Imperial Valley press., 1912-10-11

Riverside Press: Considerable inter
est has been aroused through the i'm
portation by the United States depart
ment of agriculture of some new, hardy
varieties of alfalfa. Little, however, is
generally known concerning the char.
acteristics of these new alfalfas or the
real purposes of their introduction.
In the search for hardy forms of
common alfalfa (medicago sativa)
adapted to severe conditions Of
drought and cold, the potential value
Of closely allied species became ap-
parent. Ae yellow fowered species
tmedicago falcata), found widely dis
tributed throughout Eurasia, forms OF
which thrive on the cold, dry steppeS
Cf Russia and similar regions, seem ed
20 be the most promising. For this
reason persistent efforts were made TO
import many valuable forms of thi,
species.
Medicago falcata, enormously called
siberian alfalfa" and for which there
l IS no satisfactory common name, is
4 chara acterized in general by its droop-
| ing habit, narrow leaves and fine
stems; but il is variable that some
plants may be readily mistaken for
\ common alfalfa when not in flower
Very few of the forms possess true
tap roots like the common alfalfa but
| they have "A branching root system by
which new plants are produced The
| fowerS are yellow and the seed pods
| falcate or sickle shaped. hence its DO
{ tanicaI name.
! The department of agriculture has
l met with many difficulties in procur
. ing seed in quantity, it is not han
j died commercially and in no place is
it produced in abundance. In spite
( of the scarcity of seed very thorough
D tests have been conducted both under
| cultivation and on unbroken sod at the
I departments testing stations and in
I cooperative experiments at state sta :
! tionS. The results of these tests OF
the available forms of medicago fai-
cata indicate rather definitely that
their chief value is for crossing with
| common alfalfa TO produce hardy and
drought resistant hybrid strains. AT
present the new alfalfas do not ap-
| pear to be sufficiently productive to
make them generally profitable under
; cultivation. Many of the forms are
/ unquestionably very hardy and drought
| resistant and have already shown their
| value as stock for crossing with varie-
( ties commonly known.
/ One of the hardest. if not the hard
/ lest of our commercial strains. the
! Grimm alfalfa, probably originated
/ through natural hybridization of med
I icago falcata and common alfalfa
| Grimm alfalfa is coming into very
| wide use in the northwestern states
{ The new alfalfas have not vet been
| ftt1ly
Under cultivation. Although the re-
:ults to date indicate their inability
20 maintain themselves except under
cry favorable conditions, the tests are
| nevertheless being continued with the
| hope of ultimate success in improving
| he range.
| The experts of the department do
| not believe that this yellow fowered
| alfalfa in its unsolicited state is crou
| or the farmer to test, even thougl,
! seed We're available. Three main con
liderations show that it is not likely
u prove valuable under cultivation:
! Most of its forms are not sufficiently
erect to be easily harvested. 2-It does
not recover quickly after cutting and
cannot be expected to give more than
one cutting during the season. 3-Its
seed habits are usually poor, the seed
| being scantily produced and shatterine g
badly at maturity.
! The department of agriculture is
pushing the work of selection by hy-
| bridiZation of the best forms of this
species as rapidly as possible in the
| hope that valuable drought resistant
| and cold resistant strains may ulti-
mately be eStabliSh shed in general Use