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In what locality are the best early potatoes grown in California? Can they be raised on wheat lands without irrigation as an early crop?

Early potatoes are grown in regions of light frosts in all parts of the State – around the bay of San Francisco, on the mesas in southern California, and to some extent at slight elevations in the central part of the State. The potato endures some frost, but one has, for an early crop, to guard against the locations subject to hard freezing. Most of our potatoes are grown without irrigation because, on uplands, winter temperatures favor their growing during the rainy season. The middle-season and late potatoes are grown on moist lowlands where irrigation is not necessary. In proper situations, much of the land which is used for potatoes has at some time produced wheat or barley, corn or sorghum, and other field crops.

Potatoes After Alfalfa.

I have been a successful potato grower in Ohio. I have the best alfalfa soil and it is now in its fourth year of productiveness in that crop. I would like to grow potatoes in a small way.

Proceed just as you would at the East in getting potatoes upon a red clover sod. Turn under the alfalfa deeply now if the soil will work well, and roll your sandy soil. You must use a sharp plow to cut and cover well. If there is moisture enough the alfalfa, plowed under in the fall, ought to be decayed by February, when you could plant potatoes safely, probably, unless your situation is very frosty. If you plant early you ought to get the crop through without irrigation if you cultivate well and keep the land flat.

Flat or Hill Culture for Potatoes.

Is it better to hill potatoes or not?

During the dry time of the year potatoes should be grown with flat cultivation, except as it may be necessary to furrow out between the rows for the application of irrigation water. Potatoes grown during the rainy season in places where there is liable to be too much water, can often be hilled to advantage, but dry-season cultivation of practically everything should be as flat as possible to retain moisture near the surface for the development of shallow-rooting plants.

Bad Conditions for Potatoes.

Our potatoes were planted early and were frosted several times while young. As we come to harvest them we find them with very large green tops but the potatoes are about the size of a hen’s egg and from that they run down to the size of a pea. The larger ones are beginning to send out roots, four or five to a potato. The potatoes have not been irrigated lately and the ground they are in is dry.

The ugly behavior of your potatoes is doubtless due to irregularities in temperature and moisture which have forced the plants into abnormal or undesirable activity. Potatoes should have regular conditions of moisture so that they shall proceed from start to finish and not stop and start again, for this will usually make the crop unsatisfactory and worthless. Excessive moisture is not desirable, but the requisite amount in continuous supply is indispensable.

Potatoes on Heavy Land.

Will potatoes grow well in adobe land, or partly adobe, that has not been used for seven years except for pasturing?

Although potatoes enjoy best of all a light loam in which they can readily expand, it is possible to get very good results on heavy land which has been used for pasturage for some years, providing the land is broken up early and deeply and harrowed well in advance of planting and thorough cultivation maintained while the crop is growing. The content of grass roots and manure which the land has received during its period of grazing tends to make the soil lighter and will also feed the plant well. For this reason better potatoes are had on heavy land after pasturage than could be had on the same land if continually used for grain or for some other crop which tended to reduce the amount of humus and to make the land more rebellious in cultivation.

Storage of Seed Potatoes.

We need potatoes for late planting and have found a good lot which is being held in cold storage at temperatures from 34 to 36 degrees F. They have not been there long, however. Would that hurt them for seed, and also how long could they be safely left there now before planting?

Seed potatoes would not be injured in storage, providing the temperature is not allowed to go below the freezing point. They should not, however, be allowed to remain longer in storage, but should be exposed to the sun for the development of the eyes, even to the sprouting point being desirable before planting. The greening of the potato by the sun is no disadvantage. We would not think of planting potatoes directly from storage, because, owing to the lack of development in the eyes, decay might get the start of germination.

Potatoes and Frosts.

Can I keep frost off of potato tops by building smudge fires! I would like to plant about February 1, but we usually have a few light frosts here during March. If I were to turn water in the field when too cold, would that keep the frost off, and if so, would I have to turn water down each row, or would one furrow full of water to about every fourth or sixth row be enough?

You can prevent frost by smudging for potatoes just as you can for other vegetables. The potato, however, needs little protection of this kind and will endure a light frost which would be destructive to tomatoes, melons, and other more tender growths. Unless you have a very frosty situation, you can certainly grow potatoes without frost protection, and they should be planted earlier than February first if the ground is in good condition. The great secret of success in growing potatoes in southern California is to get a good early start before the heat and drought come on. Water will protect from frost if the temperature only goes to about 28 degrees and does not stay there too long. The more water there is exposed the longer may be the protection, but probably not against a lower temperature.

Growing Sweet Potato Plants.

How shall I make a hot-bed to raise sweet potato plants? I don’t mean to put glass over bed, but want full description of an up-to-date outfit for raising them.

Manure hot-beds have been largely abandoned for growing sweet potato slips, though, of course, you can grow them that way on a small scale or for experiment. In the large sweet potato districts, elaborate arrangements for bottom heat by circulation of hot water or steam are in use. In a smaller way hot air works well. The Arizona Experiment Station tells how a very good sweet potato hot-bed at little cost is constructed as follows: A frame of rough boards seven feet wide, twenty feet long and fourteen inches deep is laid down over two flues made by digging two trenches one foot deep and about two feet wide, lengthwise of the bed. These trenches are covered with plank or iron roofing, and are equipped with a fire pit at one end and short smokestack at the other.

Four inches of soil is filled into this bed and sweet potatoes placed upon it in a layer which is then covered with two or three inches more of soil. Large potatoes may be split and laid flat side down. The whole bed is then covered with muslin, operating on a roller by which to cover and uncover the bed. Thus prepared, the bed may easily be kept at a temperature of 60 to 70 degrees F. by smouldering wood fires in the fire boxes. The potatoes, kept moist at this temperature, sprout promptly and will be ready to transplant in about six weeks. A bed of the size mentioned will receive five to seven bushels of seed roots, which will make slips enough to plant an acre or more of potatoes.

Growing Sweet Potatoes.

Please inform me how to keep sweet potatoes for seed; also how many pounds it takes for one acre, and what distance apart to plant, and the time to plant.

Sweet potatoes may be kept from sprouting by storage in a cool, dry place. Sweet potatoes are not grown by direct cutting of the tuber as the ordinary potato is, but the tubers are put in January or later in a hot bed and the sprouts are taken off for planting when the ground becomes warm and all danger of frost is over in the locality. The number of sprouts required for an acre is from five to ten thousand, and a bushel of small sweet potatoes will produce about two thousand sprouts if properly handled in the hot bed, which consists in removing the sprouts when they have attained a height of five or six inches, and in this way the potatoes will be yielding sprouts in succession for some time. The sprouts are planted in rows far enough apart for horse cultivation. They are usually hilled up pretty well after starting to grow well. They cannot be planted until the danger of frost is over, for they are much more tender than Irish potatoes.

Sweet Potato Growing.

In planting sweet potatoes, do we have to make hotbeds just like those for tomatoes, or if just a plain seed-bed will do? Is it necessary to irrigate them or not?

You can bed your sweet potatoes in a warm place on the sunny side of a building or board fence, and get sprouts all right. You will, however, get them sooner and in greater numbers by using a slow hotbed in which the manure supply is not too large. The fact that sweet potato growers do use some artificial heat, either from manure or by piping bottom-heat in their propagating houses, is a demonstration that such recourse is desirable to get best results. The necessity of irrigation depends upon the soil and its natural moisture supply. On a fine retentive loam, the crop is chiefly made without irrigation, if the plants are all ready to put out in the field as soon as it is safe. If you are late in the planting, or if the soil is dry or likely to dry before the tubers are grown to good size, irrigation, some time ahead of the need of the plant, is essential.

Sweet Potatoes.

What kind of soil and climate does it take to grow sweet potatoes, and can I grow them in any part of Contra Costa county, and about what time is the best to plant them?

Sweet potatoes do best in a light warm loam which drains well and does not bake or crust by rain or irrigation. Sprout the tubers in a hot-bed or cold-frame in February and break off the shoots and plant as soon as you are out of danger by frost. Sweet potatoes are more tender than common potatoes. There are places in Contra Costa county where they do well, though some parts of the county do not have enough summer heat.

