11 



the best possible seed. I want simply to emphasize this point, 



— that the quality of the seed is not necessarily indicated by 

 the name. There is a good deal of seed offered as Grimm 

 alfalfa, and I know that it is not anywhere near worth the 

 price charged for it as compared with common alfalfa. Now 

 the experiment station is taking the utmost care to get as 

 good seed as it can find, whether of Grimm variety or the so- 

 called common alfalfa, and the two have been tried again and 

 again side by side, and the results have more frequently been 

 favorable for what we bought for common northern grown 

 alfalfa than they have been for the Grimm. 



I need not take much of your time, but a few of the figures 

 I would like to read : — 



In 1914, in early August, we sowed side by side five kinds 

 of Grimm and three kinds from the Department of Agricul- 

 ture. In 1915 the Grimm gave 4^0 5 the common, S^V; one 

 of the United States Department, 4yo 5 another, 4iV5 and one, 

 4yo tons. I want particularly to speak of that last, — 4iV 

 tons. That was the smallest yield. This variety started off 

 fully as w^ell as any of the others, but it showed itself par- 

 ticularly susceptible to rust, and this emphasizes another point, 



— some of you have had a good deal of trouble, I know from 

 correspondence, with this leaf spot. This single experience of 

 ours emphasizes the point of which I felt very sure before, but 

 it emphasizes it in a very striking way, — that there may be 

 a tremendous difference in the susceptibility to leaf spot, which 

 always cuts down the yield and kills the roots, and may even 

 ruin the stand. I have other figures concerning the relative 

 yield of so-called Grimm, and when I say so-called Grimm I 

 do not mean to throw discredit on the persons who sold it as 

 Grimm. I have every reason to believe it was Grimm which 

 I bought, after consultation with experiment station directors, 

 of the men whom they said were the most reliable producers 

 of Grimm alfalfa in the northwestern States. I certainly believe 

 I am doing you a service in emphasizing this point, — that it 

 won't pay to give the prices usually charged for Grimm as 

 compared with good northern grown common alfalfa. 



As to the time of sowing, just a word from the standpoint 

 of Massachusetts. I think we want to sow a little more than 



