58 THE MONTHLY BULLETIN. 



than the Turkestan type, is not comparable with the American, or 

 Chilian, variety. It is not as hardy as the kinds mentioned above. 



The Arabian and Algerian varieties are upright, with large suc- 

 culent stems and large broad light-colored leaves. While they are 

 thought to be more productiA^e and vigorous than our common, or 

 American, alfalfa, they are less resistant to cold. They have won favor 

 in the mild climate of New Mexico, Arizona and California, where irri- 

 gation is practiced. 



The Peruvian variety, recently imported by the U. S. Department of 

 Agriculture, has all the excellence of the Arabian type, usually some- 

 what exaggerated. Its one drawback is impatience to cold. The leaf- 

 lets of this variety are very long — four times as long as broad. The 

 leaflets in the Arabian are short and broad. The flowers of the Peru- 

 vian type are small, while the calyx teeth are much longer than the 

 tube. This is not true of either the common or Arabian varieties. 



The American, common, western or Chilian, variety is more vigorous 

 and productive than any except the Arabian and Peruvian varieties, 

 and is more resistant to cold than these last. It would seem wise for 

 us in California to grow this variety in the main and to experiment to 

 a greater or less degree with the Arabian and Peruvian types and to 

 enlarge our plantings of the one type of these three that does best on 

 our ranches, under our own special management. 



SOILS. 



While I have seen fine fields of alfalfa on all kinds of soils, from light 

 sand to heavy clay, yet a clay loam seems best. The one tiling that bars 

 success is improper drainage. Water nearer the surface than five feet 

 kills success. In arid California drainage is rarely required, though 

 in places the water table is too high for alfalfa to thrive. Seepage from 

 irrigation higher up often saturates the subsoil, and may bring alkali, 

 which would do serious harm. It is well to add that growing alfalfa is 

 very quickly killed by an overflow ; while in a dormant state, it may be 

 covered with water for some eight or ten days with no serious harm. 



Another impediment in arid regions where the soil is heavy and 

 poorly drained is alkali. While, as Hilgard shows, the mature plants 

 are quite tolerant of alkali, this is not true of the young plants. 

 Heavy irrigation, with an open subsoil, will often wash the salt down 

 and enable the rancher to secure a good stand, which in maturity will 

 tolerate considerable of the noxious salt. Fall planting of alfalfa is 

 often recommended, as the rains will wash the black alkali down, and the 

 plants wall get a good growth before the rise of alkali in summer. The 

 effect of the alkali is to girdle the young plants by its corrosive action 

 just at the crown. 



PREPARATION FOR SOWING SEED. 



The soil should be thoroughly and deeply cultivated some time 

 before planting. As with a lawn, repeated cultivation, alternating with 

 irrigation or rains, will sprout the weed seed already in the soil and save 

 much labor, loss and vexation later. One objection to spring seeding 

 is the likelihood of abundant weeds. In this case the repeated culti- 

 vations before planting are the more to be commended. We must guard 

 against weeds in every possible way. 



