1029 



Of the many varieties we have tried, there is 

 one that stands out pre-eminently as the most suc- 

 cessful, for the reason (1) that it is thoroughly 

 hardy, having withstood temperatures of 66 to 70 de- 

 grees below zero, and (2) it produces seed at our 

 Rampart Station, in latitude 65 30', which is an 

 equally important point, inasmuch as we should be un- 

 able to propagate it in a practical way, unless we 

 could raise the seed. I have looked up the source of 

 this hardy variety. It was transmitted to me by you 

 in your letter of May 13, 1910. The S. P. I. number 

 is No. 24452, but Medicago falcata is the most valuable 

 plant for Alaska that has ever been introduced from 

 any source. It grows freely, the leaves are small but 

 thick on the stem, the stems are in most plants pro- 

 cumbent and they will grow from two to four feet in 

 length. They bloom early and seed freely. The blossoms 

 continue to come until frost. It has one fault: The 

 ripe pods split open very readily and shatter the 

 seed in the process of handling. To save the seed, 

 which I regard as very precious, we, therefore, pick 

 it by hand to a large extent. We have hybrids between 

 this species and M. sativa, variety Grimm, which promise 

 to be of still greater value. The Grimm has a spiral 

 pod; falcata has a nearly straight pod. Some of the 

 hybrids have curved, or even spiral pods which do not 

 split open readily and the seed does, therefore, not 

 shatter in handling. I find that there is very great 

 variation between individual plants as to habit of 

 growth, size, abundance of leaves, seed production, 

 etc., and in order to select the best types and 

 eventually propagate from them only, we grow these 

 valuable alfalfas as individual plants in rows two by 

 three feet apart. This enables us to study individuals 

 and select seed from those that possess the most val- 

 uable qualities. This process will be continued for 

 a few years longer until an upright, vigorous, leafy, 

 seed-bearing strain has been isolated.- Altogether we 

 have now some three acres at the Rampart Station, in 

 these alfalfas, two acres of which were seeded last 

 spring. Medicago falcata will be of untold value to in- 

 terior Alaska. The problem now is to produce enough 

 seed so that before long we can begin to distribute 

 it in minute quantities to farmers who will appreci- 

 ate its value. A word concerning Grimm: It is an ex- 

 cellent variety, and some years it does well, with- 

 standing two or three winters, but each spring we 

 find that a number of plants have winter killed, and 



