Alfalfa in Kansas. 



193 



Breeding for Forage Yield. 



The first thing necessary, as in all other cases, is to secure the best 

 foundation stocks for breeding work. This is done by growing a large 

 number of regional and commercial varieties in nursery rows three feet 

 apart, with the plants thinned so that they stand two feet apart in the 

 row. These nursery rows are cultivated throughout the season. The 



FIG. 165. Type of common alfalfa having short stiff branches thickly set with leaves. 



weight in forage of the different varieties is determined for several years 

 in succession. This is, perhaps, the best method of beginning in a region 

 in which alfalfa has not been grown to any extent. Otherwise, in a 

 successful alfalfa-growing region, it is just as well to begin with seed 

 from a typical first-class old stand of alfalfa, growing under usual con- 

 ditions. The seed should be sown in the fall, in rows three feet apart, and 

 the plants thinned the following spring until they stand two feet apart 

 in the rows. This will admit of horse cultivation lengthwise of the rows, 

 hoeing being necessary between the plants in the rows. Great differences 

 will soon manifest themselves among the plants. Some will be upright, 

 some prostrate, some with narrow and others with broad leaflets; some 

 with long, wiry branches, sparsely set with foliage; others with shorter 

 branches, thickly set with leaves. An almost infinite variety of types will 

 be found, testifying to the vast amount of intercrossing that has gone on 

 in the past. 



The first thing to do now is to close-pollinate the plants of the best 

 types. This can be done by "tripping" the blossoms by hand. Alfalfa is 

 one of a small number of leguminous plants in which there is a trigger- 

 like arrangement of the petals, the release of which allows the pistil and 

 stamens to spring upward with force. The alfalfa flower consists of five 

 petals an upright one, called the standard; two side petals, called the 

 wings; and two lower ones, which are joined together into a boat-like 



