4 CIRCULAR NO. 115, BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY. 



Annals of Agriculture, leaves no doubt as to what he observed or of 



his appreciation of the importance of the character: 



My reasons for preferring it [variegated medick or variegated alfalfa] tu 

 lucern are that it is hardier in hearing cold; that from its habit of branching 

 below the surface of the ground and the shoots being much more numerous, it is 

 not choked by the natural grasses, and that for the same reason it will not be 

 injured by being fed by sheep. 1 



Credit must also be given Le Blanc for advocating the value of 

 variegated alfalfa and for his efforts along the line of introducing this 

 strain into general use. The history of his experience with " varie- 

 gated medick," as written by himself, is very interesting and has a 

 very definite bearing on the subject of stem proliferation. 2 



While underground stems are found in what is considered now to 

 be genuine Medicago sativa, they are by no means as common or as 

 well developed as in hybrids between M. sativa and M. fdlcata or in 

 pure M. falcata. 



There is, therefore, little wonder that Le Blanc should be among 

 the first to observe and appreciate them, since he was among the 

 first to study carefully from an agronomic standpoint Medicago falcata 

 and its natural hybrids. But notwithstanding the definiteness with 

 which Le Blanc wrote, the subterranean stem character was given 

 little attention by subsequent botanists and agriculturists; or, at any 

 rate, it was very soon lost sight of. 



A search through literature fails to reveal any mention of under- 

 ground shoots or rhizomes from the time of the publication of Le 

 Blanc's work in Young's Annals of Agriculture, 1791, up to the 

 publication by Blinn in 1911 3 of a bulletin entitled "Alfalfa: The 

 Relation of Type to Hardiness," and a bulletin by Oliver in 1913 4 on 

 "Some New Alfalfa Varieties for Pastures." These investigator-- 

 have called attention for the first time in recent literature to the 

 production of rhizomes in certain forms of alfalfa and the import- 

 ant part they play in rendering the plant resistant to severe condi- 

 tions, especially those of drought and cold. 



That certain types of alfalfa have a tendency to produce high 

 crowns, while others have their crowns at or below the surface of the 

 around, has been a matter of common observation for some time. 

 Moreover, this character has been associated in a rather general way 

 with hardiness. Brand and Waldron, in discussing qualities produc- 

 ing hardiness in different races of alfalfa, make the following state- 

 ment : 



1 Le Blanc, Thomas. Experiments on the variegated medick. Annals of Agriculture, 

 v. 15. p. 270, 1791. (Le Blanc's observations were made about 1783.) 



2 Idem, p. 277. 



3 Blinn, P. K. Alfalfa: The relation of type to hardiness. Colorado Agricultural Kx 

 periment Station, Bulletin 181, 16 p., illus., 1011. 



4 Oliver, G. W. Some new alfalfa varieties for pastures. U. S. Department of Agri- 

 culture, Bureau of riant Industry. Bulletin 258. 30 p., 11 pi., 1013. 



[Cir. 115] 