Sweet Potatoes Between Fruit Trees.

I am expecting to grow a fall crop of about twenty acres of sweet potatoes. The land is a heavy, sandy loam in the interior, which has been set out this spring to almonds, apricots and prunes. I wish to grow sweet potatoes between trees. Would an irrigation every forty days be often enough? Also, if either sweet or Irish potatoes grown between rows are harmful to either of the varieties of fruit mentioned?

We see no reason why you should not get your crop, providing you do not have to run the plants into the frosty period, and sweet potatoes will not, of course, stand frost as well as the common potato. The moisture which you propose to give ought to be enough for a retentive soil in connection with good cultivation until the vines cover the ground. Growing any crop between orchard trees is apt to be an injury to the trees, because of the spaces which are not and cannot be adequately cultivated, so that the ground around the trees is apt to become compacted either by the run of water or the lack of cultivation, or both. Our observation has been that Irish potatoes are no more injurious than other crops. Any crop will injure young trees if it takes moisture they ought to have or interferes with good cultivation of the land.

Giant Japanese Radish.

In discussing sakurajima (giant Japanese radish) Eastern publications advise planting late, about August 1, and not earlier than July 1. What can you tell me about the plant here?

The Asiatic winter radishes can be successfully planted in California in July or August if the soil is thoroughly saturated by irrigation before digging and planting. It is, however, not so necessary to begin early in California as at the East, because our winter temperatures favor the growth of the plant, while at the East they have to make an early start in order to get something well grown before the ground freezes. For the growth of winter radishes, then, in California you can wait until the ground is wet thoroughly by the rain, which may be expected during September, and afterward you can make later plantings for succession at any time you desire during the rainy season. This applies to all kinds of radishes.

Rhubarb Rotting.

I have planted rhubarb roots in the San Joaquin valley and find the root crowns rot below the surface.

The old-fashioned summer rhubarb usually goes off that way in very hot localities. If there is too much alkali or hardpan, or if planted too late, the same results will be had with any sort of rhubarb. Where it is very hot, plants, irrigated in the morning near the plants, scald at the crown and die in a few days. If irrigated in the afternoon and the ground worked before it gets hot the next day fine results are obtained. The winter rhubarb varieties do well in hot districts if the roots are planted from September 15 to May 1, while in cooler sections, April, May, June and July are the best months and will insure a crop the following winter.

Squashes Dislike Hardship.

What caused these squashes, of which I send you samples, to be so hard and woody? They were grown without irrigation.

Your squashes were grown without irrigation under conditions which were too dry for them and became inferior in quality. Possibly the variety itself is not of good quality or the specimen from which the seed was taken may have been inferior. A squash, in order to be tender and acceptable, needs rich feeding and plenty of drink. Otherwise, it is apt to resent ill treatment by very undesirable growth.

Harvesting Sunflowers.

What is the method used in saving or threshing the seed from the Giant Russian sunflower?

Cut off the seed heads of your sunflowers when the seed seems to be well matured but before any of it falls away from the head. Throw these heads on a smooth piece of ground or a tight floor and when they become thoroughly dry thresh out the seed with a flail, removing the coarse stuff with a rake and afterwards cleaning the seed by shoveling it into the wind so that the light stuff may be blown away. A more perfect cleaning afterwards could be secured with a grain fanning mill or a simple sieve of the right mesh.

Irrigating Tomatoes.

How much water does it take (in gallons or cubic feet) to properly irrigate an acre of land for tomatoes? The soil is adobe, and the customary way of planting tomatoes is 6 feet apart each way, plowing a trench of one furrow with the slope of the land for irrigating, that is, a trench between every row and a cross trench as a feeder. The land is low and in the driest part of the year the surface water is from 2 to 3 feet beneath the top of the ground.

It is not possible to state a specific quantity of water for any crop, because the amount depends to such a large extent upon the retentiveness of the soil, the rate of evaporation and the kind of cultivation. The best source of information is the behavior of the plant itself, bearing in mind that tomato plants require constant but not excessive moisture supply, and that if moisture is applied in excess it will promote an excessive growth of the plant, which will cause it to drop its blossoms and therefore be unsatisfactory and unproductive. In such land as you describe no irrigation whatever would be desirable except in years of short rainfall, and such land, if properly cultivated, would always furnish moisture enough by capillary action to support the growth of the plant.

Less Water and More Heat.

What chemicals should I put into the soil to insure a good crop of vegetables, such as tomatoes, string beans, or other over-ground producers? Last year my tomatoes and string beans grew plentifully, but never produced any tomatoes or beans, yet turnips and parsnips were all right.

Vegetables which behave like your tomatoes and string beans, making too much growth and not enough fruit, do not need fertilization. The land is perhaps too rich already, or you may have used too much water. Use less water so that the plants will make a more moderate growth, and they will be fruitful if the season is warm enough in the later part of summer. This, of course, would be one of the drawbacks to growing tomatoes and beans in San Francisco. Turnips and parsnips do well with less heat. You may have to modify the San Francisco summer climate by wind screens or glass covers.

Continuous Cropping With the Same Plant.

What would happen on the crops of cucumbers, tomatoes and eggplants, etc., planted on the same place continuously?

There would be in time a decadence of crop from soil exhaustion, but that you could prevent by fertilization. The greatest danger from continuously growing these vegetables on the same land is the multiplication of bacteria which injuriously affect them, in the soil. The plants which you mention are all subject to “wilt” diseases from this cause, therefore, they should have new ground. If you have to use the same garden ground continuously, the plants which you mention should be rotated with root crops or with other kinds of vegetables, so as to frequently change plants and soil within the general area which has to be used for them.

Big Worms on Tomatoes.

I have a nice patch of tomatoes in my garden, and only recently I notice large green worms on them with one large brown horn on their head. They strip the leaves off. They look to me like a tobacco worm.

They are tobacco worms; that is, they are the larvae of hawk moths, some of which take tobacco, tomatoes, grapevines and many other plants, including some of the native weeds of your valley. Pick them off and crush them, or give them a little snip with the scissors if you do not like to handle them. They are so large and easily found that such treatment is easily applied, as in “worming tobacco.”

Loss of Tomato Bloom.

I have tomato plants which are very strong and healthy and full of blossoms, but there is something cutting the blossoms off and just about to ruin my plants.

The trouble with your tomato plants is that life is too easy for them, that they have so much moisture and plant food that they can grow comfortably and rapidly without thought of the future. So, because they do not have to think of making fruit, the blossoms drop off. This is a very common occurrence with tomatoes, especially in home gardens where the owners have not the experience or the information on the subject that they might have, and give the tomatoes too much water. Many other plants act the same way and will not set fruit while they can grow easily, and only begin to produce when they have made a great growth or when moisture begins to get a little short. If you irrigate the tomatoes, stop, and put no more water on until the plant begins to set fruit as if it meant business, or gives some sign that water would be appreciated. If the ground is naturally moist you will have to wait until the plants make more growth and the weather gets drier and hotter, and the plants will then set fruit. Some growers have found that by trimming up the vine and staking it, the fruit sets much more readily.

Part III. Grains and Forage Crops

Wants Us to Do the Whole Thing.

Can you help, me to determine a good product to plant somewhere in California; also what particular section would be most suitable for the raising of that which you would advise? I wish a crop of permanent nature (as orchard trees). I also desire advice on some product which would give a quick return while I am waiting on the more permanent one to mature and bear. I have not procured land yet, and am thinking seriously of trying to get government land, therefore, you are free to give me the best location for the raising of that which you would, suggest. I want a money-making product and one which is not already overdone.

The choice of crops depends quite as much upon the market demand and opportunity as it does upon the suitability of the soil and local climate. Choice of crops indeed involves almost the whole business of farming, and although we can sometimes give a man useful suggestions as to the growth of plants and the protection of plants from enemies, we cannot undertake to plan his farming business for him. He must form his own opinions as to what will be most marketable, and therefore profitable, if he succeeds in getting a good article for sale. A wise man at the East once said: “You can advise a man to do almost anything. You can even select a wife for him, but never commit the indiscretion of advising him what to grow to make money. That is a matter he has to determine for himself.”

