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Show I NEW VARIETIES OF ALFALFJ Yellow-Flowered .Spsclee fount Throughout Eurasia Stems to Be Adapted to Cold and Drought Considerable Interest has been aroused through the Importation bj the United States department or agrt culture of some new, hardy varletlei of alfalfa., Little, however, la generally known concerning the characteristic! of these new aifalfaa or the rear pur pose of their Introduction. In the search for hardy forma o' common alfalfa (Medlcago saliva) adapted to aevere conditions oi drought and cold, tbe potential valuf of closely allied species became appar ent A yellow-flowered species (Med! cago falcata) found widely distributed throughout Eurasia, forms of which thrive on the cold, dry steppes of Hue sla and similar regions, seemed to bi tbe roost promising. For this reason persistent efforts were made to Itri port many valuable forms of this sp cles. Medlcago falcata, erroneously called "Siberian alfalfa," and for which then Is no satisfactory common name, li characterized In general by Ita droop Ing habit, narrow Icavea and floe stems; but It Is so variable that aomt planta may be readily mistaken foi common alfalfa when not In flower Very few of tbe forms possess true tat roots like tbe common alfalfa, but the; have a branching root aystem bj which new planta are produced Tb flowers are yellow and tire seed podi falcate or sickle ahaped, hence III botanical name. Tbe department of agriculture hai met with many difficulties In procurini seed In quantity, aa It Is dot handled commercially and In no place la It produced In abundance. In aplte of the 1 scarcity of seed very thorough testi 1 have been conducted, both under cultivation culti-vation and on unbroken sod at th ' department's testing stations and In co-operative experiments at state at tlona. Tbe results of these tests of the available forms of Medlcago falcata Indicate rather definitely that theli chief value la for crossing with com 1 mon alfalfa to produce hardy and drought-reslutant hybrid strains. Al i present the new alfalfas do not appeal 1 to be sufficiently productive to mak i them generally profitable under cult! ration. Many of tbe forma are ungues- tlonably very hardy and drought-re- slstant and have already shown thelt i value as stock for crossing with varl i tlea commonly known. One of the hardleat, If not tbe hard- : lest, of our common strains, the i Orimm alfalfa, probably originated through natural hybridisation of Medl- i cago falcata and common alfalfa i Orimm alfalfa la coming Into very : wide use In the northwestern states. Tbe new aifalfaa have not yet been tested on the open range as fully as under cultivation. Although the results re-sults to date Indicate their Inability to maintain themselves except under very favorable conditions, the tests ye nevertheless being continued with the hope of ultimate aucceaa in Improving Im-proving the range. The experts of the department do not believe that thla yellow-flowered alfalfa In Ita unaelected state la a crop for the farmer to teat, even though seed were available. Three main con- ; alderatlona shew that It la not likely , to prove valuable under cultivation: (1) Moat of Its forma are not aufflcl-ontly aufflcl-ontly erect to be eaally harvested for hay; (2) It doea not recover quickly after cutting and cannot be expected (o give more than one cutting during the aeaaon; (3) Ita seed habits are usually poor, tbe aed being scantily produced and shattering badly at maturity. ma-turity. The department of agriculture Is 1 pushing the work of selection by hybridisation of the best forms of this peclea aa rapidly aa possible, In the lope that valuable drought-resistant i ind eold-reslstant stralna may ultl- I nately be established In general use. |