1. Reward is a ten clone synthetic. Parent plants were selected out of forage yield plots and/or disease nurseries. These parent plants were progeny tested for or more of the following traits: Forage yield, forage quality, stand persistence, resistance to bacterial wilt, Fusarium wilt, Phytophthora root rot, anthracnose (Race 1), Verticillium wilt, Aphanomyces root rot (Race 1), spotted alfalfa aphid, and pea aphid. Parent plants trace back through several intermediate steps to MNP--D1, Answer, Iroquois, Tempo, Durastan, and Dairyland experimental. Dairyland experimentals trace back to Vernal and Lahontan. The percentage of germplasm sources are M. falcata (3), Ladak (7), M. varia (8), Turkistan (21), Flemish (46), and Chilean (15).
2. Reward is adapted to the Northeast and central United States and intended for use in the Northern half of the United States. The states where it has been tested are Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Kansas, Colorado, Oklahoma, and Indiana.
3. Reward is a moderate dormant and similar to the variety Saranac. Flower color in the Syn. 2 generation is 90% purple, 10% variegated with trace amounts of cream, white and yellow.
4. Reward has high resistance to bacterial wilt, Fusarium wilt, Phytophthora root rot, pea aphid, resistance to anthracnose, Verticillium wilt, spotted alfalfa aphid, and moderate resistance to Aphanomyces root rot (Race 1), stem nematode, and blue alfalfa aphid. Reward has not been tested for reaction to root knot nematode.
5. Breeder seed was produced from cuttings of the parental plants in an isolation block as Syn. 1 in Sloughhouse, CA in 1987--89. Seed lots were kept separate. Foundation seed (Syn. 2) will be produced from Breeder seed and Certified seed (Syn. 2 or 3) from either Breeder or Foundation seed. One generation each of Breeder and Foundation and two generations of Certified seed (Syn. 2 or 3) classes are recognized. A maximum of three years each is permitted on stands producing Breeder and Foundation seed with five years for Certified seed. Sufficient Breeder seed for the projected life of the variety will be maintained by Dairyland Research.
6. Certified seed will be available spring of 1993.
7. Application for the Plant Variety Protection is undecided.
8. As a means of additional varietal
protection, information included with this application may be provided
to the PVP office.