THE UNIVERSITY WOT/Cf: Return or renew all Library Materials! The Minimum Fee for each Lost Book I* $50.00. The person charging this material is responsible for its return to the library from which it was withdrawn on or before the Latest Date stamped below. Theft, mutilation, and underlining o1 books are reasons for discipli- nary action and may result in dismissal from the University To renew call Telephone Center, 333-8400 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN LI61 0-1096 FOREIGN STRAINS of ALFALFA and RED CLOVER What 15 their adaptability to Illinois 1 By J. J. PIEPER and W. L. BURLISON Bulletin 431 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION CONTENTS TRENDS IN PRODUCTION, IMPORTATION, AND ACREAGE 477 REGULATION OF SEED IMPORTATIONS 479 CHARACTERISTICS OF FOREIGN STRAINS 480 PLAN OF ILLINOIS EXPERIMENTS 482 PERFORMANCE OF FOREIGN STRAINS IN ILLINOIS. . 483 Alfalfa Strains 483 Red-Clover Strains 487 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 494 WHAT TO DO WHEN DOMESTIC SEED IS SHORT 495 APPENDIX (Statistics of Production and Importation)... . 497 COVER ILLUSTRATION A field of adapted domestic alfalfa, first cutting the third year, is shown in the picture in the upper right-hand corner. The weed patch in the lower left- hand picture is all that remained for the first cutting the second year from a seeding of unadapted Spanish alfalfa. See also page 484. Urbana, Illinois March, 1937 Publications in the Bulletin series report the results of investigations made by or sponsored by the Experiment Station Foreign Strains of Alfalfa and Red Clover What Is Their Adaptability to Illinois? By J. J. PIEPER and W. L. BURLISON' (OREIGN STRAINS of alfalfa and red-clover seed are imported into the United States in large quantities whenever price differen- tials are great enough to make importing over the tariff profitable. If the imported strains were well adapted to agricultural conditions in the United States there could be no serious objection to their importa- tion in times of shortage. Unfortunately, however, most of them are not well adapted even tho the seed may be of excellent quality and meet the specifications of the Federal Seed Act for purity and ger- mination. Experiments conducted since 1917 by the Illinois Agricultural Experiment Station have shown that the alfalfa seed imported from France, South Africa, Argentina, and Turkestan, and the red-clover seed imported from France, Poland, Great Britain, Germany, and Italy are not adapted to Illinois growing conditions. Of the imported seed of these legumes, only that which comes from Canada is adapted. Losses that result from the planting of unadapted foreign strains of alfalfa and red clover are not limited to the lowered production or failure of the crop in the years when the unadapted seed is planted. The effect in reality covers a long period, for the domestic and foreign strains cross-pollinate in the field to form inferior hybrid strains that again become adapted only after many years of natural selection. Al- falfa cross-pollinates freely, and red clover produces practically no seed except when cross-pollination takes place. Varieties mix, there- fore, when planted close enough for insects to carry the pollen from one variety of flower to the other. No small proportion of the failures of alfalfa and red clover in this country has been the result, directly or indirectly, of the importation of unadapted strains which not only give poor results themselves but which, by crossing, destroy the excellence of the native strains. t j. J. PIEPER, Chief in Crop Production, and W. L. BURLISON, Chief in Crop Production. The authors acknowledge the aid of F. C. Bauer, Chief, Soil Experiment Fields, and J. C. Hackleman, Professor of Crops Extension, University of Illi- nois; and of A. J. Pieters, Principal Agronomist, H. L. Westover, Senior Agronomist, and E. A. Hollowell, Agronomist, of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, in carrying out the investigations reported here. 475 476 BULLETIN No. 431 [March, 130 ALFALFA SEED PRODUCTION IN U. S. O - z ?80 ii_ 72J ILLIONS O o 1 565 59.6 s 6J.V 65.^ 60.7 1 ~ - 537 50.J p5!J 5JV St.6 2 %" - :..-/ : - ,' .'.-., P ' - ":'; - . .^ '"/.' ^vy^ '". \" 3ft* t:;v"i ,V% ' . . ;'- '^-^^ 11 S ; -.: . ;.' i TT^ '^i :. : .".'" 5ft 36>6 ; 7;-:'; mi .;,-;.. - ;.'_' : }K~- ":;" ' i? 1 ;.'..' 1-\ 1 - 1 * '--: ^ - '--,' ; : .' '^i- 20 - '.':.'. - |l - :.::: - ;V; V - :v \;- - - % - ^ ,v;-;.' '.'v :> '_; ', '.' ' :'-,. *~& 1 il yjji n if 8 ~~.'-'.-. 3ft: g ^ s ^ 1& '-:"'" m 1922 '23 '24 '25 '26 '27 '28 '29 '30 '31 '32 '33 '34 '35 '36 FIG. 1. PRODUCTION OF ALFALFA SEED IN THE UNITED STATES, 1922-1936 No definite trend in production is discernible. The average for the fifteen years was about 53 million pounds. 130 120 100 ol 80 u. O M O "** 40 20 RED CLOVER SEED PRODUCTION IN U.S. 43.4 T* 1922 '23 '24 '25 '26 '27 '26 '29 '30 '31 '32 '33 '34 '35 '36 FIG. 2. PRODUCTION OF RED-CLOVER SEED IN THE UNITED STATES, 1922-1936 From a low of about 30 million pounds in 1926, production reached a high of 123 million pounds in 1929. The average for the fifteen years was about 58 million pounds. Excluding 1929, an exceptionally favorable year for red clover, the average was about 53 million pounds, the same as of alfalfa. No particular trend in production is discernible. 