198 



Kansas State Board of Agriculture. 



forage. In other words, plants that produce much forage seldom pro- 

 duce much seed. Most of our alfalfa seed is produced under semiarid 

 conditions, where the plants are dwarfed and stunted in their growth 

 from lack of water. Under these conditions, plants that would not ordi- 

 narily set seed in a region of abundant rainfall produce an abundance of 

 seed. We can not, therefore, expect to create a double-purpose alfalfa 

 plant, and we must content ourselves with moderate demands in the way 

 of seed production, if we expect to have at the same time a heavy yield 

 of forage. 



Breeding for Disease-resistance. 



Nothing has thus far been done in this direction in the case of alfalfa. 

 The method to be pursued consists simply in the selection, first, of regional 

 varieties, and finally of individual plants, that seem the least affected by 

 the disease in question. Close-pollinated seed should be secured from 

 such selected plants, and the immune or partially immune race should now 

 be grown between rows of the varieties or strains that seem most badly 

 infested, in order to determine effectively the degree of immunity which 

 it actually has. Once certain that the new strain of alfalfa is wholly or 

 partially immune it should be increased as before indicated. 



14.3 X 



FIG. 172. Calyx of alfalfa flower, spread out. This forms a ring around the base of 

 the flower. The individual posts or teeth are called the sepals. 



