18 
BULLETIN 1087, U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 
Most of the seed that is placed on the market is produced in Mon- 
tana and the Black Hills region of South Dakota. The root systems 
of this alfalfa are fairly uniform and intermediate between the root 
system characteristic of southern-grown common alfalfa and that of 
the hardier varieties, such as Turkestan and Grimm. The taproot is 
quite distinct and branch roots are most prominent at 1^ to 4 inches 
below the crown. This is somewhat nearer the surface than is charac- 
teristic of the southern-grown strains and almost identical with the 
Turkestan and Grimm. In number and prominence of branch roots, 
the northern-grown common alfalfa exceeds the southern grown, 
but does not equal the Turkestan and Grimm. The distinguishing 
Fig. 13. 
-Root systems of northern-grown common alfalfa plants, the growth of one 
season. 
differences in these respects, however, are usually so slight that they 
can be noted only by examining many plants. (Fig. 13.) 
TURKESTAN ALFALFA. 
Strains of Turkestan 3 alfalfa have been under test for a number 
of years in the northern Great Plains region, and certain introduc- 
tions have proved hardy and quite productive. They are character- 
ized by broad, deep-set crowns and more numerous crown branches 
than the common and nonhardy alfalfas. The taproots are relatively 
shorter, more tapering, and less distinct than in common, Peruvian, 
and Poona. The diameter of the taproot somewhat exceeds that of 
the nonhardy alfalfas studied, but as measurements show, it is some- 
what less in plants of one season's growth than in the Grimm alfalfa. 
s The root systems of plants of Turkestan alfalfa studied at Redfield were from plats 
sown with seed that was the result of several seed generations in the northern Great 
Plains region. The original seed was of S. P. I. No. 091, which was collected under the 
direction of the U. S. Department of Agriculture at Tashkend. Turkestan, in 1898; 
