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
I send you a sample of alfalfa which grows very vigorous here on my
place spontaneously and would like you to give me all the information
about it you will, as a feed for cows and hogs. The stock seem to eat it
well.
The plant is not alfalfa at all. It is white sweet clover (melilotus
alba), and it is usually considered a great pest in alfalfa fields,
because although it grows vigorously as you describe, it is not
generally accepted by stock, unless once in awhile some one considers it
a good thing, perhaps because he keeps stock hungry enough to enjoy it
in spite of its rank taste and smell, but, usually when they can get
alfalfa they will not pay much attention to this plant. It is good for
bee pasturage, however, and is grown to some extent for that purpose.
You probably had the seed of it in your alfalfa seed. It is a biennial
and not a perennial like alfalfa. It will disappear if you can keep it
from going to seed.
Sweet Clover as a Cover Crop.
How about melilotus as a cover crop? Last year in certain sections it
proved very successful, while in others it did not give satisfaction.
Melilotus, by virtue of its hardiness in growing at low temperatures,
its depth of root penetration, the availability of the seed, the
smallness of the seed so that the weight required for the acre is not
large, is to be favored for a cover crop. The objections are two: The
fact that it does not seem to grow well under some conditions; second,
that when a growth is made it is coarse and rangey, and the amount of
green stuff to the acre is much less than its appearance would indicate.
We know of cases where what seemed to be a good stand of melilotus
yielded only about ten tons of green stuff to the acre, and what
appeared to be a less growth of vetches or peas yielded from fifteen to
twenty tons to the acre. And yet we believe that in some places it will
be found extremely desirable for a cover crop in harmony with what was
reported some time ago as the result of experiments by the Arizona
Experiment Station.
Spineless Cactus.
There seems to be two distinct kinds of cactus: One for forage, the
other for fruit. It is claimed by some people that the spineless cactus
is more valuable as a forage plant than alfalfa. What is your opinion?
There are many varieties of smooth cacti. Some of them bear higher
quality fruit than others, and some are freer growers and bear a greater
amount of leaf substance for forage purposes; therefore, varieties are
being developed which are superior for fruit or for forage, as the case
may be. Spineless cactus is in no way comparable with alfalfa, either in
nutritive content or in value of crop, providing you have land and water
which will produce a good product of alfalfa. Cactus is for lands which
are in an entirely different class and which are not capable of alfalfa
production.
Probably Not Broom-Corn.
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