1937] FOREIGN STRAINS OF ALFALFA AND RED CLOVER 477 TRENDS IN PRODUCTION, IMPORTATION, AND ACREAGE Between 50 and 60 million pounds each of alfalfa seed and red- clover seed are produced annually, on an average, in the United States ; but production varies markedly from year to year (Figs. 1 and 2). The regions of heaviest production of alfalfa seed are the west- ern states Idaho, Arizona, Utah, California, Colorado, Oklahoma, Montana, Wyoming, Kansas, Nebraska and the northern states, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Minnesota. In smaller quantities 28 24 020 016 14 o. u.12 "10 O j e _j X 6 4 2 ALFALFA US. SEED IMPORTATIONS AND ILLINOIS ACREAGE 1120 960 600,0 640 u. O 480 < 160 1922 '23 '25 *26 '27 '26 '29 '30 *31 '32 '33 '34 '35 '36 FIG. 3. IMPORTATIONS OF ALFALFA SEED INTO THE UNITED STATES, AND ILLINOIS ACREAGE OF ALFALFA, 1922-1936 Importations of alfalfa seed, fairly large during the first six years of the fifteen-year period, dropped off to negligible amounts during 1933 to 1936. The Illinois acreage, after a tendency to rise in the early part of the fifteen-year period, declined but resumed an upward trend in 1928. (For source of data on importations see Table 13, Appendix. Data on acreage were supplied by A. J. Surratt, Illinois Crop Reporting Service. Acreage data prior to 1931 are official; after 1931 they are estimates.) alfalfa seed has been produced in the north-central states, especially during dry years. Red-clover seed is produced chiefly in the corn belt Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa and in Idaho and Oregon. No decided trend is evident in the production of any of the small- seeded legumes except of white clover, which may be downward, and of lespedeza, which has been upward (Tables 10, 12, 14, 16-18, Appen- dix). Lespedeza, of course, is a new crop and has not yet become fully established. 478 BULLETIN No. 431 [March, Importations of alfalfa and red-clover seed are shown in Figs. 3 and 4 and Tables 13 and 15, Appendix. From 1922 to 1927 large quan- tities of the seed of these two crops came in from other countries, alfalfa importations being equivalent to 15 percent and red clover 23 percent of the domestic crop. After 1927 importations declined, and from 1932 to 1936 only negligible quantities came in. Other small-seeded legume seeds have also been imported (Table 11, Appendix), but so far as is known none of the foreign strains of these other legumes are unadapted to Illinois. 28 RED CLOVER US. SEED IMPORTATIONS AND ILLINOIS ACREAGE 1922 '23 '24 '25 '26 '27 '26 "29 '30 '31 '32 '33 '34 '35 '36 FIG. 4. IMPORTATIONS OF RED-CLOVER SEED INTO THE UNITED STATES, AND ILLINOIS ACREAGE OF RED CLOVER, 1922-1936 During the first part of the fifteen-year period importations of red-clover seed fluctuated markedly, tho the average was fairly high. From 1932 to the end of the period only negligible quantities came in. The general trend in Illinois acreage has been downward despite some rather wide variations from 1926 to 1929. The trend started upward again in 1936. (Sources of data are same as indicated for Fig. 3.) A significant fact brought out by these graphs (Figs. 3 and 4) is that following the heavy importations of seed, the acreages both of alfalfa and of red clover declined. These declines were doubtless due to the high percentage of failures that occurred from using the un- adapted foreign seed and the inferior hybrid seed that was developed from the crossing of foreign and domestic strains. It is only after a relatively long period of natural selection that unadapted strains re- sulting from the mixing of foreign and domestic strains are eliminated by winterkilling, disease, and insects. 1937] FOREIGN STRAINS OF ALFALFA AND RED CLOVER 479 REGULATION OF SEED IMPORTATIONS In 1912 an act known as "The Seed Importation Act," to prohibit the admission into the United States of certain adulterated grain and seeds unfit for seeding purposes, was approved. In 1916 the act was amended by adding several kinds of agricultural seeds to the list and by prohibiting the entry of seeds containing less than a specified per- centage of live pure seed. In 1926 the act was again amended. Im- ported seeds of alfalfa and red clover were required to be colored, and the shipment in interstate commerce of any kind of seed which is misbranded was prohibited. This act is now known and referred to as "The Federal Seed Act." The following colors and proportional colorings of imported alfalfa and red-clover seed are set forth in the act, in the joint regulations under the act, and in notices by the Secretary of Agriculture: Alfalfa and red-clover seed grown in Canada, 1 percent violet. Alfalfa seed grown in Africa, 10 percent red. Alfalfa seed grown in (Turkistan) Turkestan, 10 percent purple-red. Alfalfa seed grown in South America, 10 percent orange-red. Red-clover seed grown in Italy, 10 percent red. Alfalfa and red-clover seed imported but of unknown origin, 10 percent red. Alfalfa and red-clover seed imported and of known origin but not specifically provided for above, 1 percent green. Mixing of the seeds of domestic and foreign strains for interstate trade is prohibited, according to a recent ruling of the U. S. Depart- ment of Agriculture, which declares: "Interstate sale of mixed domestic and imported alfalfa and red clover seed vio- lates the Federal Seed Act. It is a violation even tho the blending is clearly stated on the seed container." Importations of alfalfa and red-clover seed since 1927 have no doubt been influenced considerably by these coloring regulations and by the tariff imposed (Table 1). The importing of those regional strains, particularly those that have been declared unadapted, has dropped off noticeably. No alfalfa seed has come in from South Africa, Chile, or Uruguay, and very little from Argentina and Turke- TABLE 1. TARIFF ON SMALL-SEEDED LEGUMES IMPORTED INTO THE UNITED STATES UNDER ACTS OF 1922 AND 1930 1 (Cents per pound) Kind of seed Tariff act of 1922 Tariff act of 1930 Kind of seed Tariff act of 1922 Tariff act of 1930 Alfalfa... . 