Which sorghum is best is apparently a local question and governed by

local conditions to a certain extent. Egyptian corn (with the goose-neck

stem) has held more popularity in your part of the Sacramento than

elsewhere, while Kaffir corn (holding its head upright, as do many other

sorghums) has been for years very popular in the San Joaquin. In the

Imperial valley Dwarf Milo is chiefly grown for a seed crop shattering

and bird invasion are very important. G. W. Dairs of the San Joaquin

valley, says there is a very great difference in the different varieties

regarding waste from the blackbird. The ordinary white Egyptian corn is

very easily shelled, and the birds waste many times more of the grain

than they eat, after it has become thoroughly ripe. The Milo maize, or

red Egyptian corn, does not shell nearly so easily as the white corn,

and the grain is considerably harder and less attractive to the

blackbirds. In fact, blackbirds will not work in a field of this variety

of corn if there is any white corn in the vicinity to be had. The dwarf

Milo maize yields much more crop than the white Egyptian corn, or any

other variety. Blackbirds do not damage the white Kaffir corn to the

extent they do the ordinary white Egyptian corn.

Sorghum Planting.

What is the best time to sow Egyptian corn; also how much per acre to

sow?

All the sorghums, of which Egyptian corn is one, must be sown after

frost danger is over - the time widely known as suitable for Indian

corn, squashes and other tender plants. Sow thinly in shallow furrows or

"marks," 3 1/2 or 4 feet apart and cultivate as long as you can easily

get through the rows with a horse. About 8 pounds of seed is used per

acre. If grown for green fodder, sow more thickly and make the rows

closer, say 2 1/2 feet apart.

Buckwheat Growing.

Two or three farmers in this locality desire to plant buckwheat. Not

having done so heretofore they are in doubt as to the soil and other

conditions that go to make a successful crop.

The growing of buckwheat in California is an exceedingly small affair.

The local market is very limited, as most California hot cakes are made

of wheat flour. There is no chance for outward shipment, and the crop

itself, being capable of growing only during the frostless season, has

to be planted on moist lands where there is not only abundant summer

moisture but an air somewhat humid. Irrigated uplands, even in the

frostless season, are hardly suitable for the common buckwheat, although

they may give the growth of Japanese buckwheat for beekeepers who use

dark honey for bee feeding. The Japanese buckwheat is well suited for

this because it keeps blooming and produces a scattered crop of seed,

but this characteristic makes it less suitable for a grain crop, and it

has therefore never become very popular in this State. We consider

buckwheat as not worthy of much consideration by California farmers.

Variation in Russian Sunflowers.

In an acre of mammoth Russian sunflowers there seems to be three

varieties, some of the plants bear but one large flower; others bear a

flower at the top with many other smaller ones circling it, while others

have long stalks just above the leaf stems from the ground level all the

way up to the largest flower, which appears at the very top. Are all

these varieties true mammoth Russian sunflowers? What explanation is

there for these variations? Will the seed from the variety carrying but

one natural head produce seed that will reproduce true to the parent?

Your sunflowers are probably only playing the pranks their grandfathers

enjoyed. If seed is gathered indiscriminately from all the heads which

appear in the crop, succeeding generations will keep reverting until

they return to the wild type, or something near it. If there is a clear

idea of what is the best type (one great head or several heads, placed

in a certain way) and seed is continually taken from such plants only

for planting, more and more plants will be of this kind until the type

becomes fixed and reversions will only rarely appear. No seed should be

kept for planting without selecting it from what you consider the best

type of plant; no field should be grown for commercial seed without

rogue-ing out the plants which show reversions or bad variations. If you

find sunflowers profitable as a crop in your locality, rigid selection

of seed should be practiced by all growers, after careful comparison of

views and a decision as to the best characters to select for.

Sacaline.

My attention has been brought to a plant called Sacaline by an Eastern

plant dealer. He states that this plant will grow in any kind of soil

and needs practically no water.

