The work of Zimmerman and Wilcoxon with various organic chemicals which stimulated root development upon the stems of growing plants suggested the use of these chemicals to aid in the vegetative propagation of outstanding alfalfa plants obtained in the breeding nursery. Not only might a much greater quantity of seed be obtained in this way, a very important consideration in breeding work, but also the establishment of a number of individuals of the best plants in the greenhouse for seed production without disturbing the originals in the field would be possible, affording an opportunity to make additional observations on the adaptability of such plants in the field.

By testing 14-day-old seedlings for 6.5 hours in a chamber with temperature controlled at 140 degrees F and with a relative humidity of about 30%, it was possible to distinguish among strains with respect to drought tolerance. Essentially the same order of relative resistance was obtained with the seedlings as was noted for the plants in the field. The lines susceptible to top-firing under field conditions showed marked injury in the testing chamber in 3 to 5 hours, those susceptible to base-firing showed injury in 4 to 6 hours, and the resistant lines showed little or no injury after 6.5 hours. When returned to good growing conditions following the exposure to high temperature, the survival of plants was o% in the lines susceptible to base-firing, 0 to 25% in those susceptible to top-firing, and 50 to 100% in the resistant lines.

Markton (C. I. No. 2053), found to be resistant to a mixture of covered smut found at the Colorado State College Experiment Station, was used as the resistant parent. Colorado 37 (C. I. No. 1640), found to be susceptible to a mixture of the same smut, was used as the susceptible parent due to its yielding ability and other desirable characteristics. The inoculum used was collected from a field of Colorado, 37 growing at the Colorado Experiment Station, Fort Collins, Colo. The smut was identified as Ustilago levis (K & S) Magn. All seeds used in the study were dehulled and smutted. The F2 results were erratic and no conclusions could be drawn from them without further study. The F3 families segregated in the ratio of 9 uninfected to 7 infected. It was concluded that a two-factor difference for smut exists between the parents; Markton possessing the two dominant factors for resistance, while Colorado 37 has the recessive allelomorphs of these factors. Some very promising, highly resistant lines are being continued in the hope of developing some high-yielding, smut-resistant, commercial strains.

Sweet clover grown continuously on soil for two seasons under the condition of this experiment has reduced the subsoil moisture in certain instances to a maximum depth of 14 feet. The data indicate that a reduction approaching the minimum point of exhaustion has extended into the thirteenth foot section. One year's growth of sweet clover in certain cases has reduced the moisture to near the minimum point of exhaustion to a maximum depth of 9 feet. Soybeans growing for one season have not resulted in the development of a dry layer below the sixth foot in any plat included in this study. The depth of the moisture reduction by alfalfa and sweet clover has been governed largely by the rainfall during the period when the legume occupied the soil. The growth of sweet clover for either 1 or 2 years under limited rainfall conditions may result in the development of a dry layer of depth sufficient to prevent the utilization of moisture at a lower level by subsequent alfalfa crops.

In 1935 a study was made of the growing habits of the leaves on the plants of three strains of timothy and of the relation of their condition to the quality of the hay. These strains included ordinary timothy which blooms and matures at a medium date, an early strain, and a late strain, each of the selections representing three generations of selections for earliness or lateness and for the tendency for the leaves to remain green as the seeds approached maturity. In the plats of both the early and the late selection the leaves remained green for a longer time than in the plats of ordinary timothy. Although the plats of the early selection were in full bloom 4 days earlier than the plats of ordinary timothy, the leaves became dry only approximately 1.2 days sooner than the leaves of ordinary timothy. The plats of the late selection were in full bloom 5 days later than the plats of ordinary timothy. The leaves appeared 4.8 days later and remained green 7.3 days longer and therefore approximately 12 days later than the leaves of ordinary timothy. As the season advanced, the color reading of the hay from samples of all strains showed a constant decrease in the hue of the hay which indicates the degree of greenness in the grades of hay and in its protein content. These values, correlated with the number of green leaves on the stems, were generally higher for the late selection than for either the early selection or ordinary timothy.