Pasturing Young Grain.

Would it be advisable to herd milch cows for a few hours each day on a field of black oats which is to be grown for hay? The oats are now about four inches high and rank, as the land was pastured last year. The land is sandy, rolling soil and will soon be dry enough so that the cows would not injure the plants. The idea is that the leaves which are green now will all dry up and are really not the growth which is cut for hay; therefore, I should think it would do no harm to feed it down a bit.

Over-rank grain with abundant moisture will make a more stocky growth and stand against lodging if pastured or mowed. The leaves which you speak of as being lost in the later growth of the plant serve an important purpose in making that growth, and removing them is a repressive process which is not desirable when rain is short. We should allow the plants to push along into as good a growth of hay as a dry year’s moisture will give.

Dry Plowing for Grain.

We have land that we could very easily plow now with our traction engine and improved plows, but the people here claim that it does not pay to dry-plow, that is, before the land has had a good rain on it and the vegetation has started. I believe in dry plowing. Two of our oldest farmers in Merced county dry-plowed, that is, they commenced plowing as soon as harvesting was over.

If the rainfall is small and likely to come in light showers, dry plowing, if it turns up the land in large clods, might yield poorer results than land which is plowed after rain, because there would be so much moisture lost by drying out from the coarse surface when it came in amounts not adequate for deep penetration. Plowing after the rain for the purpose of killing out the foul stuff which starts is, however, quite another consideration. It is a fact that dry plowing and sowing is not now desirable in some places where it was formerly accepted, because the land has become so foul as to give a rank growth of weeds which choke out the grain at its beginning. Such land can be cleaned by one or two shallow plowings and cultivations after there is moisture enough to start the weeds to growing. These are local questions which you will have to settle by observation. In a general way, it is true that opening the surface of the ground before the rains, reduces the run-off and loss of moisture, but whether there would be any loss of moisture by run-off or not depends upon the slope of the land and also upon the way in which the rain comes, and the total amount of moisture which is available for the season.

Sub-varieties of California Barley.

Can you tell where I can buy seed of varieties of California six-rowed barley, described as “pallidum” and “coerulescens,” and what the seed will cost?

No one knows where the six-rowed barley, known as “common” barley in this State, came from, nor when it came. It has been here since the early days and it has naturally shown a disposition to vary, so that it is quite possible to select a number of types from any large field, of it. These variations have been studied to some extent by Eastern students who are endeavoring to develop American types of barley for brewing purposes as likely to be better than the brewing varieties which are famous in Europe. In Europe brewing barleys are chiefly two-rowed. Under California conditions the plant is able to develop just as good brewing grains on a six-rowed basis, and this seems to be a commendable trait in the way of multiplying the product. The names “pallidum” and “coerulescens” indicate two of these varieties recognized by Eastern students. It is not possible at this time to get even a pound of selected grain true to this type, and no one knows when it will be worked out to available quantities.

Chevalier Barley.

Has Chevalier barley more value to feed hens for egg production than common feed barley or wheat?

Chevalier barley is no better for chicken feed than any other barley which is equally large and plump. Brewers like Chevalier because of its fullness of starch to support the malting process; also, because it is bright, that is, white, and not stained or tinged with bluish or reddish colors. Color points do not count for chicken feed, but good plump kernels do. Besides this, however, darker kernel (not chaff) usually indicates more protein, and therefore a darker kernel of either wheat or barley might be more valuable for feeding. A hard, horny kernel is richer than a softer, more starchy one, either in wheat or barley.

Barley on Moist Land.

What would you do with land subject to overflow by the Sacramento when that river rises 20 feet, and which you wanted to plant to barley this season? Would you take a chance on the river rising that high this year, or wait until after that danger was over, and take a chance on not getting enough rain to make the grain come up; also, if the river did come up for 48 hours after the grain was in, but did not wash, would the grain be lost? Should the grain be planted deeper than on ordinary land, and, if so, should a drill be used? How much seed should be sown per acre on good river-bottom soil?

Get the barley in and watch for the overflow rather than to fear it. An overflow for 48 hours would give you the greatest crop you ever saw, unless it should be in a settling basin and the water forced to escape by evaporation. From your description we judge that this is not so and that the land clears itself quickly from an overflow. Depth of sowing depends upon the character and condition of the soil – the lighter and drier the deeper. By all means use a drill if the soil is dry on the surface. Short rainfall makes the advantage of drill seeding most conspicuous. On the University Farm 22 trials gave an average gain of over 10 per cent in yield. The difference would be much greater in a dry year; it might be 25 per cent greater, possibly, and save high-priced seed at the same time, as about 90 pounds of seed per acre will do, instead of 120 pounds broadcast, in accordance with the approved heavy seeding practice on the river lands.

Barley and Alfalfa.

I have some alfalfa which is a poor stand. Can I disc it up heavily and seed in some barley for winter pasture?

You can get barley into your alfalfa as you propose, but you should not seed until fall. The more barley you get into your alfalfa, however, the less alfalfa you will have afterward. If you want to improve your afalfa, keep everything else out of the field and help the plants by regular irrigations during the balance of the growing season.

Beets and Potatoes.

Which is the best for dairy cows, plain red mangels or a cross between these and sugar beets? Can you suggest a more profitable variety of potato than the Oregon Burbank?

If you can get a cross which gives you more tonnage than a mangel and a higher nutritive content you would have something better to grow. The first point you have to determine by growing the two side by side and weighing the product; the nutritive value of each will have to be determined by chemical analysis. Until these determinations are actually made a comparison of desirability is nothing but conjecture. There are several other potatoes which are sometimes more profitable here and there for early crop when grown in an early locality. If you are not in an early locality you are obliged to produce for the main crop, and nothing, to our knowledge, sells as well as the Burbank, if you get a good one.

Beets for Stock.

Will sugar beets grow on black alkali land? How many pounds of seed per acre should be used and when is it time for sowing in the San Joaquin valley? Which kind would be best for cows?

Beets will do more on alkali than some other plants, but too much alkali will knock them out. You must try and see whether you have too much alkali or not. You can sow at various times during the rainy season, for the beets will stand some frost. Sow 8 pounds per acre in drills 2 1/2 to 3 feet apart, so as to use a horse cultivator. For stock you had better grow large stock beets like marigolds or tankards – not sugar beets. It costs too much to get sugar beets out of the ground, because it is their habit to grow small and bury themselves for the sake of the sugar maker, while stock beets grow largely above ground.

Summer Start of Stock Beets.

How can I make Mangel Wurzels grow in hot weather? The land is level and can be irrigated by flooding or ditching between the rows. How often should the water be applied, and which method used? The land is in fine shape; a sandy loam bordering on to heavier land.

Wet the land thoroughly; plow and harrow and drill in the seed in rows about 2 1/2 feet apart. This ought to give moisture enough to start the seed. Cultivate as soon as you can see the rows well. Irrigate in a furrow between the rows about once a month; cultivate after each irrigation.

Corn Growing for Silage.

With fair cultivation, will an acre produce about 10 tons of ensilage without fertilization – it being bottom land? How should it be planted? – the rows closer together than 3 feet, or should it be planted the usual width between rows, and thick in the rows? If fertilizers were to be used, what kind would you recommend? Would you recommend deep plowing followed by a packer and harrow so as to preserve the moisture?

You ought to be able to get 10 tons of silage per acre from corn grown on good corn land. It can be best grown in rows sufficiently distant for cultivation, closer in the row than would be desirable for corn, and yet not too crowded, because corn for silage should develop good ears and should be cut for silage about the time when the glazing begins to appear. If your land needs fertilization, stable manure or a “complete fertilizer” of the dealers would be the proper thing to use. It would be very desirable to plow corn land deeply the preceding fall, followed by a packer or harrow to settle down the land below, but do not work down fine. Keep the surface stirred from time to time during the winter and put in the crop with the usual cultivation in the spring as soon as the frost danger is over.

