SIXTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK — PART VIII. 783 



ALFALFA GROWING. 



(Extracts from U. S. Department of Agriculture Bulletin No. 215.) 



BY 



A. S. HITCHCOCK. 



In Charge of Alfalfa and Clover Investigations, Grass and Forage Plant 

 Investigations, Bureau of Plant Industry. 



DESCRIPTION OF THE PLANT. 



Alfalfa is an upright, perennial plant, somewhat resembling red clover, 

 but the purple flowers are in a long cluster rather than in a compact 

 head. These clusters are scattered all over the plant instead of being 

 borne on the upper branches, as in clover. 



The plant has a long taproot, which descends to a great depth where 

 the soil permits. At the surface of the soil is soon formed a strong 

 crown from which spring, the new stems, as shown in figure 3. 



Young plants of sweet clover (Melilotus alba) closely resemble alfalfa, 

 for which they are often mistaken. In the later stages the sweet clover 

 is easily distinguished by its tall growth, biennial habit, and white 

 flowers. A seedling plant of alfalfa is shown in figure 4. 



TURKESTAN ALFALFA. 



A few years ago the Department of Agriculture imported from north- 

 ern Turkestan a variety of alfalfa, which was distributed for trial to 

 several experiment stations and a number of individual growers in 

 various parts of the United States. This alfalfa, now generally known as 

 Turkestan alfalfa, was found growing in semi-arid regions, and showed 

 great resistance to drought. The results of the experiments in this 

 country show that it is somewhat more resistant to drought than the 

 kinds already grown, and is probably better adapted than the ordinary 

 kind to dry regions where alfalfa must be grown without irrigation. The 

 Department is unable to supply more seed of this variety, as the ori- 

 ginal importation is exhausted. Several seedmen advertise Turkestan 

 alfalfa, but the seed that is advertised has not been given comparative 

 testa to determine its value. Such value depends largely upon the part 

 of Turkestan from which the seed is obtained; for Turkestan is a large 

 country and not all the alfalfa grown there is of a particularly drought- 

 resistant sort. 