The plant Sacaline (Polygonum saghalience) was introduced to California

as a dry-land forage plant about 1893, and has never demonstrated any

particular forage value. It is a browsing shrub, making woody stem, and

cattle will eat it readily when not provided with better food. It has

possible value on waste land, but probably is in no sense superior to

the native shrubs of California which serve that purpose. It is a

handsome ornamental plant for gardens or parks.

Mossy Lawns.

What will destroy patches of moss which are spreading over our lawns and

apparently destroying the grass?

More sunlight would have a tendency to discourage the growth of moss on

a lawn. If this is not feasible, irrigation less frequently but a more

thorough soaking each time will give the surface a better chance to dry

off, and moss will not grow on a dry surface. The frequent spraying of a

lawn with just enough water to keep the surface moist and not enough

water to penetrate deeply will tend to the growing of moss and to less

vigor in the growth of the grass, A good soaking of the soil once a week

is better than daily sprinkling, but, of course, very much more water

must be used when you only sprinkle at long intervals. The drying of the

surface may be assisted by sprinkling with air-slaked lime and this will

discourage the growth of moss, but of course lime must not be used in

excess or it will also injure the grass.

Scattering Grass Seeds.

We live on the west side of Sonoma valley, and want to seed some of our

fields with a good wild grass. We want to carry bags of it in our

pockets to scatter when we ride. Timothy we should like, but this is not

its habitat, is it? Can you suggest a grass or grasses that would do

well here?

There are really wild grasses worthy of multiplication, but no one makes

a business of collecting the seed for sale, so that such seeds are not

available for such purpose as you describe. Of the introduced grasses,

those which are most likely to catch from early scattered seed are

Australian and Italian rye grasses, orchard grass, wild oat grass and

red top. You can get seed of all these from dealers in any quantity

which you desire at from 15 to 30 cents a pound, according to the

variety, and make a mixture of equal parts of each grass, which you can

carry and scatter as you propose. Some of them will catch somewhere,

particularly in spots where the shade modifies the summer heat and where

seepage moisture reduces soil drought. You are right about timothy; it

is good farther up the coast and in the mountain valleys, but not in

your district.

Poultry Forage.

I have light sandy loam on which I desire to grow forage for chickens.

It lies too high for irrigation.

You could probably grow alfalfa to advantage if the soil still deep and

loose, getting less, of course, than by irrigation, but still an amount

that would be very helpful in your chicken business. Otherwise, as the

land lies higher and perhaps out of sharp frosts, you could grow winter

crops of vetches and peas and thus improve the land while furnishing you

additional poultry pasture. The latter purpose could also be served by

growing beets, cabbage or other hardy vegetables during the rainy

season. This is prescribed because of the apprehension that the soil may

not contain moisture enough for summer cropping without irrigation.

No Grain Elevators in California.

Is California wheat shipped in bulk or in bags at the present time?

There are no elevators in this State, owing to the fact that hitherto

grain cargoes have been acceptable to ship only as sacked grain, because

of claimed danger of shifting cargo and disaster during the long voyage

around the Horn. A novel by Frank Norris, entitled the "Octopus,"

describes a man being killed by smothering in a grain elevator at Port

Costa, but there never was an elevator at that point, and consequently

there never was a man killed by getting under the spout thereof.

Answering specifically your question, California grain is shipped in

bags and not in bulk. It is handled in sacks from the separator to

roadside or riverside storage, to the loading point into the ships and

out of the ships on the other side - still in bags.

New Zealand Flax.

Give information about Phormiun tenax (New Zealand flax), which I see is

imported to San Francisco in large quantities yearly for making cordage

and binder twine, and is said also to be the best of bee pasture. Can I

get the plants on the coast, and is California soil and climate adapted

to the culture?

New Zealand flax grows admirably in the coast region of California. You

will find it in nearly all the public parks and in private gardens, for

it is a very ornamental perennial. Plants can be had in any quantity

from the California nurserymen and florists. It produces plenty of

leaves, but we should doubt whether it is floriferous enough for bee

pasturage except where it occurs wild over a large acreage. You could

get vastly more honey from other plants grown for that purpose.