4 8 White clover. . . 3 6 Red clover 4 g 2 4 Alsike clover 4 g 2 2 'Bureau of Agricultural Economics, U. S. Department of Agriculture. 'New tariff law affecting imported seeds went into effect June 18, 1930. 480 BULLETIN No. 431 [March, Stan, and no red-clover seed has been received from Italy, since the seeds from these sources were put on the unadapted list. CHARACTERISTICS OF FOREIGN STRAINS Alfalfa. Regional strains of alfalfa coming from Argentina, South Africa, France (Provence), Spain, and Italy belong in the main to a class designated as the common group. They are characterized by purple flowers, poor winter resistance, erect growth, and good yields where adapted. Argentine alfalfa seed is produced in a region of mild climate, and for that reason has poor winter resistance. South African alfalfa is on the average slightly less cold resistant than Argentine. Provence, a strain of alfalfa grown in southeastern France, has poor winter resistance similar to strains from South Africa, but it begins growth earlier in the spring and continues later in the fall. Both the Spanish and the Italian strains are poor in winter resistance, and for that reason give low yields in Illinois. The Turkestan group of alfalfa strains, so called to designate their origin, includes a number of regional strains characterized by large yields in the first cutting of the season and low yields from subsequent cuttings. The total annual yield is low, primarily because of slow recov- ery after cutting, early fall dormancy, and susceptibility to leaf diseases. Varieties of this group are, however, resistant to cold and to bacterial wilt. Two new varieties of Turkestan origin, Hardistan and Kaw, have been put out by the Nebraska and Kansas Stations respectively. Alfalfa strains coming from Peru are classed in the nonhardy group and are known as Peruvian. Both the Hairy Peruvian and the Smooth Peruvian strains of this group are characterized by an upright growth of heavy stems having few branches. The extreme hairiness of leaves and stems of Hairy Peruvian is an outstanding characteristic. Both strains grow rapidly and recover quickly after being cut. They have a long growing season because of their ability to grow in cool weather, but they must be confined to very mild climates because of poor winter resistance. They are not drouth resistant. Canadian strains of alfalfa belong to the variegated group, and are characterized by high winter resistance, varicolored flowers, and sus- ceptibility to wilt disease. Varieties of this group originated from a cross of the common purple-flowered alfalfa and the yellow-flowered sickle alfalfa. The latter species is more or less spreading in habit of growth, is cold resistant, and is rather low yielding. It is because of the low-yielding ability of this yellow-flowered parent that none of the varieties such as Grimm, Cossack, Baltic, Ladak, Canadian Variegated, and Hardigan, belonging to the variegated group, is as high yielding 1937} FOREIGN STRAINS OF ALFALFA AND KKD CI.OVKK 481 as the best strains of the common group, where the latter are winter- hardy. Only in regions where the varieties of the common group are not winter-hardy, are the varieties of the variegated group superior. Red Clover. r Red-clover regional strains, so far as their adaptabil- ity to Illinois conditions is concerned, may be classified in two groups the unadopted strains coming from European and South American countries, and the adapted strains grown in the United States or im- ported from Canada. FIG. 5. SMOOTH-STEMMED AND HAIRY-STEMMED RED CLOVER, AND A LEAFHOPPER Domestic strains have hairy stems and leaves (C), whereas most foreign strains are smooth (A) or have only a few hairs that lie so close as to give the appearance of a smooth stem. Leaf hoppers (B) find it easy to damage the foreign strains. (Both stems and the leaf hopper are magnified 3 times.) (Courtesy, Journal of Agricultural Research) Regional strains not adapted to Illinois are smooth, or have hairs that lie so close to the stems and leaves (Fig. 5) that they form no pro- tection against injury by leafhoppers. 1 This damage is manifested by a reddening or yellowing of the leaves, a curling and wilting of the leaves, and a reduction in the size and number of flowering heads. *Empoasca fabae. 482 BULLETIN No. 431 [March, These unadapted strains are also characterized by poor winter resist- ance and high susceptibility to the serious anthracnose 1 disease of clover. They are, however, fairly resistant to mildew. 2 These three un- desirable characteristics susceptibility to leafhopper damage, suscep- tibility to anthracnose disease, and poor winter resistance probably account for the low yields of these foreign strains of red clover. Domestic strains of red clover and those coming from Canada have hairy leaves and stems, and consequently are highly resistant to injury by leafhoppers. They are resistant also to the destructible anthracnose disease and to winterkilling. They are, however, susceptible to the mil- dew disease, but this disease does not cause serious damage. PLAN OF ILLINOIS EXPERIMENTS 3 ALFALFA TESTS Experimental work to test the adaptability of foreign strains of alfalfa was begun in Illinois in 1917 at the DeKalb experiment field with a small lot of Turkestan seed planted on %cr acre plots along with a number of domestic varieties and with South