Alfalfa in Kansas. 



189 



FIG. 160. Sickle alfalfa (Medidago fal- 

 cata). A cold- and drouth-resistant type of 

 alfalfa native to eastern and central Asia. 

 This alfalfa has a branching crown, and a 

 branching root system, instead of a single 

 tap root. It also has horizontal propa- 

 gating stems (rhizomes, "r, r"), which 

 grow at some depth underground, and 

 help the plant to survive unfavorable con- 

 ditions. 



FIG. 161. Grimm alfalfa. This alfalfa is 

 probably the result of a cross between or- 

 dinary alfalfa and Sickle alfalfa. It has 

 the hardiness of the latter. Note the richly 

 branching crown and root system, like that 

 of the Sickle alfalfa. This type of root sys- 

 tem in alfalfa has been found to go with 

 winter and drouth hardiness. 



By means of Grimm, Baltic, and one or two Turkestan strains, alfalfa 

 has thus been brought to the cold northwestern states, where alfalfa 

 growing had hitherto been, and would otherwise remain, a failure. It 

 should be added that the introduction of the yellow-flowered alfalfas, 

 Medicago falcata and Medicago ruthenica, found by Professor Hansen 

 growing wild on the cold, dry steppes of Siberia, may result in carrying 

 alfalfa growing, as Professor Hansen suggests, up to the arctic circle. 

 These extremely hardy alfalfas do not seem to be so productive as com- 

 mon alfalfa, but it is likely that no strain of Medicago saliva will ever 

 grow as far north as some of the strains of Sickle alfalfa. 



Breeding for Drouth-resistance. 



As already stated, the alfalfas which show cold-resistance in a marked 

 degree are also adapted to resist drouth. In general, however, the Turk- 

 estan strains, which are not all winter-hardy, are yet very drouth-re- 

 sistant. One of the difficulties in breeding for drouth-resistance in alfalfa 

 is the fact that the alfalfa tops do not lie dormant during a scarcity in 

 the water supply, as in the case of the sorghums, but wilt, and new 

 shoots start from the crown. The deep-rooting habits of alfalfa, and the 

 branching-root habits of some strains, as mentioned above, give alfalfa 



