182 



Kansas State Board of Agriculture. 



No variety of alfalfa known will be entirely successful anywhere if 

 one of these essential characteristics is lacking to the soil. But, on the 

 other hand, when we come to consider variations in climate, we find the 

 world-wide adaptability of alfalfa to be most striking. When we speak 

 about varieties of alfalfa, however, we must remember that generally 

 the name of a "variety" so-called of alfalfa is really the name of the 

 region where it originated or from whence it has been brought. Hence, 

 we prefer at present to speak of "regional varieties." This is illustrated 

 by the names Arabian, Peruvian, Chilean, Turkestan, etc., which are 

 very indefinite as variety names, but which simply refer to the country 

 from which the given strain of alfalfa has been imported. Oftentimes, as 

 is the case of alfalfa from Turkestan, where different importations of 

 seed have been made from different parts of this wide territory, which 

 is two-fifths as large as the United States, it is plain that there are 

 several varieties, types or strains lumped together under the name of 

 Turkestan. In fact, the number of different pure strains of different 



FIG 157 Two types of common alfalfa, having broad and narrow leaves, respectively. 

 There are many variations of this kind in every alfalfa field. 



