4 CIRCULAR NO. 115, BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY. ‘ 
Annais of Agriculture, leaves no doubt as to what he observed or of 
his appreciation of the importance of the character: 
My reasons for preferring it [variegated medick or variegated alfalfa} to 
lucern are that it is hardier in bearing cold; that from its habit of branching 
below the surface of the ground and the shoots being much more numerous, it is 
not choked by the natural grasses, and that for the same reason it will not be 
injured by being fed by sheep.* 
Credit must also be given Le Blanc for advocating the value of 
variegated alfalfa and for his efforts along the line of introducing this 
strain into general use. The history of his experience with “ varie- 
gated medick,” as written by himself, is very interesting and has a 
very definite bearing on the subject of stem proliferation. 
While underground stems are found in what is considered now to 
be genuine JJ/edicago sativa, they are by no means as common or as 
well developed as in hybrids between J/. sativa and I. falcata or in 
pure J/. falcata. 
There is, therefore, little wonder that Le Blanc should be among 
the first to observe and appreciate them, since he was among the 
first to study carefully from an agronomic standpoint J/edicago falcata 
and its natural hybrids. But notwithstanding the definiteness with 
which Le Blane wrote, the subterranean stem character was given 
little attention by subsequent botanists and agriculturists; or, at any 
rate, it was very soon lost sight of. 
A search through literature fails to reveal any mention of under- 
ground shoots or rhizomes from the time of the publication of Le 
Blane’s work in Young’s Annals of Agriculture, 1791, up to the 
publication by Blinn in 1911° of a bulletin entitled “Alfalfa: The 
Relation of Type to Hardiness,” and a bulletin by Oliver in 19137 on 
“Some New Alfalfa Varieties for Pastures.” These investigators 
have called attention for the first time in recent literature to the 
preduction of rhizomes in certain forms of alfalfa and the import- 
ant part they play in rendering the plant resistant to severe condi- 
tions, especially those of drought and coid. 
That certain types of alfalfa have a tendency to produce high 
crowns, while others have their crowns at or below the surface of the 
ground, has been a matter of common observation for some time. 
Moreover, this character has been associated in a rather general way 
with hardiness. Brand and Waldron, in discussing qualities produc- 
ing hardiness in different races of alfalfa, make the following state- 
ment : 
1ZLe Blane, Thomas. Experiments on the variegated medick. Annals of Agriculture, 
v. 15, p. 279, 1791. (Le Blanc’s observations were made about 1783.) 
2Tdem, p. 277. 
3 Blinn, P. kK. Alfalfa: The relation of type to hardiness. Colorado Agricultural Ex- 
periment Station, Bulletin 181, 16 p., illus., 1911. 
4 Oliver, G. W. Some new alfalfa varieties for pastures. U. 8. Department of <Agri- 
culture, Bureau of Plant Industry, Bulletin 258, 39 p., 11 pl., 1913. 
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