Irrigation for Corn.

What amount of water is necessary per acre for the best possible yield of corn under acreage conditions and proper cultivation in the San Joaquin or Sacramento valleys?

No one can answer such a question with anything more than a guess. It depends upon how much rain has fallen the previous winter, how retentive the soil is naturally, and what has been done to help the soil to hold it. Nearly all the corn that is grown is carried without any irrigation at all on moist lowlands, which may be too wet for winter crops. If you demand a guess, make it six acre-inches, with a good surface pulverizing after each run of water in furrows between the rows. This water would be best used in two or three applications.

Eastern Seed Corn for California.

The question has been raised as to Eastern-grown seed corn, comparing it with California-grown seed. Some claim that the former does not yield well the first season.

We cannot give a complete refutation of the impression that Eastern seed corn does not yield well the first season in California. It is a somewhat prevalent impression. All that we can announce now is that we have grown collections of Eastern seed corn and have found the product quite as good as could have been expected, and did not encounter, apparently, the trouble of which you write.

Need of Corn Suckering.

To insure the best crop of corn possible, does it pay to sucker it or not?

The removal of suckers is a matter of local conditions largely in California, and growers are getting out of the habit of suckering. In some places suckering is needed, and in others it apparently does not pay to do so, although with very rare exceptions a larger yield can be secured by suckering than without.

Cow Peas Not Preparatory for Corn.

What time of the year can cow peas be planted, and can the entire crop be plowed under in time for planting field corn?

Cowpeas are very subject to frost. They are really beans, and therefore can be grown in the winter time only in a few practically frostless places. Wherever frosts are likely to occur they must be planted, like beans and corn, when the frost danger is over. Field peas, Canadian peas and vetches are hardy against frost and therefore safer for winter growth, and treated as you propose they may be preparatory for corn-growing providing you plow them under soon enough to get a month or more for decay before planting the corn.

Oats and Rust

Is there any variety of oats that is rust-proof, or any method of treating oats that will render them rust resistant? We are situated on a mountain, only about 12 miles from the coast, and have considerable foggy weather, which most of the farmers here say is the cause of the rust.

There is no way of treating oats which will prevent smut, if the variety is liable to it. There is a great difference in the resistance of different varieties. A few dark-colored oats are practically rust-proof, and you can get seed of them from the seedsmen in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Such varieties are chiefly grown on the southern coast. Foggy weather has much to do with the rust, because it causes atmospheric moisture which is favorable to the growth of the fungus, which is usually checked by dry heat, and yet there are atmospheric conditions occasionally which favor the rust even in the driest parts of the State. The fog favors rust, but does not cause it. The cause is a fungus, long ago thoroughly understood and named puccinia graminis.

Midsummer Hay Sowing.

Can I sow oats or barley in July upon irrigated mesa land, with the object of making hay in the fall? Which of the two would do the better in summer time? I have plenty of water.

We have never seen this done to advantage. If you desire to try it, irrigate thoroughly and plow and sow afterward. Use barley rather than oats and irrigate when the plant shades the land well, if you get growth enough to warrant it. It will be easier to get the crop than to figure a profit in it.

Loose Hay by Measure.

How many cubic feet should be allowed for a ton of alfalfa hay loaded on a wagon from the shock? I must sell more or less in that way, as no scales are near enough to be used.

It is a proposition, as to the weight of loose hay, which could of course keep changing the higher you built the load on the wagon. It is easier to give figures on weight from a stack in which there has been something like uniform pressure for a time. In the case from a 30-day stack it is common to allow an eight-foot cube to a ton, etc. Perhaps you can guess from that.

When to Cut Oat Hay.

To make the best red oat hay should it be cut when in the “milk,” “dough” or nearly ripe!

It should be cut in the “soft dough” or, as some express it, “between the milk and the dough.” This is probably as near an approach in words as can be made to that condition which loses neither by immaturity or by over-maturity from the point of view of hay which is to get as much as can be in the head without losing nutritiveness in the straw. Of course there are other conditions intruding sometimes, like the outbreak of rust or the premature ripening through drought. In such cases care must be taken not to let the plant stand too long for the sake of reaching an ideal condition in the head – which for lack of favorable growing conditions the plant may not be able to reach.

Rye for Hay.

When is the best time to cut rye for hay, and how should it best be handled? Would it be well to cut it up and blow it into the barn, and would it do all right for silage?

Rye makes poor hay on account of its woody stems and must be cut earlier than other grains. After that it is handled as is other hay. Cutting it up would probably be more of a help than to other grain hay. It could be put into the silo, but would of course have to be cut pretty green and would have to run through a cutter and blower. Putting it in whole would be out of the question. In the silo, the fermentation would largely overcome the woodiness of the stems. It would also as a silage balance up nicely with alfalfa, and the best way to do would be to mix it with alfalfa when putting it in.

Rye in California.

Which kind of rye is the hardiest, the best yielding, and the best hay varieties in your State?

Rye is the least grown of all the cereals in California, and no attention has been paid to selection of varieties. That which is produced is “just rye,” of some common variety which came to the State years ago and still remains. No rye is grown for hay, as the toughness of the stem renders it undesirable for that purpose. There is a certain amount of rye grown for winter feeding. This is grown in the foothills principally and it serves an excellent purpose, but it is fed off before approaching maturity.

That Old Seven-Headed Wheat.

We are sending you some heads of grain which was grown in this county. The land was planted with an imported Australian wheat, which we believe the smaller heads to be, but the wheat is about evenly mired with grain like the large heads, which we think to be a species of barley.

The grain is an old, coarse, bearded wheat which is continually appearing in fields of ordinary grain and naturally excites interest among all to whom the variety is a novelty. It is the old seven-headed Egyptian wheat, which has never proved of any cultural value, because its manifolding of the head is of no advantage. It is better to have a straight well-filled head than to have a branching head of this kind. This matter has been fully demonstrated by experience during the last thirty or forty years, not only in this State, but in other States, for the variety has a way of getting around the world, and seed has sometimes been sold at exorbitant prices to people who have been persuaded that it is of particular value.

Speltz.

I have heard of a Russian grain called “Speltz” or “Emmer.” Can I raise it successfully and, if so, what is the very best time of year to sow some for the best crop obtainable? Can it be sown in the fall, say November? Would springtime be a better time to sow it on soil that is very soft in winter?

If your land yields good crops of wheat or barley or oats, you have little to expect from speltz or emmer. This is a grain generally considered inferior to those just mentioned and advocated for conditions under which the better known grains do not do well. It is hardy against drought and frost, particularly the latter, and is, therefore, chiefly grown in the extreme north of Europe. It may be sown in the fall or in the spring in places where rains are late and carry the plant to maturity.

Italian Rye Grass.

What kind of grass is enclosed? Also the best method to eradicate it?

The grass is the Italian rye grass, or as it is sometimes called, the Italian variety of the perennial rye grass. It is proving a very satisfactory grass in California for moderate drought resistance and for winter growing, and a great deal of it is being sown for these purposes. You can readily kill it out by cultivation, but most people are more occupied with its propagation than with its destruction.

Fall Feed.

Can I irrigate and plant a forage crop n July to feed dairy cows this fall and winter? Would you recommend cow peas or some kind of sugar corn? If cow peas, how many pounds to the acre?

If you wet down the land thoroughly and then plow and harrow and plant either cow peas or Indian corn, you ought to get a good green crop before frost. Drill in or drop the seed in rows about three feet apart and keep cultivating and irrigating as long as you can get through without injuring the crop too much. Use about 40 pounds of cow peas to the acre.

Hurry-up Pasture.

What can I plant this fall which would produce pasturage for a small amount of stock this winter, and until I can get the land under irrigation and seeded to alfalfa?

For quick fall and winter growth nothing is better probably than oats and vetches sown together as soon as you get rain enough to plow, but it would be a question whether it is worth while to work for that, because you ought to get your land ready for February sowing of alfalfa and that will keep the land busy after the rain gets it into working condition.

Johnson Grass.

