Pine Bluff daily graphic. (Pine Bluff, Ark.) 1893-1942, 1916-10-27
VARIETIES OF ALFALFA.
Nine Fairly Distinctive mercial
Strains-Aapated to Varying
Climatic Conditions.

The increased interest in varietie5 Of
alfalfa and the need for the farmer to
know whether a certain variety is sud
able for his neighborhood have led to
the publication of farmers bulletin
757, Commercial Varieties of Afal-
fa.' The authors, r. A. Oakley and
ii. l.. MISSIONER, of the bureau Of
plant industry, discuss in detail the
characteristics and habits of the nine
fairly distinctive commercial strains
of alfalfa now recognized in the United
States, together with their adoption
to climatic conditions. Some give The
best results in the North and North
west, while others succeed only in the
South and Southwest where tae whit
ers are mild. Wherever possible, the
authors have indicated methods Of dis
tinguishing the seed fonc variety
from another.
Common alfalfa is a term that is
used to include all Of the alfalfas that
are not clearly of hybrid origi or that
do not have distinct and uniform Va
rieal characteristics, such as the FER
uvlan and Arabian varieties. Numor-
GUS strains are coming to- be locog-
nized in the common grour. They
are often designated by the geo%ra,
phic name of the locality where grown,
as kansas-grown alfalfa, Montana
grown alfalfa, and many others, or by
some term descriptive of the conditions
under which the crop has deve'nncd,
such as dry-land alfalfa, irrigated al
falfa, and nonirriGated alfalfa.
Strains developed in the South us
ualiy produce lrager yields than those
developed in the Northern states, but
they are less hardy. The "dry-land"
alfalfa seed offered on the market has
SO far failed to show any noticeable
superiority in ability to resist drought
over the grown with an abundance of
moisture.
The commercial Turkestan alfalfa
has been tested quite thoroughly in all
parts of this county, and in nearly ev-
cry case has proved inferior to Amer
lean grown strains.
The leading commercial strains OF
variegated alfalfa are the Grimm, the
Baltic, the Canadian variegated, and
sand lucern. With the exception of
sand lucern, they have been found
more resistant to cold than other COM
mercial varieties or strains and are
therefore recommended for sections
WHCIC WlLCcl hlllulS OSCuIS lIGuu';HA-
ly..
Peruvian alfalfa is not resistant to
severe cold and can be grown sue
'cessfully only where the winter tenn
perature is comparatively mild, as in
the Southern and Southwestern states
Under favorable conditions it outyiclds
an yother commercial strain.
Arabian alfalfa is not satisfactory
variety because of its tendency TO be
short lived.
AS a result of numerous experiment
al tests the adaptations of the various
varieties and strains of alfalfa have
been quite definitely determined.
tits highly advisable that the farm
err should learn to distinguish good
from poor seed Plump seed of an
oive-green color almost invariably
terminates we'll, while sarlveled or
brown seed generally terminates poor
ly. The presence of any appreciate
quantity of weed seeds or other i'm
purities indicates a poor quality of
seed.
Owing to the fact that alfalfa does
not produce seed satisfactorily under
humid conditions, there is little use in
trying to grow it for seed in tbs East
ern states.
Breeding work with alfalfa offers
great possibilities, but the time and
expense involved are so graat that a
farmer can not afford to undertake 1t.