Dakota No. 12 as a check. Later the Turkestan strain was tried in central and southern Illinois also. Foreign strains of alfalfa have been tested continuously in Illinois since this early work was started. Argentine alfalfa has been tried in nine tests thruout the state and for a total of thirty crop years. Alto- gether, ten foreign strains have been tested and none of these have been tested at less than two experiment fields. The size of the plots has varied from one square rod in one test to Vio acre, most plots ranging from 6 to 16 square rods. Where it was practicable to do so, the strains were replicated from two to four times. A check variety was always used, and in each test except one the check was South Dakota No. 12. Tests now in progress include seed from northwestern Nebraska as the check variety. RED-CLOVER TESTS Several small lots of foreign red-clover seed of known origin were furnished to the Illinois Agricultural Experiment Station in 1924 by the U. S. Department of Agriculture. These lots were seeded alone on plots measuring ^20 acre m si ze with an Illinois strain as a check on every fourth plot. One harvest was made in 1924 and two in 1925. Similar tests covering an almost continuous period from 1924 to *Colletotrichum trifolii. *Erysif>he polygoni. 'All foreign seed used in these tests was furnished by the Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Department of Agriculture. 7937] FOREIGN STRAINS OF ALFALFA AND RED CLOVER 483 1931 were conducted on the experiment fields in southern Illinois at Carlinville and Alhambra, in central Illinois at Hartsburg and Urbana, and in northern Illinois at DeKalb. Plots from which harvests have been made have varied in size from 4 square feet in one instance to Yi o acre in another, but as a rule they were one or two square rods in size. Plots usually were replicated two or three times, but in a few instances only one plot of each strain was seeded. Every third or fourth plot was planted to a known Illinois strain or one from the corn belt. The number of harvests has varied from none on the Hartsburg plots, where only stand counts were taken, to three at the Urbana field. Frequently only one or two cuttings could be made because the foreign strains winterkilled or failed to produce a second cutting the second year. Weeds either were pulled from the plots before harvest or were separated from the hay, so that all yields represent pure hay. PERFORMANCE OF FOREIGN STRAINS IN ILLINOIS Not all the data obtained in these experiments upon the adaptability of foreign strains of alfalfa and red clover in Illinois are presented in this publication. Nor is any attempt made to point out the difference between regional strains of alfalfa or red clover within the United States. The data are, however, representative of the differences be- tween foreign and domestic strains of these seeds and as a whole point unmistakably to the unadaptability of all foreign strains of alfalfa and red clover except those coming from Canada. ALFALFA STRAINS In tests covering thirty crop years and made at nine experiment fields all but one of the Argentine strains were outyielded by the domes- tic strain, South Dakota No. 12. The one exception occurred during a five-year test from 1931 to 1935 in which the two yielded about the same. The Argentine strain averaged 4.10 tons of hay an acre and South Dakota No. 12 averaged 4.09 tons. This Argentine strain re- turned the best yields of any of the imported strains that were tested, except those from Canada. Argentine alfalfa seeded in the regular alfalfa variety tests at Ur- bana yielded as a two-year average 2.98 tons an acre, whereas South Dakota No. 12 yielded 4.47 tons (Table 2). In a two-year test at Urbana involving a number of foreign strains, the check, South Dakota No. 12, produced the most hay (Table 3). Tho the Argentine strain was poor, it was better than the other foreign 484 BULLETIN No. 431 [March, FIG. 6. FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC STRAINS OF ALFALFA THE SECOND YEAR Had a farmer sown nothing but the Spanish strain shown here he probably would have said that the weeds crowded out the alfalfa the second year. As a matter of fact, weeds do not crowd out alfalfa. They replace alfalfa after it has been winterkilled. The yields of these first crops the second year were: Spanish strain .48 ton of hay an acre, South African .97 ton, Argentine 1.82 tons, Cana- dian variegated 2.15 tons, and Hardigan, 2.06 tons. (June, 1928, Urbana) 1937] FOREIGN STRAINS OF ALFALFA AND RED CLOVER 485 TABLE 2. ALFALFA HAY: ARGENTINE STRAIN COMPARED WITH SOUTH DAKOTA No. 12, THREE CUTTINGS EACH YEAR (Yields per acre at Urbana, 1924 and 1925') Variety 1924 1925 Average South Dakota No. 12 tons 3.94 tons 4.99 tons 4.47 Argentine 3.22 2.74 2.98 'Figures for 1926. 1927. and 1928 are not reported because during these years the plots were all seriously injured by alfalfa wilt. strains, some of which did not yield even one-fourth as much as the native strain. In another test at Urbana, which has run for two years and is still in progress (1937), Ladak, a variegated strain of alfalfa from India, has been the only foreign strain to outyield the northwestern Nebraska strain used as a check. Other foreign strains in the test are Argentine, Provence, Turkestan, Peruvian, and French. In the western part of Illinois, at the Carthage experiment field, Ar- gentine, Ladak, Italian, Spanish, South African, and Turkestan alfalfa were tested, some for one year and some for two years, and in each year except one, when Turkestan was slightly better, South Dakota No. 12 yielded the highest. In southern Illinois, at the Enfield experiment field, Argentine alfalfa gave a three-year average yield of .77 ton an acre, whereas South Dakota No. 12 yielded 1.24 tons. At the Carlinville experiment field, also in southern Illinois, Argen- tine alfalfa yielded 1.21 tons an acre as a three-year average, whereas South Dakota No. 12 yielded 2.66 tons. The relatively low yields ob- tained both at Enfield and at Carlinville were due primarily to low fertility levels. TABLE 3. ALFALFA HAY: FOREIGN STRAINS COMPARED WITH SOUTH DAKOTA No. 12 (Yields per acre at Urbana, 1927 and 1928) Variety 1927' 1928 South Dakota No. 12 . . tons 3.35 tons 2.71 Argentine 2.82 1.82 Italian 2.59 Peruvian . . 