-3- 
Grapos , Hardy Without Winter Protection 
There is a great need for grapes of choice quality that will be hardy with¬ 
out winter protection in South Dakota. Concord and all its descendants will not 
help us, as they are too short-lived. The Beta and Alpha, which are large fruited 
selections of the wild grape of Minnesota, are hardy without winter protection, 
but we need something larger in size and better in quality. In the spring of 1925 
I introduced thirty-two of my new grapes, mostly hybrids of the wild grape collect¬ 
ed -at Bismarck, North Dakota, and Fort Pierre, South Dakota, vrlth choice eastern 
grapes, especially the Roger hybrids. The series of dry seasons has delayed the 
propagation of these nev; crapes, and. the demand for cuttings has taken most of the 
crop each year. For spring I have a few vines of Lachala, Napka, Mandan, Wecota, 
Shakolca, Asita, Chonkee, Eona, Sonona, and Siposk.a; the price of one-year old 
vines is $1.00 each. Better make a second and third choice in case the supply of 
your first choice is already exhausted. Descriptions in Bulletin 224. 
My own opinion is that these n-v grapes and their successors along the same 
line of breeding wi.ll eventually revolutionize the grape culture of the prairie 
Northwest. Our prairie fanners will not lay down and give winter protection to 
any grape vine. But these new "Tapes are not intended, to go into the milder reg¬ 
ions where the Concord and its seedlings are hardy without winter protection. The 
problem now is t"' fin^ the best few ~ut of the thirty-two varieties. Also, there 
is a problem of whether the market prefers black grapes, white, or red crapes. 
Some of the choicest quality grapes a^e not the largest in size. 
The Hansen Alfalfa 
Flowers white, seeds white . The first alfalfa with a trademark or distin¬ 
guishing characteristic by which it may be known. In the 1932 spring list I gave 
this name to the Hansen Whiteseed Alfalfa of which a few plants were sent out in 
1926 (see Bulletin 224). In the spring of 1931 I offered to send ten plants free 
to the first 500 applicants in S^uth Dakota. Many more than 300 applications were 
received, so about 3,560 plants were distributed. I am trying to perfect the 
Hansen alfalfa as rapidly as possible. Female parent: the Yellow Flowered Alfalfa 
( Medicago falcata) from Omsk, Siberia. Male parent: the Cossack Alfalfa.: Some - 
strong transplanted two-year-old plants, 10 plants for $1.00. 
The Sibturk Alfalfa 
This is a hybrid of the Siberian and the Turkestan alfalfas. The female 
parent is the Yellow Flowered Alfalfa ( Medicago falcata), which I brought from 
Semipalatinsk, Siberia, in 1913. The male parent is the Select Turkestan Alfalfa, 
remarkable for its erect vigorous growth, and which I brought back from my 1906 
tour. Sibturk is the name I now choose for the Hansen Hybrid No. 1, described in 
Bulletin No. 224. This is a very hardy and productive variety, showing astonish¬ 
ing endurance in a field where it has been cut several years as a lawn. The seed 
is held tightly in the pod. Flowers variegated in many colors, with much yellow. 
Sibturk is an excellent combination of these two species. The name is condensed 
from the 7/ords Siberia and Turkestan. Seed per packet, 50 cents. 
Crested Wheat Grass 
One of the plants which I brought back from my seven tours of exploration 
is Crested Wheat Grass ( Agropyron cristatum ), which I brought first to the United 
States from Russia. I located this in many different places in eastern Russia and 
Siberia. Experience quoted in the Country Gentleman of February, 1953, and 
February, 1934, shows that it is now regarded the best grass for the drylands of 
the United States. It is worth many millions of dollars, and can be worth many 
millions more if government aid is given for propagation of this grass, also for 
getting more seed from its native home. If the western lands are to be put down 
to grass, it should be to the best kind obtainable, and in this Siberian species, 
we have a better grass than any of the native grasses of America. All this is 
noted to show that an agricultural explorer can sometimes help to change things 
for the better. If ever able to visit Siberia again, I would devote much time to 
obtaining many thousand pounds of this seed,stripped from the best plants in the 
most exposed situations. It would pay the prairie West to have this done. 