I am informed that Johnson grass makes fine hay. I have not sown the seed yet, but would like to know if the hay is good and if it will grow on dry land. I have the seed on hand, but do not want to sow it if it is not good.

Johnson grass is poor, coarse stuff. The plant is most valuable for grazing when young. Johnson grass will not grow on really dry land, but it will take the best moist land it can find and hold on to it. It is sensitive to frost and is not a winter grower except in the absence of frost.

Improving Heavy Land for Alfalfa.

My land is very heavy, red loam, and crusts over very hard in dry seasons. I would like to know if it would be best to use barnyard compost over the surface as a mulch, or would it be best to use plain straw for that purpose?

A very heavy soil can be brought into better surface condition for alfalfa by plowing in stable manure as soon as possible after the fall rains, in order that the manure may have opportunity to become disintegrated and mixed with the soil by the time for alfalfa sowing, which is from February to April – whenever the heavy frosts of the locality are over. For a small piece, you might get a better stand by using a light mulch of disintegrated coarse manure or even straw, scattering it after the sowing, but for a large acreage this would involve too much labor. It is not desirable to work in much manure or other coarse stuff at the time of sowing the seed, but you can make a light surface application after the plant has made a start.

Cultivating Alfalfa.

When is the best time to cultivate alfalfa, and how often during the season is it advantageous to do so? Which is the best implement to use?

Cultivated alfalfa is a term applied to alfalfa sown in rows and allowed to grow in narrow bands with cultivated land between, and the irrigation is then done in a furrow in the narrow cultivated strip. This will give thriftier growth and perhaps more hay to the acre than flooded, broad-casted alfalfa, but it will cost so much more that the acre profit would probably be less. This is an intensive culture of alfalfa, which is still to be tested out in California, if any one should be inclined to do it. Some one-cow suburbanite would be in condition to try the scheme first. Probably you refer to disking, and for that an ordinary disk is used with the disks set pretty straight to reduce the side cutting, and this is done at different times of the year by different growers. By doing it when the ground gets dry in the early spring much of the foul stuff is cut out before the alfalfa starts strongly. But disking seems to be good whenever in the year the soil is dry enough to take it well.

Suburban Alfalfa Patch.

How can we rid the alfalfa of weeds? As we are obliged to hire help, and do not succeed in getting the hay cared for until we have mostly stalks without leaves, I have put the cow on it to pasture it off.

The cow knows how to handle it, but you will not get as much alfalfa as if you cut and carried it to her. If you cut sooner you will get rid of many plants which are propagated by the seeds which they produce, and you will also get better hay, more leaves and fewer stalks. Cut it about the time it begins to bloom, not waiting for the full bloom to appear.

Alfalfa and Bermuda.

I have land which was seeded to alfalfa some 15 years ago and has been pastured continuously until it was almost all Bermuda. I had it thoroughly plowed, disk harrowed and sowed to oats; disk harrowed in, and drag harrowed. After cutting for hay this year I intend putting it in Egyptian corn in rows, so it can be cultivated to get rid of Bermuda. I have also been advised to plow the land immediately after harvesting corn and let it lie until next January and then plow and sow to barley and alfalfa as I wish to grow alfalfa. Kindly let me know if method is right. The land is sandy loam and under irrigation.

Whether you will fully succeed against Bermuda grass or not is doubtful. It is probable, however, that you can reduce the Bermuda so that other cultivated crops can be continuously grown. Common experience is that Bermuda will hold on unless you have hard freezing of the ground to a considerable depth, as they have in the northern States. The best use that you can make of land infested with Bermuda is to get as good a stand as you can of alfalfa and let the alfalfa fight for itself. The combination of alfalfa and Bermuda grass makes very good hay or pasturage. We should, however, sow the alfalfa alone and not handicap it by sowing with barley. The Bermuda will smile at that advice. Egyptian corn can be planted in rows, 2 1/2 to 3 feet between the rows to admit of easy cultivation

Bermuda Grass.

What is the value of Bermuda grass as a forage crop for cattle, more particularly dairy cows?

Bermuda grass is generally condemned because of getting in places where it is not desirable and of being almost impossible of eradication therefrom. Still, Bermuda grass will make good pasturage on land which is too alkaline to make other crops, and therefore is highly esteemed by some owners of waste lands in the San Joaquin valley. It is good pasturage and is most easily propagated by cutting the roots up into short pieces by use of the hay-cutter, nearly all the pieces retaining an eye which will make a new plant. It is easy to get in and hard to get out.

Salt Grass and Alfalfa.

I have some land in Sutter county and it has some of this salt grass in spots. I am about to take a twenty-acre piece and put in alfalfa, but some old-timers tell me that the salt grass on it is bad stuff to handle.

Your trouble will probably be not so much the salt grass, but the alkali in the soil which the salt grass can tolerate and which other plants cannot stand. You cannot then substitute alfalfa for salt grass without getting the alkali out of the soil, and you cannot do this without having sufficient drainage so that the rainfall may wash the alkali out from the soil and carry it away in the drainage water. You probably cannot get a satisfactory growth of alfalfa on the spots where the salt grass has established itself, although the land round about may be very satisfactory to alfalfa.

Giant Spurry.

I would like information about spurry. How much frost will it stand? What is time for sowing? Its value as crop to plow under?

From a California point of view, spurry is a winter-growing weed which has been approved by orchardists in Sonoma county because it yields a considerable amount of vegetation for turning under with the spring plowing of the orchard. For this purpose it should be sown at the beginning of the rainy season. Its value as a crop to turn under depends upon the amount of growth you can get. It is not a legume and, therefore, does not have the value of the nitrogen-gathering plant. Still, it yields humus and, therefore, is valuable for winter growing as ordinary weeds, grasses, grains, etc., are.

Light Soil and Scant Moisture.

Advise me as to plowing under a crop of last year’s weeds where I intend to plant beans, corn, etc. The soil is “slickens,” on the Yuba river, and the weeds grew up last year in a crop of volunteer barley, which was hogged off. I expect to plow five inches deep, and calculate that the barley straw and weeds will contribute to the supply of humus, which is always deficient in most of our soils. I expect to try to grow beans without irrigation, and wonder if the trash would hold the soil too open so as to dry them out.

Considering the character of the soil which you describe and the shallow plowing you intend we should certainly burn off all the trash upon the land. With deep plowing early in the season this coarse stuff could be covered in to advantage, but it would be dangerous to do it in the spring. Clean land and thorough cultivation to save moisture enough for summer’s growth is the only rational spring treatment.

Clovers and Drought.

I have sandy loam with some alkali. In wet years it is regarded as too damp in some places. Can you give me any information on the following points? I have practically no water for irrigation and I feel sure that alfalfa would not grow without it. Do you think that clover would make one or more cuttings without water?

Red and white clover are less tolerant of drought than alfalfa, which, being a deep-rooting plant, is especially commended in dry-farming undertakings. Red clover will grow better on low wet lands than will alfalfa, but the land must not dry out or the red clover will die during the dry season. None of the plants will stand much alkali.

Clover for Wet Lands.

What kind of alfalfa will do best on sub-irrigated land which is very wet? I have sown it in alfalfa and it grows finely for two or three years, but then the roots rot and die.

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.

Where you have irrigation water available in the foothills you can get a very satisfactory growth of red clover. We have seen it doing very well on sloping land in your county where water was allowed to spill over from a ditch on the ridge to moisten the slope below. Winter rye and other hardy stock feeds could also be grown in the winter time on the protected slopes with the rainfall. Some such plants are not good summer growers, owing to the drought. Rape is a good winter grower by rainfall, but not so satisfactory as vetches and kale. Sugar beets are not so good for stock purposes as stock beets, which give you much more growth for the same labor and are more easily gathered because they grow a good part out of the ground. They will stand considerable freezing and may be sown at different times throughout the year, whenever the land is moist, either by irrigation or rainfall. Artichokes are of doubtful value. We have never found anyone who continued to grow them long. Of course, on good, deep land, with irrigation, nothing can be better than alfalfa as supplementary to hill range during the summer season.

Winter Forage.

