April, \'J2\. 



SCIENTIFIC AGRICULTURE 



147 



Alfalfa Seed Growing in British Columbia 



liy P. A. liOVlNC, 

 Professor of Agronomy, University of British Columbia. 



With. the expansion, during tlie last thirty .years, of 

 the acreage planted to alfalfa, the demand for alfalfa 

 seed has steadily increased. Some years ago a man 

 had to he satisfied as long as he got alfalfa seed that 

 would germinate. Today we are more particular. 

 Practically every farmer knows he wants not only an 

 alfalfa of satisfact-ory purity combined with a high 

 percentage of germination, but he demands also to 

 obtain such varieties as Grimm, Baltic or Canadian 

 Variegated, all alfalfas belonging to the variegated 

 group. These, as most of us know, are more resistant 

 to adverse winter conditions than ordinary varieties, 

 and give the most satisfactory results where winter 

 killing constitutes a serious factor. 



Botanically the variegated alfalfas are known 

 under the name of Medicayo mediu, which, as the name 

 would indicate, stands in the middle between the two 

 other common types, the Medicayo saliva and the Mcd- 

 icago falcata. The former is generally a tall growing, 

 blue flowered, the latter often a somewhat procumbent, 

 and always .yellow flowered alfalfa. In the media 

 strains, a variety of flower colours prevail : purple, 

 cream, .yellowi.sh, gi-eenish, and brownish shades 

 appear in the bloom indicating the mixture of the blue 

 sativa blood with the .vellow falcata blood. The medias 

 are further characterized by closely set and branching 

 crowns and b.v a strong development of roots with a 

 tendencj' towards spreading, which they have inherit- 

 ed through the falcata parentage. This type of crown 

 and root does not heave or winterkill nearly as badl.y 

 as the straighter rooted and higher crowned alfalfas 

 of the sativa t.ype. 



There are, as may be readil.y understood, great poss- 

 ibilities in alfalfa breeding, but the average farmer 

 and seed grower can hardl.v afford to wait for results 

 of his own selection, hybridisation and comparative 

 testing. To him alfalfa seed production will mean a 

 matter of securing stock seed of an outstanding strain 

 and of multiplying such seed. 



Right here it might be proper to observe that the 

 seed grower should endeavour to secure stock seed 

 from a strain M'ith natural high seed producing capac- 

 ity, as it has been found that aifalfas differ consider- 

 abl.y in this respect, in that : 



Certain strains and plants almost refuse to self 



fertilize, 

 Certain strains and plants are only medium selfers, 



whereas 

 Cerlain strains and plants self fertilize veiy 

 readily. 

 This applies to individual plants within a variety or 

 strain as well as to different varieties in comparison 

 with each other. 



"We have had a very striking and, to us, a rather dis- 

 couraging evidence of this fact in our work at Point 

 Grey. Some years ago President Klinck, who was 

 then Head of the Agronom.v Department, selected a 

 falcata plant which showed several good qualities such 

 as drouth resistance, winter hardiness and spreading 

 abilit.v. When discussing the possibilities of this plant, 

 we thought that it might fit in under interior B. C. 

 l)asture conditions. However, when trving to obtain 

 seed from a n\imber of individuals belonging to this 

 family, which had been propagated vegetatively, we 



found that they practically refused to set seed. There 

 was consequently nothing else to do but to arrange for 

 some cross fertilization, and the following year we 

 therefore left a few Grimm plants to flower on the 

 outside of the falcata patch. We had also the satisfac- 

 tion to obtain a certain amount of seed. While the 

 pregeny from this seed shows considerable variation, 

 it contains, at the same time, a number of promising 

 seed producing individuals which seem to combine in 

 themselves the good characters of both parents, and 

 which may be found suitable for the conditions already 

 referred to. 



In 1906 this continent, including Canada and the 

 United States, imported in the vicinity of one hundred 

 thousand bushels, or six million pounds, of alfalfa seed. 

 Although since then the import has diminished so that 

 in 1916-1917 it amounted to only one-half, or fifty 

 thousand bushels (three million pounds), there isi 

 nevertheless still room for anyone who would care to 

 produce alfalfa seed. It should be recognized, how- 

 ever, that alfalfa seed growing is a verv problematic 

 proposition, unless conditions are favourable. 



It must be frankly admitted that until relatively 

 recent date considerable confusion prevailed in regard 

 to reasons for success or failure in a.lfalfa seed produc- 

 tion. Of course it has been recognized for a long time : 



1. That the soil must be sweet, i.e., contain sufficient 

 lime. 



2. That bacteria must be present, i.e., that inocula- 

 tion is necessar.v where corresponding organisms 

 are lacking. 



3. That the soil must contain P. and K. .so that the 

 plants ma.y be in a position to benefit fully from 

 their co-operation with the N-gathering bacteria. 



P>ut the influence of the stand itself, as well as of the 

 weather during the growing .season, has not been re- 

 cognized to its full extent until the last 15-20 .Aeai's. 

 Now one generally admits that the climate of a certain 

 district is the limiting factor in alfalfa seed produc- 

 tion, and that the current weather constitutes the 

 major factor almost deciding the yearl.v yields. 



In Canada commercial production of alfalfa, seed 

 has been confined almost exclusivel.v to parts of Ont- 

 ario and Southern Alberta. In the United States by 

 far the major portion of alfalfa seed is grown west of 

 tile one-hundredth meridian where irrigation and dry 

 land farming are practised, i.e., this industry is chiefly 

 confined to Utah, Kansas, Nebraska, California, Arizo- 

 na, Colorado, Oklahoma, Idaho, Montana and Wyom- 

 ing. Of late years several farmers in B.C. have grown 

 alfalfa successfull.y, and as more may contemplate to 

 go in for this branch of seed production, it is important 

 that we be fully aware of the factors which influence 

 the seed yield in a favo\irable or unfavourable direc- 

 tion. 



In humid regions the acreage of an.v consequence 

 is limited to the thinnest stands on the driest lands, 

 and even there the seed sets in fair quantities onl.v in 

 occasional drought.v years. According to statements 

 in American )Miblications, it has been found regarding 

 Kansas, whicli by the way is the transition region be- 

 tween the humid and arid portions of the United States, 

 that in the western part, with its average annual pre- 