1.42 Provence .60 1.02 Spanish 1.84 .48 South African 1.65 .97 'Two cuttings. "One cutting. 486 BULLETIN No. 431 [March, FIG. 7. NEBRASKA AND PERUVIAN STRAINS OF ALFALFA THE SECOND YEAR The plot of Peruvian alfalfa was almost completely winterkilled the first winter, and no crop at all was obtained the second year. The Nebraska strain yielded 1.55 tons of hay an acre the first cutting the second year. (June, 1928, Urbana) In northern Illinois, at the DeKalb experiment field, two of these variety tests with alfalfa were made. In one test with Turkestan and South Dakota No. 12 extending over a period of six years, the domestic strain averaged 4.09 tons an acre and the Turkestan 3.60 tons (Table 4). In the other test a two-year test in which Argentine and Italian strains TABLE 4. ALFALFA HAY: TURKESTAN STRAIN COMPARED WITH SOUTH DAKOTA No. 12 (Yields per acre at DeKalb, 1919-1924 1 ) Variety 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 Average South Dakota No. 12 tons 3.20 tons 4.06 tons 5.01 tons 4.52 tons 4.45 Ions 3.31 Ions 4.09 Turkestan 2.39 4.20 3.74 3.54 4.55 3.16 3 60 'Data for 1925 and 1926 are not presented, because of irregular cutting as a result of poor stands. 19371 FOREIGN STRAINS OF ALFALFA AND RED CLOVER 487 were compared with South Dakota No. 12 the Argentine strain yielded slightly less and the Italian slightly more than the domestic variety. While these foreign strains thus yielded about the same as the check strain, South Dakota No. 12, this strain is not the highest yield- ing of the domestic varieties for this region. In a seven-year test it averaged 3.99 tons an acre, whereas Baltic, a domestic variegated strain, averaged 4.45 tons. TABLE 5. ALFALFA HAY: PERCENTAGE STAND OF FOREIGN STRAINS COMPARED WITH SOUTH DAKOTA No. 12 (Tests at Urbana from seeding made in August, 1926) Variety 1926 1927 1928 South Dakota No. 12 perct. 83 Perct. 75 perct. 72 Argentine 65 14 16 Italian 51 3 3 74 1 1 Provence g 8 6 Spanish 50 6 10 South African 51 5 7 None of the foreign strains of alfalfa in these experiments main- tained as good stands as the domestic strain, and all were much less winter-hardy, as may be seen from the percentage stands in three successive years at the Urbana field (Table 5). RED-CLOVER STRAINS In the first Illinois tests with foreign strains of red clover grown at Urbana, no foreign strain yielded as well as the Illinois strain used as a check (Table 6). In these tests one cutting of hay was made in the year of seeding and two the next year. Strains from the same country varied greatly in yielding ability. The Illinois strain produced approxi- mately 50 percent to 400 percent more than the average yield of all the strains from any one of the various countries. In a second trial of foreign strains of red clover, the Illinois strain used as a check was grown alongside each foreign strain, the sequence of the plots being the same as the order of the items in Table 7. The Illinois strain yielded from about 200 percent to 600 percent more than any one of the foreign strains. From a seeding made at Urbana in August, 1926, to test especially 22 French strains of red clover, only one cutting was harvested in 1927. The average of the 22 French strains was 1.87 tons, while the Michigan strain used as a check averaged 2.73 tons. Other foreign strains in- cluded, and the yields obtained from them, were as follows: four strains from Germany, 2.41 tons; two from Poland, 1.48 tons; two 488 BULLETIN No. 431 [March, TABLE 6. RED-CLOVER HAY: FOREIGN STRAINS COMPARED WITH AN ILLINOIS STRAIN (Yields per acre at Urbana, 1924 and 1925) Variety 1924 1925 Total 1924-1925 1st cutting 1st cutting 2d cutting Total Illinois (check) 1 tons 1.574 1.456 .720 .480 1.744 1.088 .736 1.440 .800 .832 .576 .816 .384 .848 1.120 1.264 1.408 1.056 1.072 .288 Ions 1.006 .712 1.000 .656 .800 .592 .472 .640 .440 .320 .552 .248 .152 .544 .288 .800 .456 .352 .600 .784 Ions .546 .144 .368 .240 .272 .160 .128 .096 .112 .080 .080 .032 .064 .064 .080 .224 .064 .048 .064 .176 tons 1.552 .856 1.368 .680 1.072 .608 .600 .736 .552 .400 .560 .280 .216 .608 .296 1.024 .520 .400 .664 .960 tons 3.126 2.312 2.088 1.160 2.816 1.696 1.336 2.176 1.352 1 . 232 1.136 1.096 .600 1.456 1.416 2.288 1.928 1.456 1.736 1.248 Chilean 2403 . Chilean 2399B Chilean 2399M English 2252 English 2399J English 2399E French 2399N French 2395 French 2401 French 2414 Italian 2397 Italian 56661 Bohemian 2225 Finnish 56870 German 2399L Latvian 55002 Polish 54905 Swiss 56896 'Tazewell county strain. TABLE 7. RED-CLOVER HAY: FOREIGN STRAINS COMPARED WITH AN ILLINOIS STRAIN (Yields 1 per acre at Urbana, 1927) Variety 2 1st cutting 2d cutting Total yield Illinois (check) Ions 1.98 tons .65 tons 2.630 French 2509 .53 .15 .680 1.815 1 . 185 3 000 French 2533 .760 .395 1 .155 Illinois (check) 1.980 .915 2 . 