At what time of the year should I plant kale, Swiss chard, etc., so as to have them ready for use during the months from February to June?

You should plant Swiss chard, kale, etc., as soon as the ground is sufficiently moist from the rain in the fall. In fact, it would be desirable for you to plant the seed earlier in boxes and thus secure plants for planting out when the ground is sufficiently moist. These plants are quite hardy against frost, and in order to have them available by February, a start in the autumn is essential.

A Summer Hay Crop.

What can I put on the land after the oat crop is taken off to furnish hay for horses during the coming winter? I had thought millet would be good. I have water for irrigation.

You could get most out of the land you mention during the hot season by growing Kafir corn or milo, cutting for hay before the plant gets too far advanced. If your land can be flooded and takes water well, so that you can wet it deeply before plowing, the sorghum seed can be broadcast and the crop cut with the mower while the stalks are not more than half an inch in diameter. This makes a good coarse hay. If you have not water enough or the land does not lie right for flooding, you can grow the sorghum in drills and irrigate by the furrow method, being careful, however, not to let the crop go too far if you desire to feed it as hay.

Teosinte.

What about “Teosinte,” its food value, method of culture, and adaptability to our climate, character of soil required?

Teosinte is a corn-like plant of much lower growth than Indian corn. It may be of value as a forage plant on low, moist, interior lands in the summer season. It is very sensitive to frost and is, therefore, not a winter grower. It abhors drought and, therefore, is not a plant for plains or hillsides. It was grown to some extent in California 25 years ago and abandoned as worthless so far as tried.

Bermuda Objectionable.

Bermuda grass as pasture for summer to supplement burr clover and alfilaria in winter on the cheap hill pasture lands along the coast or the foothill ranges of the Sierras. Stock like it and do well on it, and I have noticed it growing in places where it had no water but the little rains of winter in southern California. So the question occurred to me, why should it not be a profitable pasture for the dry summers on the coast or foothill ranges of the State?

Bermuda grass will not make summer growth enough on dry pasture land to make it worth having. It will not make much growth in the rainy season because of frost, and if it has possession of the ground it will not allow either burr clover or alfilaria to make such winter growth as they will on clean land. Besides, this grass is generally counted a nuisance, because it will get into all the good cultivated land and it is almost impossible of eradication. Bermuda grass is of some account on alkali land where it finds moisture enough for free growth. We would not plant it in any other situation.

Rye Grasses Better than Brome.

I see in an Eastern seed catalogue “Bromus Inermis” very highly spoken of as pasturage. Do you know anything of it, and do you think it would be suitable for reclaimed tule land in the bay section?

Both English and Italian rye grasses have proved better than Bromus Inermis on such land as you mention. The latter is commonly known as Hungarian brome grass or awniess brome grass and it was introduced to this State from Europe about 25 years ago and the seed distributed by the University Experiment Station. Hungarian brome may be better on rather dry lands, although it will not live through the summer on very dry lands in this State, but we would rather trust the rye grasses or reclaimed lands, providing, of course, that they are sufficiently free from salt to carry tame grass at all. On the upper coast Hungarian brome has been favorably reported as an early-winter growing grass with comparatively low nutritive value, but is especially valuable because it will grow in poor soil. It is especially suited to sandy pasture and meadow lands and is quite resistant to drought. It is a perennial grass, reproducing by a stout rootstock, which makes it somewhat difficult to eradicate when it is not desired. It is desirable to keep stock off the fields during the first year to get a good stand.

Black Medic.

Will you kindly name the enclosed; also explain its value as forage!

The plant is black medic. It has been very widely distributed over the State during the last few years. It is sometimes called a new burr clover, which it somewhat resembles. It is not very freely eaten by stock and is apparently inferior to burr clover for forage purposes. It is a good plant to plow under for green manure.

Crimson Clover.

About crimson clover in California. Has it proved satisfactory? If so, can you give me data how to plant, etc.!

Crimson clover must be sown after frost, for it is tender. It will give a great show in June and July on low moist land. It is not good against either frost or drought. It has been amply tried in California and proved on the whole of little account.

California Winter Pastures.

We have a great deal of pasture land on which the native grasses yield less feed each year. A great part of this land can be cleared of brush and stone, ready for the plow, but what can we sow to take the place of the native pasture? The ground in many places is not level enough for alfalfa and in some places water is not available. Can we break up the land and sow pasture grasses as the farmers are exhorted to do at the East? The annual rainfall is from 12 to 15 inches.

The perennial grasses which they rely upon for pasturage in the East and which will maintain themselves from year to year, will not live at all on the dry lands of California, nor has investigation of the last twenty-five or thirty years found anything better for these California uplands than the winter growth of plants which are native to them. Such lands should be better treated, first by not being overstocked; second, by taking off cattle at the time the native plant needs to make seed, because, as they are not perennial, they are dependent upon each year’s seed. After the plants have seeded, the land can be pastured for dry feed without losing the seed.

Of course, if one has land capable of irrigation he can grow forage plants, even the grasses which grow in moist climates, like the rye grasses, the brome grasses and the oat grasses, etc., which will do well if given a little moisture, but it will be a loss of money to break up the dryer lands with the idea of establishing perennial grasses upon them without irrigation. California pastures are naturally good. In early days they were wonderful, but they are restricted to growth during the rainy season, or for a little time after that, and are therefore suited for winter and spring pasturage, while the summer feeding of stock, aside from dry feed, should be provided from other lands where water can be used. The improvement of these wild pastures consists in a more intelligent policy for their production and preservation rather than an effort to improve them by the introduction of new plants. Pastures may, however, be often improved by clearing off the brush and harrowing in seed of burr clover, alfilaria, etc., at the beginning of the rainy season.

Alfilaria and Winter Pasturage.

Will alfilaria (Erodium cicutarium) grow well on the hills of Sonoma county partially covered with shrubs? I want something that will be food for stock another year. I have heard of alfilaria and that it grows well without being irrigated.

Alfilaria is a good winter-growing forage plant in places where it accepts the situation. It is an annual and therefore does not make permanent pasturage except where it may re-seed itself. On the coming of the dry season it will speedily form seed and disappear. It is therefore of no summer use under the conditions which you describe, nor is it possible to secure any perennial grass which will be satisfactory on dry hillsides without irrigation. Improved winter pasturage can be secured by scattering seed of common rye at the beginning of the rainy season, or of burr clover, both of which are winter-growing plants. Pasturage is also capable of improvement by being careful not to overstock the land, so that the native annuals may be able to produce seed and provide for their own succession. The secret of successful pasturage on dry uplands is to improve the winter growth. It is too much to expect much of them for summer growth without irrigation.

Grasses for Bank-Holding.

We desire a grass to be used on levees, to keep from washing. Bermuda or Johnson gross are dangerous to farming lands. What we desire is a grass that will grow in good dirt with no water to support it during most of the year, except the annual rainfall of Fresno county. Of course, this grass will also have to endure a great deal of water during the flooded season of the year. We have heard that the Italian rye grass would be suitable.

The rye grasses do not have running roots; therefore are not calculated to bind soil particles together as Bermuda grass does. If you want a binding grass, you must take the chances of its spreading to adjacent lands. Of course, if you could get a sod of rye grass it would prevent surface washing from overflow, etc., to a certain extent. We are not sure how far it would prevent bank cutting by the flowing water, for it makes a bunchy and not a sod-like growth. It would not live through the summer unless the levee soil keeps somewhat moist. The only way to determine whether you can get a permanent growth of it, will be by making a trial. Seed should be sown as soon as the ground becomes moistened by rain. It is a very safe proposition, because if it is willing to live through the summer, it is one of the best pasturage grasses for places in California where it will consent to grow, and it is not liable to become an annoyance by taking possession of adjacent land, because it would be readily killed by cultivation.

Alfalfa and Alkali.

I sowed several acres of alfalfa seed with a disc this season and none of it has come up. I think the reason for it not coming up is that the disc put it into the ground too deep. We sowed some by hand and it came up very well. Is there any probability that later in the season this seed will germinate, or has it rotted in the ground? Water stands within three feet of the surface and has considerable alkali. What can I plant on this land and get a crop? It is our intention to sow it to alfalfa next fall. The land adjoining, although higher, has a good stand of alfalfa now.

