Rocky Ford enterprise., 1912-10-25
RESULT in SEED SELECTION
Continued From First Page

not hardy in most of the alfalfa re-
gion of North America, and these all
have the non-hardy type of crown.
while on the other hand, strains of
| alfalfa that have been native to more
cold climates, like the Grimms alfal-
"a that has survived the winters OF
northern Minnesota for fifty years,
has the hardy type of crown to a
marked degree, and this variety has
been at the head of the list of many
tests for hardness in different parts
of the United States.
The common alfalfa that has been
grown throughout the western parts
OF the United States until recent
Spain or southern Europe. and is said
to have been carried into South
America by the Spaniards in their
early conquests, and later introduced
into California, whence it spread over
the western states, while in general
alfalfa has been a great boon and Sue
cess to the farmers; there have been
some drawbacks such as, the tendency
for the stand OF the plant in a field
of alfalfa to become thinner by a
gradual dying out of plants which has
been quite prevalent every where,
[ while in many localities of the north
|
has prevnted its success.
In the light of recent investigations
it seems quite evident that the lack
of hardness in some plants or strains
OF alfalfa has been due to the non
hardy type of the original stock of
seed as the alfalfa now found in Spain
and southern Europe manicsts the
same non-hardy traits when tested
with our common alfalfas.
The full significance of the great
value of the hardy underground stool
ing type of alfalfa can hardly be over
estimated: First, aside from its hard
mess features, the underground stool
ing habit forms very large crown
that sends up a great number OF
stems which develops finer and more
leafy hay than the small upright stool
ing types which are inclined to form
coarse woody hay. unless the stand
of plants is very thick; this stooling
habit is also valuable in overcoming
the defects OF thin stand from any
cause. Second. associated with a
large underground stooling habit is
usually found tendency for the un-
derground shoots to take root if
moisture is present. and in addition
to the usual deep root system of al
falfa there are many more lateral
| roots DTdICdllHR HC'l liS NipNh, llluS
giving a large root pasturage- near
the surface, which makes this type
of alfalfa more adapted to dry-farm-
ing regions where the available sup
ply of moisture is dependent on the
ability of the plant to appropriate
quickly any surface moisture from
| light rains, as well as the moisture
stored deeply by careful cultural
method in fact the drought resistance
OF alfalfa seems to hinge principally
on this point. and the Grimfs alfalfa
has proven to be one OF the best
adapted to dry regions and | might
add. that proper cultural methods
seem to be more essential to make
alfalfa succeed in dry-farming regions
than any other factor.
There seems to be great possibili-
ties of producing alfalfa seed oh dry
lands of certain character. when more
adequate sytems OF handling the crop
are employed. such as seeding in wide
cultivated rows.
The problem OF increasin" the seed
yields by selection is no longer in
doubt as the results show decidedly
heavier yields from progenies oi
heavy seed producing plants than
from unsolicited strains. but we find
that the question OF alfalfa seed pro-
| ductiOn Is also largely lnnucnced DY
other. factors: for instance, the con
troll OF moisture. soil, and cultural
methods, and climatic conditions. all
of which have an important influence
on the seed production.
The results from selections to inn
prove and increase the yields of hay
indicate an increase of so per cent in
the average production of plants in Sc
lected progenies, over the average
production of plants from ordinary
commercial seed. and the TACT that a
combination OF the heaviest hay and
seed producing plants have been
found in the hardy types gives very
1attering promise OF results OF decid-
ed advantage to the alfalfa farmer.