MEDICAGO FALCATA, A YETLLOW-FLOWEEED ALFALFA. 



49 



cata per pound and only 200,000 to 250,000 seeds of Medicago sativa 

 per pound. However, this difference in the size of the seed does not 

 apparently affect the quantity necessarj^ to produce a stand of plants 

 in the field to the extent that theoretically might be expected. 



YIELDS OF HAY. 



A correct estimate of the yield of hay of Medicago falcata com- 

 pared with that of Medicago sativa is difficult to make. The actual 

 production is more nearly the same for the two species than are the 

 yields obtained by ordinary methods of harvesting, owing to the 

 failure of the mowing machine to cut all the procumbent or de- 

 ciunbent stems of the latter. Yields of hay have been obtained from 

 a large number of individual plants cut with a hand sickle, but only 

 a few data are available on yields from field plats harvested by ma- 

 chinery. The yields presented in Table VIII were obtained from 

 tenth-acre broadcast plats at Brookings. 



Table VIII. — Yields of alfalfa obtained from tenth-acre broadcast plats, Brook- 

 ings, S. Dak., 1910 to 1913, inclusive. 



Species/ 



Calculated yield per acre (in pounds) based on actual yields from tenth-acre plats. 



1910 



Cuttings. 



To- 

 tal. 



1911 



Cuttings. 



1 



2 



1,070 



(2) 



Wil) 



V') 



1,010 



(■') 



900 



(2) 



270 



(2) 



880 



CO 



To- 

 tal. 



Cuttings. 



1913 



Cuttings. 



To- 

 tal. 



Aver- 

 age 



yield, 

 all 



years. 



Medicago sativa: 



Grimm 



Do 



Common 



Turkestan 



Medicago fcilcata: 

 8. P. 1.20717 3 

 8. P. I. 24452 3 



1,.560 

 1,.500 

 1.050 

 1,310 



1,6.50 

 2,780 



,520 2,020 

 5ti0 1,010 

 730 2,010 



1,6.50 

 2,780 



1,070 4,280'2,140 2,600 

 860 4,1202,780 2,210 



1,010 4,080 2,9601,780 

 900:4, 050l2, 420 1,410 



270 2,681 

 880 4,819 



9,020 

 9,910 



8,820 

 7,880 



2,681 

 4,819 



1,120 



1,450 

 1,400 

 2,800 



1,710 

 2,720 



1,860 

 1,660 

 1,770 

 1,250 



380 3,360 

 280 3,390 

 6103, 780 

 530 4,580 



1,710 

 2,720 



3,965 

 3,845 

 3; 805 

 3,850 



1,577 

 2,799 



' All plats .sown in 1909 under similar conditions. 2 No .second or third crop secured. 



3 Yield in 1910 considerably increa-sed by weeds. 



It is clearly shown in Table VIII that the average yield of Medi- 

 cago falcata is appreciably lower than the yields of the varieties of 

 Medicago sativa. Only during the unfavorable years of 1910 and 

 1911 did the former eciiial or approach the latter in total hay produc- 

 tion, and this was due largely to the growth of weeds that developed in 

 the plats. In 1910 a very light second cutting of (Jrimm, common, 

 and Turkestan alfalfas was obtained, but in 1911 only one cutting 

 was secured. 



In y<'ars that iire finornhlc I'oi- the production of only one crop, 

 tiie best hay forms of Medicago falcata may produce as heavy yields 



