36 BULLETIN 428, U. S. DEPAETMENT OF AGEICULTUEE. 



secured, a number of promising forms have been obtained from India. 

 The data and conchision, tlierefore, do not necessarily apply to these 

 late introductions. Their behavior strongly suggests the advisability 

 of deferring judgment on them until they have been more thoroughly 

 tested. 



GENERAL HABITS OF GROWTH. 



There is a wide range of variation of growth in plants of Medicago 

 falcata. Practically every degree of erectness is represented, from 

 prostrate to upright. However, from a forage standpoint the species 

 may be divided into two general groups — the procumbent, prostrate, 

 or spreading group, which, theoretically at least, has some advan- 

 tages over the upright forms for pasturage, and the ascending or sub- 

 erect group, which is suitable for hay production. Oliver {Jj.7) has 

 discussed the pasture forms in some detail. A large majority of the 

 forms fall either in the so-called pasture group or are not sufficiently 

 erect to be included in the hay group. The apparently prevalent 

 opinion, however, that there arfe no upright forms is erroneous, since 

 there are some quite as erect as any that can be found in Medicago 

 sativa. The degree of erectness, it is true, is influenced to some ex- 

 tent by cultural methods. The habit of the plants is dependent to 

 a considerable degree upon whether they are grown in hills, widely 

 spaced rows, or in broadcast stands. In hills and in roAvs they are 

 much more procumbent than when grown in broadcast stands. How- 

 ever, thickness of planting does liot overcome the decumbent habit 

 of the plants in groups 1 and 2 sufficiently to permit harvesting by 

 machinery without loss. Observations made at Brookings, S. Dak., 

 on two tenth-acre broadcast plats seeded in 1909 indicate an appre- 

 ciable improvement in the degree of erectness of the plants after the 

 stand becomes thickened by the enlarging of the crowns, which was 

 especially noticeable after the second or third year of growth. 



The forms suitable for hay, so far as the matter of harvesting is 

 concerned, are confined almost exclusively to groups 3 and 4. These 

 forms are found abundantly in S. P. I. Nos. 20718, 20719, 24455, 

 26927, 28070, 28071, 30433, and 32412. (See figs. 12, 13, 14, and 15.) 

 The extremely low, spreading pasture forms are found in groups 1 

 and 2, and especially in S. P. I. Xos. 20717, 20725, and 24454, where 

 they predominate. (See figs. 7, 8, and 9.) 



CHARACTERISTICS OF THE VEGETATIVE GROWTH. 



The general appearance of the vegetative growth of the upright 

 forms of Medicago falcata is not materially different from that of 

 Medicago sativa, except that it is somewhat more silver gray in color. 

 The mass height in broadcast stands is commonly less than that of 



