VARIETIES OF ALFALFA. 



The botanical name of alfalfa is Medicago sativa. 

 It belongs to the class of plants called legumes. Its 

 relatives are the clovers, the peas, beans and locust 

 trees. There are thousands of kinds of leguminous 

 plants in the world and most of them have some use. 

 Some provide food for men, as the peas and beans; 

 some provide forage for animals; all or nearly all 

 have the power to enrich soils. There are more than 

 50 rather near relatives to the alfalfa plant. Some 

 of them are annuals, some are biennials and some 

 are perennials. Of them all only six have come into 

 general use as forage plants, and of these only one 

 or two have much merit. The descriptions following 

 are from Prof. G. F. Freeman of Kansas: 



Alfalfa (Medicago sativa, Linn) is an upright, much branched 

 smooth or slightly pubescent perennial plant one to three feet 

 high. The branches arise from a rather woody base which 

 crowns a long tap-root. This root with its branches may extend 

 three to twelve, or, in rare cases, even fifteen feet deep, rendering 

 this species very drought-resistant on account of its being able 

 to bring up water from the subsoil far beyond the reach of ordi- 

 nary plants. The leaves are arranged alternately on the stem 

 and are trifoliate or three-parted, each part being slightly broader 

 above the middle and usually tapering each way, although the 

 apex may be frequently rounded, blunt, or even slightly notched. 

 The pea-like flowers, varying in tint from pale, almost white, to 

 deep reddish purple, are arranged in rather elongated loose 

 clusters borne on the ends of the many branches. The pods are 

 spirally twisted through one to three complete curves, forming a 

 coil one-fourth to one-fifth inch in diameter. This pod contains 

 from one to eight seeds. The seeds are kidney-shaped, about one- 

 eighth of an inch long and a little more than half as wide. 