No Home-made Beet Sugar.

Is there any simple process of making sugar from beets so that I could

make my own sugar at home from my own beets while sugar is so very

expensive to buy?

There is no simple way of making beet sugar. It can only be economically

done in factories costing hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Don't Get Crazy About Special Crops.

I want information about flax as a crop. I have been having some land

graded for alfalfa and I have had to wait so long I am now doubting the

advisability of seeding it all under these conditions until fall, as hot

weather will soon come. I want some good crop to plant in the checks and

give two good irrigations. What would you think about rye for straw for

horse collars? I do not wish to consider corn, as the stalks would be

troublesome. Potatoes would necessitate disarranging the land too much

and would require more attention than I am in shape to give just flow.

Everybody grows wheat, barley and oats. I want something that I can get

a special market for.

To succeed with flax, the seed ought to be sown in the fall, or early

winter, in California, and the plant will make satisfactory growth under

about the same conditions that suit barley or wheat. Spring sowing would

not give you anything worth while except on moist bottom land. Rye is

also a winter-growing grain. To grow rye straw for horse collars would

be unprofitable unless you could find some local saddler who could use a

little, and it is probable you could not get a summer growth of rye

which would give good straw, even if you had a market for it. You could

get a growth of stock beets, field squashes, or pumpkins for stock

feeding. In fact, the latter would give you most satisfaction if you

have stock to which they can be fed to advantage. Sorghum is our chief

dry-season crop, but that makes stalks like corn and would, therefore,

be open to the same objections. Has it never occurred to you that people

grow the common crops, not because they are stupid, but because those

are the things for which there is a constant demand and the best chance

for profitable sale? Efforts to supply special markets are worth

thinking of, but seldom worth making unless you know just who is going

to buy the product and at what price.

California Insect Powder.

What part of the plant is used in making insect powder and how is it

prepared? Is the plant a perennial? What soil suits it best?

The plant is Pyrethrum cinerariaefolium and has a white blossom

resembling the common marguerite. The powder is made of the petals and

the seed capsules or heads are thoroughly dried in the sun and ground

with a run of stone such as was formerly used for making flour. The

powder must be finely ground, and only good powder can be made in a mill

suitably equipped for that purpose. The plant is a perennial, beginning

to bloom the second year from seed. It will grow in any good soil with

ordinary cultivation. Twenty-five years ago it was thought that a great

California industry might be established on that basis, but there is at

the present time but one establishment, which grows about all the

material it can use on its own ranch in Merced county, on a fine, deep

loam which the plant seems to enjoy.

Rotations for California.

I wish to work out a practical system of crop rotation suitable to the

climate and conditions obtaining in southern California. Would you

recommend different systems for grain lands and irrigated lands?

General schemes of rotation are hard to work out in California. They

must be locally revised according to the local temperature conditions

and the local market also. We should endeavor to find out what has been

successfully grown on similar lands to those which you have in mind and

arrange the rotation on that basis, from what we knew of the relation of

the different plants to soil fertility, etc. You cannot make out a

satisfactory local scheme for the seven counties in southern California,

because of the widely different behavior of the separate plants in the

different parts of the district. You can hardly work on the basis of

soil character: moisture supply and temperatures are more determinative.

Surely you should make a scheme for irrigated land different from that

for dry land, and it could not only be a longer rotation, but many more

plants would be available for its service.

Berseem?

Berseem has been introduced into this country from Egypt, and would like

to know if it has been used in California, and if it has came up to

expectations.

Berseem is an annual clover supposed to grow only during the summer

time. It has been tried widely in California, but practically abandoned

because it will not grow during the rainy season. It is in no way

comparable to alfalfa, which is a deep rooted perennial plant, nor would

it be comparable with burr clover as a winter grower on lands which have

a moderate amount of water.

Heating and Fermentation.

Please explain why dampness will cause anything like hay, Egyptian corn

or other like products to heat.

