
America and Central America and
Mexico, and from there to California,
and that is the roundabout way in
which alfalfa was introduced into the
United States. At the town of Biskra,
in the desert of Sahara, from the
Arabs I got quantity Of the seed Of
the original alfalfa A part of it will
be experimental with by the depart
ment of agriculture, and I will take a
part to Dakota where we will use it
in the evolution that is being carried
on by our plant breeders.
"The ideal alfalfa of the future will
be hybrid of all the alfaIfas of the
world-the wild and cultivated species
from four continents and from all
climates. We now have the best ma
terials, and by the proper use of them
we ought to be able to produce the
final variety for those sections Of the
United States where a perennial legu-
minous forage is needed with which
to feed our future meat supply.'-WiI-
liam E. Curtis, Washington Cor. Chi
cago Record Herald