895 French 2584 1.125 .390 1 515 Illinois (check) 2.045 .780 2.825 German 25 14 .430 ,190 .620 Illinois (check) 1.845 .605 2.450 Hungarian 2413 .420 .420 Illinois (check) 1.815 .480 2.295 Chilean 2658 1.060 .280 1.340 Illinois (check) 1.520 .610 2.130 2.30 .120 .350 'Averages of duplicates. 'The order of these entries is the same as that in which the plots occurred on the field. 1937] FOREIGN STRAINS OK ALFALFA AND RED CI.OVKR 489 FIG. 8. ITALIAN AND ILLINOIS STRAINS OF RED CLOVER Tho the Italian strain made a good stand the first year, it grew only about one-half to one-third as tall as the Illinois strain planted beside it, and during the following winter most of it was killed. The total yields for three cuttings were: Italian 1.10 tons of hay an acre, and Illinois 3.13 tons. Poor blooming (top, right) also is characteristic of Italian strains. (Lower picture, spring, 1925, Urbana. Upper pictures, fall of 1924) 490 BULLETIN No. 431 [March, FIG. 9. FIRST-YEAR GROWTH OF FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC STRAINS OF RED CLOVER These foreign strains of red clover germinated well and produced good stands the first year, but winterkilled badly. Total yields, for one cutting the first year and two the second, were: French 1.23 tons of hay an acre, English 1.70 tons, and German 2.29 tons. The Illinois strain used as a check averaged, for all plots, 3.13 tons for the three cuttings. (Pictures taken in fall of first year, 1924, at Urbana) 1937] FOREIGN STRAINS OF ALFALFA AND RED CLOVER 491 from Russia, 1.44 tons ; two from Chile, 2.29 tons ; one from Roumania, 1.86 tons; one from Silesia, 1.23 tons; and one from Italy, 3.61 tons. There was some doubt, however, whether the strain listed as Italian really was Italian. While these results do show to a certain extent the unadaptability of foreign strains, the true inferiority of the foreign strains is not brought out, for only one cutting was made, and the great- est difference between these and the domestic strains shows up in the second cutting the second year. In another test at Urbana foreign strains of red-clover seed were planted in early March, 1927, and one harvest was made in 1928. This harvest (Table 8) was as nearly a complete failure as was recorded in all the trials of foreign strains of red clover. TABLE 8. RED-CLOVER HAY: FOREIGN STRAINS COMPARED WITH AN ILLINOIS STRAIN (Yields per acre at Urbana, 1928) Variety 1 Yield per acre 1 Variety 1 Yield per acre* Illinois (check) Ions 908 tons 1 196 Roumanian 2662 .068 German 2664 Illinois (check) 1.184 Italian 2688. . . French 2687 Illinois (check) .880 Russian 67990 .956 Illinois (check) 1.348 French 2509 Illinois (check) 1.120 French 14003 Illinois (check) . 1 280 French 2584 Illinois (check) .996 Polish 2543 .288 H'he order of these entries is the same as that in which the plots occurred on the field. K)ne cutting only. Foreign strains of red clover were tested at various other experi- mental fields also, with the following results: At Hartsburg, in 1927, percentage stands only were recorded, and these were: Illinois strain, 85 percent; French, 10 percent; Chilean, 10 percent ; and Italian, 5 percent. At the Alhambra field in southern Illinois in 1931 the Illinois strain yielded 1.54 tons an acre, Russian 1.18 tons, French 1.15 tons, and the Roumanian 1.01 tons. Two different tests were conducted at the Carlinville field. In the first an Ohio strain used as a check yielded somewhat more than any of the foreign strains except the French (Table 9). From the second test conducted the following year with a Michigan strain as a check, the fol- lowing results were obtained: Michigan, 2.21 tons per acre; Canadian, 1.70 tons; Hungarian, .59 ton; French, .47 ton; and Italian, .25 ton. 492 BULLETIN No. 431 [March, FIG. 10. YIELDS OF FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC STRAINS OF RED CLOVER AT FIRST CUTTING OF SECOND YEAR Of the three foreign strains grown on these plots only the Polish strain pro- duced a crop of hay the second season, and it amounted to only about a quarter of a ton an acre. The two French strains were completely winterkilled. Yields of the several strains were: (top) Michigan 1.35 tons, French 0, Ohio 1.69; (center) Michigan 1.28 tons, French 0, Illinois 1.64; (bottom) Michigan 1.00 ton, Polish .29, and Minnesota 1.17 tons. (July, 1928, Urbana) J9J7] FOREIGN STRAINS OF ALFALFA AND RED CLOVER 493 TABLE 9. RED-CLOVER HAY: FOREIGN STRAINS COMPARED WITH AN OHIO STRAIN (Yields per acre at Carlinville, 1926) Variety 1 Weed content of hay Air-dry weed-free yield Ohio 2471. perct. 1.8 7.1 16.0 5.4 5.7 33.3 23.8 Ibs. 3 740 3 100 2 020 2 960 3 400 1 970 3 100 Ions 1.87 1.55 1.01 1.48 1.70 .99 1.55 Italian Hungarian Chilean Ohio 2471 'The order of these entries is the same as that in which the plots occurred on the field. In northern Illinois at the DeKalb field in 1931, five Russian strains were tested and an Illinois strain used as a check. As an average of two cuttings, the Illinois strain yielded 2.21 tons an acre, and the five Rus- sian strains, 1.41, 1.39, 1.38, 1.09, and 1.00 tons respectively, or an average of 1.25 tons. FIG. 11. SECOND-YEAR GROWTH OF FRENCH AND MINNESOTA STRAINS OF RED CLOVER Most, tho not all, of the French strain has died out and been replaced by weeds and grass. The Minnesota strain is nearly three times as high as the French strain and is relatively free from weeds. (June, 1928, Urbana) 494 BULLETIN No. 431 [March, FIG. 12. SECOND- YEAR GROWTH OF POLISH AND MICHIGAN STRAINS OF RED CLOVER The Polish strain came thru the winter better than the French strain shown in Fig. 11, but it was badly injured by leafhoppers and yielded