Heating is due to fermentation, which means the action upon the

vegetable substance of germs which begin to grow and multiply after

their kind whenever conditions favor them. The earlier stages of this

action is called "sweating," and it is beneficial as in the case of hay,

tobacco, dried fruits, etc., as is commonly recognized - resulting in

what is known as curing - and it is the art of the handler of such

products not to allow the action to go beyond what may be called the

normal "sweating." If not checked by proper handling, which involves

drying, cooling, etc., fermentation will continue, and other germs will

find conditions suitable for them to take up their work of destruction,

and this new action produces higher temperature still, and if not

checked by cooling or drying or otherwise making the substance

inhospitable to them, "heating" will result, and thence onward rapidly

to decay, if they have everything their own way.

Moonshine Farming.

What influence, if any, has the moon on plant growth? Are there any

reliable data of experiments available?

Very prolonged investigation by the Weather Bureau determined that no

difference was found in planting in different phases of the moon. If we

paid any attention to it, we should plant in the dark of the moon, so as

to get the plants up so that they could use the little more light which

the moon gives. It is, however, more important to have the soil right

than the moon.

Part IV. Soils, Fertilizers and Irrigation

What is Intensive Cultivation?

From whom can I receive instruction or information regarding intensive

cultivation?

Intensive cultivation has, so far as we know, not been made the subject

of any treatise or publication. Intensive cultivation means the use of a

maximum amount of labor, fertilizers and water for products of high

market value. There is no better example of intensive cultivation in the

world than is afforded by the practice of the best market gardeners and

producers of small fruit. Next to them, on larger areas, would be the

policies and methods of the fruit growers of California. Intensive

culture, then, is not a particular method or system, but consists in

doing the best thing for maximum production of any product which is

valuable enough to spend the large outlay which is required. Just how

this cultivation should be done depends upon the nature of the product

and the conditions of soil and climate in whatever locality intensive

cultivation may be undertaken.

Can a Man Farm?

Is it possible for a man with a few acres well cared for and carefully

tilled to make a living and pay out on a purchase of land at $123 per

acre? Could a good carpenter make wages and take care of a small tract

for a year or so until well under way?

We consider $125 per acre for good land with a good water right a fair

price. Financing a farming operation depends more upon the man than upon

the good land. There are men who would, by intensive cultivation of

salable stuff and right use of water, pay off the full value of the land

from its produce in a couple of years. Others will never pay off. Of

course, the nearer you can come to paying for the land at the beginning,

and the more money you have for improvements, the more satisfactory your

situation should be in every respect. There is a good chance for

carpenter work in colony development, and considerable self-help could

be secured in that way. You do not say whether you know anything about

farming. Farming is a very complicated business and a basic knowledge

derived from experience is a proper foundation to build upon in the

light of the fuller application of scientific principles.

Soil Depth for Citrus Trees.

I have a top soil of rich loam containing small rocks and pebbles.

Underneath it is washed gravel, rocks, boulders, yellow sand, etc. What

is the limit as to thinness before trees will not grow, or thrive?

Orange trees are growing quite successfully on shallow soil overlying

clay where the use of water and fertilizers was carefully adjusted so as

to keep the trees supplied with just the right amount. Under such

conditions a good growth may be expected so long as this treatment is

maintained. There should be, however, not less than three feet of good

soil to make the large expenditure necessary to establish an orange

orchard permanently productive, and all the depth you can get beyond

three feet is desirable. We question the desirability of planting orange

trees even on a good soil overlying gravel, rocks or sand. Roots will

penetrate such material only a short distance usually. It is almost

impossible with such a leachy foundation to keep the surface soil

properly moistened and enriched; You are apt to lose both water and

fertilizer into the too rapid drainage.

Soils and Oranges.

I find this entire district underlaid with hardpan at various depths,

from 1 to 6 feet down, and of various thicknesses. This hardpan is more

or less porous and seeps up water to some extent, but is too hard for

roots to penetrate. It is represented to me that if this hard pan is

down from 4 to 5 feet it does not interfere with the growth of the

orange tree or its producing. Is 4 or 5 feet of the loam enough?

