No. f)4S] 



HARDINESS IN ALFALFA 



species to accommodate itself to extreme climatic con- 

 ditions. 



While it is evident that there are alfalfas in existence 

 to-day which do not contain elements of hardiness suffi- 

 cient "to allow them to live through the severer winters 

 of the United States, this statement apparently does not 

 hold for the alfalfas that are grown in the New World, 

 with the exception perhaps of the alfalfa known as the 



Inasmuch as the South American alfalfas grown in 

 hot regions contain elements capable of surviving very 

 severe winters, it is apparently not necessary to assume 

 recent mutative periods in the species. Inasmuch as 

 the alfalfa plant grown in the New World contains ele- 

 ments of hardiness allowing it to persist through periods 

 of severe cold, it is reasonable to assume that this ele- 

 ment of extreme hardiness may be dissociated from the 

 elements of lesser hardiness, even in the tenderest 

 strains, in such a manner that it can be carried from 

 generation to generation. This practical result has not 

 yet been attained, not because such a result is theoret- 

 ically impossible, but because no systematic attempt has 

 been made. It is evidently a saner thing to commence 

 practical breeding with those forms nearest to the one 

 desired. 



