ALFALFA 



plant for poor land, although it does add organic 

 matter and nitrogen. 



Varieties. --There is only one variety of alfalfa 

 in common use in this country, and the western- 

 grown seed sold upon the market is known simply 

 as alfalfa. Bound up in this one so-called variety 

 are many strains differing in habit of growth, and 

 their differentiation will occur, just as it has in 

 the case of wheat, and is now proceeding slowly 

 with timothy. The eastern grower at present 

 should use the variety of the west that is furnish- 

 ing nearly all the seed produced in this country. 

 There is a variety known as Sand Lucerne that has 

 shown value for the light, sandy soils of Michigan. 

 The Turkestan variety was introduced for dry, 

 cold regions, but does not produce much seed. 



Clean Seed. Care should be exercised to 

 secure seed free from impurities. If one is not a 

 competent judge, he should send a sample to his 

 state experiment station for examination. The 

 practice of adulteration is decreasing, but the 

 seed may have been taken from land infested with 

 pernicious weeds. 



The impurity most to be feared is dodder. 

 There are several varieties, the seeds varying in 

 size and color. The same pest may be found in 

 F [65] 



