FORAGE CROPS, MEADOWS AND PASTURES I293 



981 - Medicago or/»/cw/ar/5; Attempts at Introduction into the United States. — 



McKbe ROLAXD, in t'. S. 7)t'/>rt)'/»UM.' ut As.riciilturc, Farmer's Bulletin. 730, •) pp., 3 fig. 

 Washington, D. C, June 2, 1916. 



Medicago orbicularis, indigenous to the ^Mediterranean region, was 

 introduced into the United States in 1899 by the Foreign Seed and 

 Plant Introduction Office of the Department of Agriculture. In the fol- 

 lowing years, several other small lots of seeds of this species were introduced 

 from the same region, but practically all the experimental work carried 

 out was done with seeds from a sample which arrived from Algeria in 1902. 



Medicago orbicularis has been tested on a larger scale in California, where 

 it proved to be peculiarly well adapted. In the Southern States of the Union 

 it was not sufficiently dried to allow of determining its value definiteh*. The 

 work accomplished, however, already indicates that it is perhaps possible 

 to use it with success in all those parts which enjoy a very mild climate, 

 and where Medicago arabica is at present grown. 



In order to thrive, Medicago orbicularis requires a temperate climate, the 

 winter temperature of which does not go below — lo^ C. It is not exacting 

 as regards soil and humidity, and thrives under very diverse conditions. 

 As a pasture plant it is especially valuable in the most temperate districts 

 of the south-west of the United States, where it is preferable to M. hispida 

 denticulata and M. arabica. It is easy to lay down land to pasture with M. 

 orbicularis as it requires nothing beyond sowing. If, however, the soil does 

 not already contain the bacteria giving rise to the formation of leguminous 

 nodules, they must be inoculated into it. This inoculation is not neces- 

 sary in those soils where Medicago arabica or M. saliva have already been 

 grown. .1/. orbicularis gives good hay, but it is difficult to mow owing to its 

 drooping habit. Usually it gives good seed crops, but the drying and thresh- 

 ing of the hay are rendered difficult owing to the fact that the seeds fall 

 readily. In trials carried out at Chico, California, from 190S to iQii, -1/. orbi- 

 cularis gave as the average of this four-year period 8.4 cwt. per acre of 

 husked seeds. M. arabica grown as a standard of comparison, gave during 

 the three-year period 1908-1910 an average of 3.1 cwt. per acre. 



The Author demonstrated by experiment that husked seed kept in 

 ordinary stores had their germination capacity reduced b}' about one half 

 after 3 or 4 3'ears ; after 7 years it was reduced to 1/3 of its value. On the 

 other hand the one year old seeds possess a good germination capacity (in 

 T911 it was 91 % with 4 % of hard seeds). 



As a green manure, M. orbicularis possesses practically the same value 

 as M. arabica and M . hispida denticulata. 



982 - The Green Pea as a Forage Plant in North America. — vinall h. x., in United 



states department of A iiiicultun, Farmer's Bullet in, No. 690, ::4 pp., if) fig. Washington, 

 D. C, October H^ 1915. 



The green pea [Pisum sativum) is cultivated widely in North America 

 as a forage plant and is then called" field pea "or" Canada field pea ". The 

 cultivation of the green pea is of very ancient date, but up till latterly 

 it was intended exclusively for human food. It is now widely cultivated in 

 Canada as a forage plant, as well as in the States of the North American 



