The Washington herald., 1913-06-01
They Promise Great Addition to the Number Of Cattle
and Sheep Produced Some Are Dfought-proof
and Others Defy Extreme Cold.

Hitherto unknown species OF alfaifas.
newly introduced into this country, prom
iss to work marvels. Some OF them ars
cold proof, and can be raised in parts of
the United States where this most val
unable OF all forage plants has never yet
\ been grown. Others. which demand lit
tie water, will grow In regions too dry
for any alfalfa with which farmers ar .
now acquainted.
| The growing OF hardy alfalfas In the
| Tar Northern tier of States will mean a
great addition to the number of cattle
and sheep produced. for it will give ,
winter forage crop for immense herds
and hocks which browse on the, public
range In summer. Under present circum-
stances. In that part of the country, the
sheep and cattle. after roaming over the
plains all summer. are loaded into cars
when winter comes, and shipped to the
South, where in milder climate they
are fattened for market. But II the
farmer In the North has alfalfa. he can
| fatten his animals on his own ranch
during the cold months, thus saving the
feeders tax which he now pays to some
| body else
Alfalfa has been called the desert farm
ers' bank account. 1t adds to the soil
| the nitrogen which Is all such soil needs
| W Hidht II tnt luosN pioduSaNc ia ehS
world. No other group subdues the
fdesert soil so quickly. In fact. II would
hardly be an exaggeration to say that
the desert valleys Of the United States
could not be reclaimed without alfalfa
Hence II is easy to realize the value Of
the drought-proof varieties which have
been newly introduced by the govern
ment plant. bureau.
The explorers of the Plant Bureau
hat fatn oil Sfnaria
from Mongolia. from Turkestan. from
the Crimea, from the Baltic. from North
ern Africa. and from other far corners
of the earth. Some of them have large
and succulent underground stems for the
storage OF water against protracted dry
spells. Others possess root systems, with
hundreds of resting buds Cthe latter
as much as a foot below the surface of
the soiD. and are able to Withstand semi
arctic conditions.
From the most suitable of these al
falfas crosses have been made, the OBJ
ject aimed at being not so much the i'm
provement Of strains now gr-wing in
this country as to provide strains adapt
ed for pasturage in regions where al
falfas are not grown at ali. The out. Sok
is described by the Plant Bureau as
highly promising. As yet. however. there
are no plants ready for distribution Our
farmers in the cold sections and dry
sections must wait until the new hy-
brids. through experimental tests, have
proved themselves successful in such
regions Many of them are startling In
the abundance of their growth. oJth
above and below ground.
One species, obtained by DR.. N. e.
Hansen. from what has been called the
North Pole alfalfa. In Siberia, bears a
yellow flower. and is so far resistant to
cold that II thrives in a region where the
mercury bulb of the thermometer often
freezes. 1t has very slender stems,
crawling over the ground and produc-
ing comparatively little foliage. But by
mating it with an alfalfa from Montana
a hybrid has been secured which grows
upright, and in respect of foliage is lux
uriant. The result of the cross is ex-
hibited in a number Of plants, occupy
ing a series of clay pots in a green
house of the Department of Agriculture
at Washington. Apparently they COM
bine all the advantages of both parents
the Montana variety, one should e2-
plain. having been utilized as the father.
The Montana alfalfa bears a blue flower
and the blossom of the precious off,
spring Is purplish in color.
This means. of course, that the yellow
as the seed-bearer. while the pollen with
which to fertilize it was derived from
the Montana variety-both being raised
from seed under glass. and made safe
against the approach of insects by keep
ing them in cages Of fine wire net. Such
a precaution was necessary because in
sects might otherwise bring foreign pol
len from unknown sources. and defeat
the object In view by fertilizing the bios
hnf Qx- Nk~
adoption of this method. however. II was
made certain that no cross could be ac-
complished save between the two kinds
of alfalfa under experimental observa-
ton.
What the farmers of Montana, the
Dakotas, and the far northern tier of
States generally, want more than any,
thing else in the world is an alfalfa that
will net winter-kill, and which shall be
upright in Its habit of growth and an
abundant producer of hay. To them II
would be worth incalculable sums; and
much hope is entertained by the Depart
ment Of Agriculture that the new hybrid
Gsscrib-d will meet the demand
Many varieties both unfamiliar and in
teresting have ceen obtained from North
ern Africa by Mr.. George w. Oliver. an
expert plant-breeder in the employ Of the
Cover Iment-most of them derived from
abandoned patches of exceedingly poor
soil at one time cultivated by the Arabs.
More species and forms of alfalfa oc-
cur in Northern Africa than in any
other part Of the world. Seedlings rep
forty-nine of them are now
growing In Washington, and will be
tested to ascertain their availability for
One of these. from the neigh
of Algiers. has underground
stems Of extraordinary length, some
times over three and a half feet long.
Mr.. Oliver came across one plant of Il
that covered afNarea of fully nine square
feet.
The alfalfas from Siberia, Turkestan,
and other Asiatic sources vary in height
from few inches to nearly six feet
Some. from very cold regions, have ex-
long taproots. which evidently
do not branch until they reach a depth
Of several feet in the ground.
Promising alfalfas for pasturage pur-
poses have been secured from the Cri- |
mea and the Caucasus. Burying the
resting buds of their rootstocks sew
era1 inches under the soil, they thus |
obtain protection not only against cold. |
but against destruction by browsing ami
mails. Though their crowns be wholly |
eaten on, they soon sprout again. These |
buds develop at each internode on the |
enabling the plant. though re-
set back bN unpropitious wealth |
n. to branch out anew from points well
Some of these Crimean and Cauca sian |
han six inches. yet they give 4 large
ira ntity of forap Eyap in THAR pres-