only 1.66 tons of hay an acre in three cuttings, whereas the Michigan strain grown as a check yielded 2.41 tons. (June, 1927, Urbana) SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS Foreign strains of red clover and of alfalfa were compared with domestic strains as checks during fifteen years of tests on experimental fields located in different parts of Illinois. The results obtained demon- strated beyond doubt that the foreign strains, except those coming from Canada, are not adapted to Illinois conditions. The planting of them results in losses not only thru immediate crop failures, but thru the production of inferior hybrid strains caused by cross-pollination with domestic varieties. The standard of excellence of the domestic strains that is thus destroyed is restored only after years of natural selection. Only occasionally in the whole series of tests did a foreign strain of alfalfa produce yields as high as those of the domestic strain used as a check. Some yielded less than 25 percent as much as the domestic variety. In only three of thirty crop years of tests did an Argentine strain yield as much as the check. And in only one year of a six-year test did a Turkestan strain yield as much as the domestic variety. Yet the Argentine and Turkestan strains were evidently better than the other unadapted foreign strains that were tested. The foreign strains of alfalfa in general made much poorer stands than the domestic checks, and the plants were subject to more severe attack by insects and disease and were more easily winterkilled. 1937] FOREIGN STRAINS OF ALFALFA AND RED CLOVER 495 The domestic strains of red clover used as checks yielded from 50 to 600 percent more than the several foreign strains. The foreign seed germinated well, but the stands, tho good the first year, were soon lost because of winterkilling and susceptibility to disease and insect injury. The true inferiority of the foreign strains, except those from Canada, showed up in their inability to produce a crop the second year. Periods of high importations of alfalfa and red-clover seed have in the past been followed by high percentages of failure and by declining acreages of these crops in Illinois. Tariff barriers and federal require- ments for coloring imported seed have tended to reduce importations during recent years, but whenever price differentials between domestic and foreign seed are high enough to make importing profitable, seed may be expected to come in over the tariff barriers. The results of the experiments reported herein, together with ex- perience in past periods of heavy importations, point clearly to the necessity, in times of shortage of domestic seed, of turning to some expedient other than the importation and use of unadapted seed. WHAT TO DO WHEN DOMESTIC SEED IS SHORT What Illinois Farmers Can Do How should Illinois farmers plan their legume programs when sup- plies of domestic seed of alfalfa and red clover are too short to meet the needs? To disregard the extensive experimental evidence obtained not only in Illinois but in other states where the foreign strains have been tested would be to invite failure and to risk later deterioration in domestic strains. No farmer can really afford to take the chance. While obviously no one plan will fit all conditions, the following procedures are suggested for Illinois farmers: 1. Test your soil. Do not waste alfalfa or red-clover seed on land too acid or too poor to grow these crops. 2. Substitute other small-seeded legumes alsike clover, sweet clo- ver, or lespedeza for alfalfa and red clover. 3. Use large-seeded legumes soybeans, cowpeas, or field peas where these are adapted to the soil and climate and where they can be used for forage or soil improvement. 4. Where the alfalfa and red clover are not to be grown for seed, mix with the domestic alfalfa or red-clover seed other legumes or such grasses as timothy, redtop, or bromegrass, so as to make the limited supply of domestic seed go as far as possible. 5. For production of alfalfa or red-clover seed, sow only adapted seed. Secure evidence of the origin of the seed, showing that it is adapted. Such evidence may be a Federal Verified-Origin Seed Cer- 496 BULLETIN No. 431 ti fie ate, a State Seed Certification Tag, a State Seed Analysis Sheet, or a bill of sale. 6. Isolate the fields that are sown with adapted seed, so that they will be less likely to be contaminated by cross-pollination from fields sown with unadapted seed. 7. When seed supplies are short, prepare the seedbed especially well, so that good returns may be obtained from a lower rate of seeding. 8. If only foreign seed is available, mix it with grass seed and sow for forage. Do not risk the chance of failure from a pure planting of foreign seed. 9. When legume acreage is short, save all possible fields for seed even tho intended originally for other purposes. 10. Plan your legume program for at least two years ahead when a failure of a seed crop seems imminent. In such crises both old and new seedings are usually destroyed and seed production is low for several years. 11. To comply with the regulations of the Agricultural Conserva- tion Program use only adapted seed of alfalfa and red clover. Seed Companies and Organizations Can Help Seed companies and state and national organizations are in posi- tion to help meet the problem of domestic shortages of alfalfa and red-clover seed, for they can do things which individual farmers cannot do. The following lines of effort are suggestive: 1. More alfalfa and red-clover seed should be imported from Can- ada at times of domestic shortage, if supplies are available there, for Canadian seed is adapted to corn-belt conditions. 