OCR Text |
Show TURKESTAN ALFALFA SEED FOUND INFERIOR A warning to alfalfa growers to avoid the use of commercial Turkestan seed is contained in Department Bulletin Bulle-tin No. 133, of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, which is shortly to be issued under the title "Commercial Turkestan Alfalfa Seed." Specialists of the Department have been investigating the comparative merits of different kinds of alfalfa seeds and have reached the conclusion that there is nothing to recommend the Turkestan variety for general use in this country. It is, they say, particularly particular-ly unsuited to the humid climate of the East which, as a matter of fact, uses most of the Turkestan seed imported into this country. This seed is also not sufficiently hardy to warrant its general gen-eral use in the upper Mississippi Valley, where hardiness is an important factor. The investigators, however, are careful to distinguish between commercial Turkestan alfalfa and special strains of hardy alfalfas that have been developed develop-ed from certain introductions of seed from Turkestan. Valuable varieties of alfalfas unquestionably exist in Central Asia, but these are at present only fitted for use in experimental work in breeding. At the present time, approximately one-fifth of the alfalfa seed used in the United States is imported. Of this qupntity, practically all 95 per cent in the last twelve months cemes from Russian Turkestan. In the European market, commercial Turkestan is the cheapest seed available; in this country its wholesale prije is less than that of domestic seed. In spite of this fact, however, a mistaken belief in its superior su-perior qualities has resulted in raising its retail price to a point frequently above that of domestic seed. No such preference is shown in the alfalfa growing regions of Europe. There French seed is commonly considered the best, with Italian ranking next, and Turkestan last. Under these circumstances, cir-cumstances, very little French and Italian seed finds its way to the United States, the bulk of the importations being as already stated, the cheap commercial Turkestan. Fortunately, growers who wish to avoid this variety can readily identify it by the presence of Russian knapweed seeds. These seeds have not been found anywhere except in commercial ; Turkestan seed, and here they are practically always present. Russian ; knapweed is in some ways similar to qiack grass, Johnson grass and Canada thistle, spreading both by seeds and underground rootstocks. The seeds are slightly larger than those of alfalfa and cannot all be removed by any practicable method of machine cleaning. clean-ing. Their chalky white color makes them especially conspicuous, and their symmetrical form slightly wedge shaped distinguishes them from the notched seed of other species often found in varieties of alfalfa from other sections. The knapweed seeds, however, how-ever, are not usually found in large quantities and any lot of alfalfa should, therefore, be examined in bulk. The examination of small samples is not sufficient to show whether the alfalfa comes from Turkestan or not. |