SouTiiwoRTH : Alfalfa Hybridization 



4o3 



From these crosses five healthy pods 

 were obtained, the seed from which was 

 sown in the fall of 1912, 24 plants being 

 raised. The plants were kept in the 

 greenhouse until the following year, 

 when 19 were removed to the open field, 

 the remaining five being planted out in 

 July. These latter plants not having 

 been treated uniformly with the rest 

 have not been included in the present 

 records. 



In order to distinguish between the 

 various pods they were designated by 

 letters A, B, C, D, E. The ntmiber of 

 seeds per pod varied from three to 

 seven and in sowing, the seeds from the 

 respective pods were numbered con- 

 secutively and kept separate through- 

 out. 



With two exceptions all the 19 plants 

 grew vigorously and as they increased 

 in size showed considerable variation; 

 it was also very noticeable that plants 

 produced from different seeds out of the 

 same pod varied in quite a remarkable 

 manner. 



DIFFERENCES IN HABIT. 



On referring to the photographs, it 

 will be seen that some plants were tall 

 with slender flexible branches whilst 

 others were quite dwarf in habit with 

 stout rigid branches and carrying a 

 dense mass of leaves. During the 

 period of growth it was observed that 

 in several plants the young shoots 

 which arose from the bases of the root- 

 stocks were a very light pale yellow 

 tint, in some cases almost white in 

 appearance; but when the shoots be- 

 came older they gradually assumed a 

 darker tinge and finall}^ turned to the 

 normal green color of the rest of the 

 foliage. It was seen, also, that the young 

 seed pods of these plants were of a light 

 salmon pink color which changed to 

 brown as the pods became ripe. 



As regards flower color, all the plants 

 produced variegated flowers and the 

 tints varied on almost every plant. 

 The chief color was violet shading into 

 purple; dark purple, and green. In 

 some flowers the edges of the keel were 

 lined with yellow but in no case was 

 yellow seen on the wings or standard. 



On most plants the flower structure 

 was quite normal and required the usual 



operation to cause tripping to take 

 place. Two plants were noticed which 

 produced a number of abnormal flowers. 



In structure these abnormal flowers 

 had an enlarged keel which presented 

 a swollen, unhealthy appearance, but 

 contained the usual ntmiber of stamens 

 enclosed. The pistil, however, did not 

 remain enclosed in the keel as in the 

 normal alfalfa flower but pushed its 

 way out and the stigma in the form 

 of a hook could be seen standing erect 

 quite clear of the keel and fully exposed. 

 In these abnormal flowers the standard 

 was also much reduced in size and the 

 whole raceme of abnormal flowers pre- 

 sented a very curious aspect. 



By the above description it will be 

 readily understood that it would not be 

 necessary to trip such flowers to liberate 

 the pistil. 



These abnormal flowers were kept 

 under close observation during the sum- 

 mer and as several produced seeds they 

 were collected separately for the pur- 

 pose of further experiment. 



In view of the fact that these plants 

 were raised under artificial conditions 

 and that at the stage of growth as de- 

 scribed previously they had only been 

 planted in the open about three months, 

 it is not thought advisable at this stage 

 to give a detailed description of the 

 different parts of the plants and their 

 variations, but a table is here given 

 setting forth some of the main charac- 

 teristics noticed. 



The measurements given in the table 

 were taken from average individual 

 shoots from the respective plants and 

 it is from these saine shoots that the 

 accompanying photographs were pre- 

 pared. 



From plants of the first generation 

 self -fertilized seed was obtained. One 

 plant, C2, grew more vigorously and 

 flowered much more profusely than any 

 of the rest and as it yielded a fair 

 amount of well-developed selfed seed 

 this was sown in order to make a study 

 of the second generation. 



SECOND HYBRID GENERATION. 



These plants were raised in the 

 autumn of 1913 in the greenhouse 

 laboratory of the Department of Plant- 



