EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETINS. 3.*)() 



1002, the stand was perfect at the close of the season. Upou the Alsike 

 plot the other clovers have, however, crowded out this variety consider- 

 ably during- the past season, for the well-drained condition of the plot 

 makes the soil less adapted to Alsike, and the increased yield cannot 

 therefore be credited to this variety, nor can this plot serve any longer 

 the purpose for which it was intended. For the purpose of determining 

 the longevity of clover plants, the cutting of the other plots will be 

 continued, and the ]»lots left unplowed as long as the stand remains 

 good and the yield i)rotital»le. 



The yield of Alfalfa was the largest since 1901 when the plots were 

 planted. The larger increased yield of the two plots Avhich heretofore 

 gave the lowest yield is partly due to the fact that the plants during 

 ■ the forepart of the season crowded out the grass and common clover 

 plants which had been holding their own since 1902, for as stated in 

 Special Bulletin No. 31, the stand of the four plots in 1904 ranged 

 from the poorest, or about 65 per cent of a perfect stand for the 

 Turkestan, to the best, or about 90 per cent for the German Alfalfa. At 

 the close of the past season, the improved stand ranged from 80 to 

 95 per cent of a perfect stand, and the results show that Alfalfa plants, 

 when once established, are even more aggressive than grass or clover 

 plants. 



The smaller yield of Sand Lucerne j>lanted in 1904 is largely due 

 to quack grass Avhich was quite abundant on this plot when the seed 

 was planted, and which, at the close of the past season, still repre- 

 sented nearly 40 per cent of the stand. As the plants are vigorous they 

 will be left for the purpose of observing their ability in holding their 

 own against what is commonly claimed to be the most ]>ersistent weed. 



At the beginning of the season, the Alfalfa plots seemed to be de- 

 stroyed without showing any evidence of disease or of damage from 

 insects, the crowns of nearly all plants being ])artial]y or entirely 

 dried up. Later on some of the plants which were dug up and whose 

 root system appeared to be in a healthy condition, showed that numer- 

 ous sprouts had started 2 to 4 inches below the crown. These sprouts 

 continued to grow and account for the crowding out of the grass and 

 clover plants. Later observations shoAved that a considerable portion 

 of the crowns had revived, and among about 20 plants which had been 

 dug up and whose roots were carefully inspected, one was found with a 

 single nodule about the size of a small pinhead ; the other plants, like 

 all those which have been dug up during each i»receding season, show- 

 ing no evidence of bacterial work. Fifteen varieties of Alfalfa were 

 started May 22 with seed furnished by the U. S. Department of Agri- 

 culture, enough seed being received for planting small plots of one 

 square rod each. While the five varieties which head the list and which 

 gave a yield of over 3,000 pounds per acre each, may possibly continue 

 to give the largest yields, it is quite likely that the present yield was 

 largely influenced by previous cultivation. These five were upon a i)Iot 

 which, in 1902. was badly infested with quack grass. Sugar beets were 

 planted in 1903 and soy beans in 1904 and, owing to the intense cul- 

 tivation, the plot when the Alfalfa \\i\H planted was entirely free from 

 quack grass and other weeds. The next five were upon a plot which 

 was cultivated in 1903 and had buckwheat in 1904. A large amount of 

 volunteer buckwheat came up, and hand-weeding was necessary to save 