You are right about covering the alfalfa seed too deeply. It is not likely to appear. Your chance of getting a durable stand of alfalfa on such shallow soil over alkali water is not good, but you can hardly determine that without trying. Sometimes conditions are better than you think; sometimes worse. The plant itself is the best judge. On your lower land you could probably get a better stand of rye grass than anything else – sowing at the beginning of the rainy season. Of course, however, even that will depend upon how much alkali you have to deal with.

Alfalfa on Adobe.

Is adobe land good for alfalfa? Is it harder to start than in other soils or not? How much seed is required to sow an acre? Also state what time alfalfa should be sowed.

Alfalfa will thrive on an adobe soil if the moisture is kept right – especially guarding against too much water at a time. It is necessary to irrigate more frequently and apply only as much as can be absorbed by the soil before the hot sun comes on the field, for that scalds the plant badly. It is harder to get a good stand because of the cracking and hardening of the surface. Sow about 20 pounds to the acre just as soon as the soil comes into good condition – that is, moist and warm. February and March are usually the best months, according to the season in the interior valleys.

Alfalfa and Soil Depth.

Do you consider soil which is from 4 to 6 feet deep to hardpan of sufficient depth for alfalfa? Is there hardpan in the region of Lathrop in San Joaquin county, and can it be dissolved by irrigation, or can any good be accomplished by blowing holes at different places to allow the water to pass to lower levels? Are other crops affected by hardpan being so close to the surface?

You can grow alfalfa successfully on land which is from four to six feet deep if you irrigate rather more frequently and use less amounts of water each time, so that the plant shall be adequately supplied and yet not forced to carry its roots in standing water. The Eastern alfalfa grower is fortunate when he gets half the depth you mention, although it does seem rather shallow in California. Shallow lands are distributed over the valley quite widely. A deepening of the available soil is usually accomplished by dynamiting, especially so if the hardpan is underlaid by permanent strata. Alfalfa will penetrate some kinds and thicknesses of hardpan when it is kept moist, but not too wet, to encourage root growth.

Winter-growing green crops are less affected by shallow soil because they generally make their growth while the moisture is ample, if the season is good.

Curing Alfalfa with Artificial Heat.

It is current rumor that “out in California they are hauling alfalfa green and curing it by artificial heat,” thus reducing loss through bad weather and producing a superior hay for feeding or milling purposes.

It is true that alfalfa is being cut green and dried by artificial heat, but this is only being done in preparation for grinding. No one thinks of doing it for the making of hay for storage or for feeding. This method is undertaken, not because the alfalfa hay does not dry quickly enough in the field, but because after drying in the field so many leaves are lost in hauling to the mill. We have no trouble sun-drying alfalfa for ordinary hay purposes; in fact, we have to be very careful that it does not get too dry.

Cheap Preparation of Land for Alfalfa.

I am about to put a piece of land into alfalfa, and want to use the most economical system of preparing the land for irrigation. My neighbors tell me that it will be necessary for me to have the land leveled; at a cost of $6 to $10 per acre. Now I am informed that in Alberta, and some places in California, they do not go to the expense of leveling land, but use a system of preparing land for irrigation at a cost of about 60 cents per acre.

Nothing except a highly educated gale of wind, with discriminating cutting and filling ability of a very high order, could do it for that price. The cheapest way to prepare land for irrigation is the contour check method, which is largely used, or the flooding in strips between levees at right angles to the supply ditch; but neither of these could be put in properly for that money, even if the land was naturally in such shape that a minimum amount of soil-shifting is necessary.

Where Alfalfa is Grown.

In what counties is alfalfa most successfully grown? By this I mean where three crops of hay may be had each growing season. Also, will corn grow good paying crops in same sections?

Alfalfa is grown all through the valleys and foothills of interior California; also to a certain extent in coast valleys. On suitable lands, three crops can sometimes be secured without irrigation, while twice or three times as many cuttings are secured on irrigated lands where the frost-free season is particularly long. According to the last census, we are growing alfalfa on 19,104 farms with a total acreage of 484,098. The total value of the product is over $13,000,000. Corn is widely grown, but is small as compared with alfalfa. It is grown in alfalfa districts and in coast valleys where there is not much done with alfalfa.

Sowing Alfalfa.

What is the proper time to sow alfalfa? Some advocate fall and others spring sowing. What seasons are given for each sowing?

We shall undoubtedly soon get to sowing alfalfa all the year round except in the short season of sharp frosts and cold wet ground in November, December and January. If you can get a good start in September and October, all right; if not, wait until February and March, according to the season. Where it is never very cold or wet, sow whenever moisture is right. There never can be any rule about it, for localities will differ.

Foxtail and Alfalfa.

Will foxtail choke out and exterminate alfalfa? Some fields look as though the foxtail had crowded the alfalfa out, but I hold that the alfalfa died from some other cause and the foxtail merely took its place.

Foxtail will not choke out alfalfa, providing, soil and moisture conditions are right for the latter, and a good stand of plant has been secured. If anything is wrong with the alfalfa, the foxtail will be on the alert to take advantage of it. You will always have foxtail with you, and considerable quantities of it, perhaps, in the first cutting, because foxtail will grow at a lower temperature than alfalfa, and, therefore, will keep very busy during the rainy season, while the alfalfa is more or less dormant, but as the heat increases, if the soil is good and moisture ample, the alfalfa will put the foxtail out of sight until the following winter invites it to make another aggressive growth. Therefore, we answer that alfalfa does not die from foxtail, but from some condition unfavorable to the alfalfa, which must be sought in the soil, or in the moisture supply, or traced back to bad seed, and a poor stand at the beginning.

Which Alfalfa is Best?

I have in Stanislaus county ten acres of Arabian alfalfa, which was sown the first week in April this year. It was clipped in July and irrigated. It is now about 14 inches high, but looks sickly, turns white at the tips, and some dies down. There are several places here with the Arabian alfalfa on them and with the same trouble, while the ordinary variety is looking fine by the side of it.

Arabian alfalfa usually makes a good show at first and begins to run out afterward. It does not seem to be so long-lived and satisfactory as the common variety. With this prospect ahead of you, according to present experience, it would seem to be desirable to plow the crop in and seed again with the common variety, or with the Turkestan, which is proving the most satisfactory of the recently introduced varieties.

Fall Sowing of Alfalfa.

We have summer-fallowed land which we know will grow good alfalfa, and as we have just had four inches of rainfall upon it, we were wondering if we could not plow the twenty acres and get a stand upon it in time to stand the cold weather this winter. Do you think this is practicable?

If four inches of rain on summer fallow connects well with the lower moisture which a good summer fallow ought to conserve in the soil, such sowing is rational; but if the summer fallowing was not done well, that is, if it was rough plowing without enough harrowing, as is too often the case, the four inches of rain might not be safe because of the dry ground beneath waiting to seize the moisture and so dry the surface that sprouting alfalfa plants would perish between dry soil below and dry wind above. Fall sowing will give enough growth to resist frost killing in many places in the valley if the moisture in the soil is enough to carry the plant as well as start it, or if showers come frequently – otherwise it is dangerous, not from frost but from drouth.

Alfalfa Hay and Soil Fertility.

We are feeding all our hay to dairy cows, returning the manure to the soil. At present prices of hay, my neighbors who sell theirs, seem to be as well off, with considerable less work; but how about the future? Can this soil be cropped indefinitely and the crops sold, without returning anything to the land?

It is a mistake to think that you can sell alfalfa hay indefinitely without reducing the soil. It may gain in nitrogen by the wastes of the plant, but it will lose in other constituents unless reinforced by fertilization. No single act can make for the maintenance of the soil as the growing and feeding of crops and return of manure does.

Dry-Land Alfalfa.

I am in a country of strictly dry farming. I have a wash or gulch on my place and would like to know if I could, with success, plant it to alfalfa without irrigation; soil is sandy loam, no evidences of springy moisture at all. What kind should I try?

