62 BULLETIN 428, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. ° 
agriculture? No encouraging answer can be given to this question 
at the present time. (2) Will the yield from the one cutting that 
they may be expected to produce be sufficiently large to make their 
extensive culture profitable? The answer in this case is not very 
optimistic. It is quite probable, however, that conditions exist under 
which a limited area of alfalfa would be valuable, even where only 
one cutting, of a ton or somewhat less per acre, is all that could 
be expected in a season. If this be true, certain of the best hay- 
producing strains of Medicago falcata may have an advantage under 
such conditions over the best strains of Medicago sativa that are now 
available, not only because of their hardiness and drought resistance, 
but also. because of their apparent ability to produce a somewhat 
heavier yield from the one cutting. But whether they possess a 
material advantage over the best hybrids of the two species is by no 
means certain. 
Economic conditions are slowly changing. The feasibility of 
establishing alfalfa fields in dry areas where agriculture is precarious, 
either by seeding or by the transplanting of seedling plants, is now 
being considered. The varieties of Medicago falcata lend themselves 
well to this type of culture. In widely spaced hills the individual 
plants make a very large development, and the young plants bear 
transplanting better than plants of Medicago sativa. The time for 
the extensive culture of alfalfa in hills for forage is probably very 
far distant, as is the extensive growing of the crop under any system 
of culture in sections where only one cutting can be procured each 
season, so that the alfalfa problem is by no means solved by the 
securing of so-called hardy and drought-resistant strains. To become 
generally useful these alfalfas must produce a sufficient yield to be 
profitable and to compete with the cereals and other crops that can 
be utilized for forage. 
To what extent Medicago falcata will be found of value in con- 
nection with the improvement of our native pastures and ranges can 
not definitely be stated at this time. The field is a very broad one, 
and critical data are still wanting. The results of investigations to 
date, however, do not warrant any considerable degree of optimism. 
Experimental plantings on native sod have been established, but the 
plants so far have failed to exhibit the aggressiveness that is neces- 
sary to make them valuable. Under cultivation in the more favorable 
sections the species offers somewhat greater promise. Its forms 
possess certain characteristics that fit them for pasturage purposes. 
The spreading habit and development of rhizomes and proliferating 
roots enable them to endure grazing and trampling to a considerable 
degree. For pasture, as well as for the production of hay, however, 
their slow recovery makes it very doubtful whether they will be able 
to compete successfully with the better hybrid strains. 