2. Efforts should be made to increase the amount of alfalfa and red-clover seed grown in Illinois and in the nation as a whole. 3. When domestic supplies of alfalfa and red-clover seed are short, larger importations should be made of sweet clover and alsike clover, which do not present problems of adaptability. 4. Seed companies should encourage the production of seed of Illi- nois strains of red clover by keeping records of sales of adapted seed and by paying a premium for adapted seed. Illinois is a leading state in the production of red-clover seed, and the Illinois strains give best results in Illinois. APPENDIX TABLE 10. SMALL-SEEDED LEGUMES: ANNUAL UNITED STATES PRODUCTION OF SEED, 1922-1936 1 (Thousands of pounds) Year Red clover Alsike clover White clover Alfalfa Sweet clover Ixjspedeza 1922 . 69 540 29 802 1 200 30 558 (j) v 1923 . 47 242 20 246 1 000 33 468 () (') ' - 1924 47 565 20 385 800 53 700 44 676 2 292 " & 1925 . 47 246 20 050 1 300 62 274 60 372 3 023 1 1926 30 918 16 140 1 500 56 490 62 262 3 342 1927 78 198 33 360 1 700 50 280 70 692 3 928 1928. . 46 402 14 900 1 200 39 234 54 114 3 845 1929 123 496 35 240 1 500 59 610 68 760 5 446 1930 60 708 19 800 1 200 72 798 45 942 5 586 1931 48 420 20 550 1 000 51 672 48 450 14 095 1932 65 684 21 430 775 36 852 40 290 21 8 VI 1933 . 66 698 21 760 900 63 420 40 860 47 566 1934 44 880 18 150 900 65 232 35 394 64 568 1935 . 46 777 20 783 300 60 738 41 934 60 510 1936* 48 686 28 024 475 51 618 41 838 38 364 Average 58 164 22 708 1 050 52 530 50 430 21 108 'The data in this table were furnished by W. A. Wheeler, Division of Hay, Feed, and Seed, Bureau of Agricultural Economics, U. S. Department of Agriculture. 'Data not available. 'Pre- liminary estimate. TABLE 11. SMALL-SEEDED LEGUMES: ANNUAL IMPORTATION OK SEED INTO THE UNITED STATES, 1922-1937' (Thousands of pounds, year ended June 30) Year Red clover Alsike White clover Alfalfa Sweet clover* 1922 10 391 7 056 1 623 7 259 2 442 1923... . 448 5 566 520 8 784 3 573 1924 24 729 11 056 1 408 12 818 4 261 1925 . . 6 541 10 425 1 227 4 782 3 545 1926 19 725 10 989 1 666 4 548 6 381 1927... 10 816 4 163 975 5 134 4 304 1928 4 641 7 609 1 778 782 3 495 1929 7 547 4 798 2 410 1 146 1 493 1930 2 154 7 220 2 278 337 209 1931. 2 805 94 768 233 1932. . 31 892 353 1933 1 943 41 1934 11 962 46 1 1935 101 34 1 098 124 6 1936 47 62 1 550 57 445 1937 . ... 5 087 1 928 902 1 649 3 362 Average 1922-1936 5 999.1 4 604.8 1 406.5 3 096.3 2 010.3 From data published by the Bureau of Agricultural Economics, U. S. Department of Agriculture. Lespedeza has been omitted, no data being available. 'Both white- and yellow-flowered. *From July 1, 1936, to January 15, 1937. 497 498 BULLETIN No. 431 [March, Q E E> u I w H <; H 1/5 *O */l C^ l| Q OOOCMO-fOtXMg^O^OOOOOOX tO 00 OOOOO(N(NOOOO>OC*O fs 1/5 I" 3"8 ts o* 10 66 >o f6 o> ^- 1 <*> o w oo > >o 10 b> t o t 09. 1"S gS 03 - II 08 ro^toro -- ^ro t ,. || -Q OOOO'OO'OOOO WfNOOO * 00OvOPOO *5 00 i ti tNO'voOt^o>txOt^votOr~mO CM f3 00 ") 1O O OC 0410 04 O C Illllilllllllllllllll I II E2 s c 01 5. 2 IM * W O 3 t! is fig S"o s .^ sSl t- *-* t A ' FOREIGN STRAINS OF ALFALFA AND RED CLOVER tCflrf gss 499 5 U C 25 3 P S c H 2 js a < 3 S O z -c U, _: U. t re oo - 3 SSgSSgnSSgfrSSE 8 1 S3 5 i OOigOOOOOOfOOOO OS s i o^ooooooooooo 8 g o^ooooooooo *-^ 2 o s T '0 2 * eq C* C4 o r- s> o> 55 i = S N . b 2S l^S Jill al&s gs>g ^ill 5 5i l?l-J lllj P af" i.Si--(g liW V g OO^OO"-*CS -COC4 OO SOOOOOOfO -^O O OtOOO^O *C^OO f* t^'OOvO'* - -*-* O g a o S !!!!!! i !!! ! 5 B "8 oo !!!!!! i i!? | o> s!p!! i |! 1 e furnished h Led producti< If 3(2 5- V | ita in this esti mate '. c.oj.S c g | 3 ' c -a >The di "Preliminary FOREIGN STRAINS OF ALFALFA AND RED CLOVER 501 M 2 3 O U u H V) a o H "> II s* H T3 g g = 8 z * 2 -- ^ S 5 o a o- ^. s o *" B) I! U Q u u r 06 - 3 u Q u Qti ^ a. ooooooooooooo 000000000000 s s 00000000000000 ooooooooooooooo ooooooo o ooooo oo -o oooo -o o -o -o - -o >o_o -ooooo -o - CO VH C4 OO O OO "~r o S s 000 s oot OO 00 ;| ; i :j See 13, m G Ger Ge ed 'Compiled from data in Sttd Slatittilt, published '585,000 pounds via Great Britain. 41?,500 pounds Great Bntain. M0.900 pounds via Clcchcslovakia; ?6 pounds via Austria; 22,000 pounds via Belgium. "1 pounds returned from Great Britain in 1929; 3C.POO 100,700 pounds returned frtm Grttt Britain in llfS; 502 BULLETIN No. 431 [March, ON 10-year average W O "3 00 ^ "* 00 ^ sO 00 g Agriculture. *5 S FH (ft S i 2 OioOOOOO -r^O ^f i/)OO'O'^^O f O C C (N lartment of ON r-L fN ON a 1 10 ^ -i r*. \n ^ *& \o r-* -^~ oo l/)^CSO*OO*H -00^* !"* (N & Q c/5 D B in Q H D (K i K*m* m 2 al Eionomic H W B H STATES ( g s f Agricultur en 1, o w fS ! ls ! s !! l! | :d, Bureau o C/) C < CO W TJ (d C 1 M IX 1 SEED: oo f -!! ; - 1 Q tJ td CLOVER M X -. I - ". ^ e furnished h ction. C/5 N Q M fc.2 Gi -ALSIK] iis table w tiated pro< C/5 tjJ t 1. H H 1 jj: :i j jj j j I _' c 2 '. 3 'The data in tl 'Preliminary. 'Eisti a 10-year average OKt^o O ~5 <^ 10 ir. i - y. -r ~ " -.t^O>io o (N 1 o> OOOOOKO O O O O r^ O rg "5 "t o "1 t- >o a Ot OOOO(N'O ts o o *t O -* CN P^ O>OOOt^- OOOOIO O r~OUTO <* f^ ^ O< (N 'f -HOOO'* 1" PO oo 5 O>OO (N ON -OO-*OM lots'i'iooo >O * 10 * fO * s l ON -OPOtN -ootNO - V 1 . . rt . . ' . . c . . . : 1 ; -- : :>. 9 J W I1I1 "5 c -3 c- 2 ' liliill E>zu!H;i^ United States' FOREIGN STRAINS OF ALFALFA AND RED CLOVER 503 Id C e| 2 _ II Q O O rC H w > J u w M 5 I. V S? 6$ &m&mni S 3 MS <*> O O 'fO (NpOCOOO OOOO 00 ") 8SSS8S989SS98 *"" (S t } csOQOOO OOO(NOQ ;'. .;;::; ;,v /;. '^, ,.; : -