Alfalfa will endure much drouth. What it will do in a particular place can only be told by trying. Sow Turkestan alfalfa. If the rains come early so as to wet the land down in September and October, sow the seed then. The endurance of the plant will depend much upon its having a chance to root deeply before the drouth comes on.

Inoculating Alfalfa.

Is it profitable to inoculate alfalfa seed before planting to increase its yield? Can it be done by leaching soil from old alfalfa ground, providing it has been plowed up and allowed to stand for a year? Are commercial inoculants a safe thing to inoculate with?

Apparently alfalfa does not need inoculation in this State. Probably not one acre in ten thousand now profitably growing alfalfa has ever had artificial introduction of germs. You can make germ-tea, if you wish, of the soil you describe; one year’s exposure would not destroy the germs. It is safe enough to use commercial cultures. You will have to decide for yourself whether it is worth while.

Irrigating Alfalfa.

I am making parallel ridges for alfalfa, sending a full head of water down to the end of the field between each ridge. Should I calculate the lands to be mowed one at a time in even swaths? The mower being 5-foot cut, would you count on cutting a 4 1/2 or 5-foot swath? This soil is sandy, water percolating rapidly. The fall is 8 feet to the mile. How wide, then, would you advise making the ridges to suit the mower, and to flood economically, using from 2 to 4 cubic feet per second? The length of the lands is across 40 acres.

Growing alfalfa in long parallel checks, to be flooded between the levees, is the way in which much alfalfa is being put in at the present time where the land has such a slope as you indicate. It is calculated, however, to seed the levees as well as the check bottoms, and to run the mowers across the levees, thus leaving no waste land and mowing across the whole field and not between the levees as you propose. For that purpose these levees are made low, not over a foot in height, calculating that they will settle to about six or eight inches, which is sufficient to hold the water and direct its flow gently down the slope. There is, however, a limit to the distance over which water can be evenly distributed in this way, the difference being dependent upon the character of the soil, slope, etc. A length of nine hundred feet is sometimes found too great for an even distribution, and, for this reason, supply ditches at shorter intervals are introduced.

Unirrigated Alfalfa.

In what part of the State does alfalfa grow best without irrigation?

Obviously the parts which have the greatest rainfall in connection with retentive soil and plenty of summer heat. Alfalfa grows best without irrigation on “sub-irrigated” land where the ground water is sufficiently deep to allow a deep rooting of the plant in free soil and yet not too far down to be readily reached by the deep-running roots. Good results can be obtained with anywhere from four to ten or twelve feet of soil above water. On shallower soils the plant is apt to be short-lived through root troubles. Unirrigated alfalfa is also reduced by the incursions of gophers which flooding at least once a year will destroy.

Alfalfa and Overflow.

How long can alfalfa stand water without being drowned out? I have a piece of alfalfa on which the water will stand for considerable time in the winter time.

Alfalfa while dormant will endure submergence for several weeks. We do not know exactly how long, but evidently for a considerable period, providing temperatures are too low to invite growth. On the other hand, growing alfalfa is quickly and seriously injured by overflow.

No Nurse-Crop for Alfalfa.

Is it advisable to use oats with alfalfa seeds in seeding for alfalfa? Some growers of alfalfa here advise it strongly, others advise against it.

The general experience in California is decidedly against using oats, barley, or any other nursecrop with alfalfa. Get the land in the best possible condition and let the alfalfa have the full benefit of it. The ripening of the grain crop will do the young alfalfa plants more harm by robbing them of moisture than any protection which the taller plant can afford.

Reseeding Alfalfa.

This spring I planted alfalfa and only got about half a stand on some of the land. I want to reseed this fall and I thought of putting more seed on the ground and then disc it in. Or would you advise replanting the land? What do you think of putting manure on young alfalfa? Do you think there is any danger of burning it out?

Stir it up with a spring tooth harrow or disc it lightly to make a nice seed bed and then sow your seed as if you were planting alfalfa for the first time. This will give you a good seed bed and will not hurt the alfalfa already growing. Prepare the surface first and then sow, rather than disking in the seed. The manure in moderate application would not burn out the young alfalfa if properly applied after the rains begin.

Taking the Bloat Out of Alfalfa.

Will Italian rye grass and red top clover be a success under irrigation as cow pasture in this county, either separately or mixed with alfalfa? To sow in bare spots in the alfalfa, would the rye grass prevent bloat?

Italian rye grass and red clover will make good pasturage under irrigation and will make a fight with the alfalfa to the best of their ability. The admixture of rye grass will reduce the danger from bloating. Red clover will not have that effect, because red clover is a pretty good bloater on its own account. This seems to be the function of all the clovers according to the rankness of their growth at the time that they are grazed.

The Time to Cut Alfalfa.

What is the best period to cut alfalfa hay for cow feed and the best method for curing?

The best time to cut alfalfa is just when new shoots are starting out at the crown. This will give the greatest yield of hay during a season, and the hay will be much more palatable than if the alfalfa is permitted to get well into the blossoming period. The leaves, which are the best part of the hay, also remain on better than if the stems are older. If a person does not care to take the trouble to find out whether the new shoots are coming out or not, he can approximate the time to cut fairly well by waiting until a blossom here and there appears, cutting immediately. It would be difficult to tell on paper exactly when alfalfa was properly cured, as that is a matter of individual judgment. It is usual to cut in the morning and rake into windrows in the afternoon. With the usual weather in interior California that stage of the curing is completed by that time. The next day it can be gathered into cocks and gotten ready to move. That is about all the curing that is done. The size of the windrows depends upon the amount of hay, as thick hay should be put up in small windrows to give plenty of circulation of air. It is considered better also to build the cocks on raked land, otherwise the hay lying flat at the bottom will not cure properly and cannot be gathered up clean.

Which Crop of Alfalfa for Seed?

Which cutting of alfalfa should be left for seed bearing?

Which cutting is best for seed depends, of course, on the way the plant grows in your locality. Where it starts early and gives many cuttings in a season with irrigation a later growth should be chosen for seed than with a short season where fewer cuttings can be had. The second cutting is best in many places, but O. E. Lambert of Modesto after threshing about 30 lots in one year tells us that some growers had left second, some third and some fourth cuttings for seed. He found the second cutting very poor both in yield and grade, much of it not being well filled and the seed blighted, as the growth of hay was too heavy. The seed on third cutting was good both in grade and yield. Much of the seed on fourth cutting was not matured. For good results the stand should be thin. Our drier, heavier lands give the best results, sub-irrigated lands not seeding. All irrigation should stop with the previous cutting for hay.

Siloing First Crop Alfalfa.

How about putting first cutting of alfalfa and foxtail into the silo? Do you think there is any danger of fire in a wooden silo, and do you add salt and water when filling, and how long after it is cut would you advise putting it into the silo?

Put it through the silo cutter as soon as you can get it from the field. Do not let it cure at all, and be sure to cut and pack well. If at all dry, use water at the time of filling, and some salt then also, if you desire. There is no danger of firing if you put it in with good moisture, and by short cutting and hard packing you exclude the air. If you do not do this you will get a silo full of manure, and possibly have a fire while it is rotting.

Soil for Alfalfa.

What kind of soil is best for alfalfa on a dairy ranch?

An ideal soil for alfalfa is a deep well drained soil into which the roots can run deeply without danger of encountering standing water or alkali. Still we are finding that alfalfa is very successful on soils which are not strictly ideal, providing the moisture is supplied in such a way that the soil shall not be waterlogged nor the water be allowed to remain upon the surface during the hot weather, because this kills the plant.

Handling Young Alfalfa.

I have alfalfa that is doing very well for the first year. My soil is sandy loam with light traces of white alkali, although it does not seem to be detrimental to the growth thus far. I am in the dairy business and will have by winter enough manure to top-dress the field. Would it be good policy to use the manure, or would it be more satisfactory to top-dress with gypsum? Would it injure alfalfa to pasture lightly after the last cutting?

Presumably your soil contains enough lime, and therefore the application