One Thousand Questions in California Agriculture AnsweredWickson, Edward J. (Edward James)
Science
One Thousand Questions in California Agriculture Answered
Wickson, Edward J. (Edward James)
Agriculture -- California
It is impossible to make any kind of alfalfa grow well on very wet land,
that is, where the water comes too near the surface. Alfalfa has a
deep-running tap root which is very subject to standing water. You can
get very good results from the Eastern red clover on such land, because
the red clover has a fibrous root which is content to live in a shallow
layer of soil above water. But red clover will not stand drought as well
as alfalfa, because it is shallower rooting. It is necessary, therefore,
that water should be permanently near the surface or surface irrigation
be frequently applied, in order to secure satisfactory growth of red
clover in the drier sections of California. It is also necessary that
neither land nor water carry alkali.
Frosted Grain for Hay.
The freeze struck us pretty severely. I had 125 acres of summer-fallowed
wheat which I had estimated to make 20 sacks to the acre of grain. It
was breast high in places already, and was just heading out. The frost
pinched the stalks of this grain in several places and the heads are now
turning white. It is ruined for grain. There is lots of fodder in it,
and it should be made into hay. If so, should it not be cut and cured at
once? What is the relative worth of such hay as compared with more
matured hay? Would the fact that it is frozen make it injurious to feed?
If the whole plant seems to be getting white, the sooner it is cut the
better. If the head is affected and the leaf growth continued, cutting
might be deferred for the purpose of getting more of it. Hay made from
such material will not be in any way dangerous, although it would be
inferior as containing less nutritive and more non-nutritive matter.
Such hay would seem to be most serviceable as roughage for cows or
steers in connection with alfalfa hay or some other feed which would
supply this deficiency.
Forage Plants in the Foothills.
We have 3,000 acres of foothill land and hope to be able to irrigate
some land this spring and wish to know the best forage crops, for sheep
and hogs, especially. Kafir corn, stock peas, rape, sugar-beets and
artichokes are the varieties about which we desire information.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account