Winter Resistant Alfalfas 



There is no doubt about it the best alfalfas for those sections 

 where winterkilling is a problem are the variegated strains. They 

 are the hardiest longest-lived and best all-round producing alfalfas 

 yet discovered for the snow-bound states. 



There are three principal varieties or strains grown here in the 

 United States Grimm, Baltic and Cossack. The Grimm is by far 

 the most widely grown of the^three and its seed can generally be 

 purchased at the lowest Vost. rj 



Fig. 46. Cultivated rows of Grimm alfalfa grown in Nebraska for seed. 



These are called variegated alfalfas because, instead of having all 

 their blossoms purple, a considerable percentage of them have a 

 variety of colors ranging all the way from white, light yellow and 

 green to smoky hues of purple, brown and blue. They are hybrid 

 alfalfas and have resulted from a natural cross between the common 

 purple-flowered variety and the hardy but , poor-producing yellow- 

 flowered alfalfa which the scientists call Medicago falcata. Be- 

 cause of its rather poor yields and low spreading habit, yellow- 

 flowered alfalfa is not and will probably never be of any commercial 

 importance in the East or Middle West. 



Grimm, Baltic and Cossack All Good 



The three variegated varieties, Grimm, Baltic and Cossack, are 

 all good, and there is no data to show that for the humid areas one 

 is better than another. For success they mustlbe seeded with the 



same care and cultivated in the same way as the common strains. 



< 



Where Grimm Alfalfa Started 



According to the records, Grimm alfalfa was introduced into 

 Carver County, Minnesota, in 1857, by Wendelin Grimm, an im- 

 migrant from Baden, Germany. He brought with him fifteen or 

 twenty pounds of alfalfa seed, and sowed it in the spring of 1858. 

 Just how well this first seeding of the "ewiger Klee" everlasting 

 clover as he called it, succeeded is not definitely known, but at 



55 