Four or five feet of good soil over a hardpan, which was somewhat

porous, is likely to be satisfactory for orange planting. There has been

trouble from hardpan too near the surface and from the occurrence of a

hardpan too rich in lime, which has resulted in yellow leaf and other

manifestations of unthrift in the tree. Discussion of this subject is

given on page 434 of the fifth edition of our book on "California

Fruits," where we especially commend a good depth of "strong, free

loam." This does not mean necessarily deep. The orange likes rather a

heavier soil, while a deep sandy loam is preferred by some other fruits.

If you keep the moisture supply regular and right and feed the plant

with fertilizers, as may be required, the soil you mention is of

sufficient depth - if it is otherwise satisfactory.

Oranges Over High Ground Water.

Does California experience show that citrus trees can be grown upon land

successfully where the water-level is 6 feet from the surface; that is,

where water is found at that level at all seasons and does not appear to

rise higher during the rainy season?

We do not know of citrus trees in California with ground-water

permanently at six feet below the surface. If the soil should be a free

loam and the capillarity therefore somewhat reduced, orange trees would

probably be permanently productive. If the soil were very heavy,

capillary rise might be too energetic and saturate the soil for some

distance above the water-level. In a free soil without this danger the

roots could approach the water as they find it desirable and be

permanently supplied. Orange trees are largely dependent upon a shallow

root system, the chief roots generally occupying the first four feet

below the surface. From this fact we conclude that deep rooting is not

necessary to the orange, although unquestionably deep rooting and deep

penetration for water are desirable as allowing the tree to draw upon a

much greater soil mass and therefore be less dependent upon frequent

irrigations and fertilizations.

Depth of Ground-Water.

Is there probable harm from water standing 12 feet from the surface in

an orchard? Also probable age of trees before any effect of said water

would be felt by them? The soil is almost entirely chocolate dry bog. -

W. E. Wahtoke.

Water at twelve feet from the surface is desirable, and water at that

point will be indefinitely desirable for the growing of fruit trees. Of

course, conditions would change rapidly as standing water might approach

more nearly to the surface, a condition which has to be carefully

guarded against in irrigation. But it can come nearer than twelve feet

without danger.

Summer Fallow and Summer Cropping.

I own some hill land which has been run down by continuous hay cropping.

I am told that a portion must be summer-fallowed each year, but I wish

to grow some summer crop on this fallow ground that will both enrich the

soil and at the same time furnish good milk-producing feed for cows -

thoroughly cultivating it between the rows. What crop would be best? I

am told the common Kaffir or Egyptian corn are both soil enriching and

milk producing.

If you grow a summer crop on the summer-fallowed upland, you lose the

chief advantage of summer fallowing, which is the storing of moisture

for the following year's crop. A cultivated crop would waste less

moisture than a broadcast crop, surely, but on uplands without

irrigation it would take out all the moisture available and not act in

the line of a summer fallow.

Kaffir corn is not soil enriching. It has no such character. It probably

depletes the soil just as much as an ordinary corn or hay crop. It is a

good food to continue a milking period into the dry season, but you must

be careful not to allow your cattle to get too much green sorghum, for

it sometimes produces fatal results. We do not know anything which you

can grow during the summer without irrigation which would contribute to

the fertility of your land. If you had water and could grow clover or

some legume during the summer season, the desired effect on the soil

would be secured.

Soils and Crop Changes.

Peas and sweet peas do not grow well continuously in the same ground. I

know this practically in my experience, but in no book have I ever found

why they do not grow.

There are two very good reasons why some classes of plants cannot be

well grown continuously in the same piece of ground. One is the

depletion of available plant food, the other the formation of injurious

compounds by the plants, or the gradual increase of fungoid, bacterial

or animate pests in the soil, which finally become abundant enough to

seriously hinder growth. Different plants take the plant foods, as

nitrogen, lime, potash, phosphates, etc., in different proportion. More

important, perhaps, is the fact that the root acids that extract these

foods are of different types and strength. Thus before many seasons it

may happen that most of the plant food of one or more kinds may be

nearly exhausted as far as that kind of plant is concerned that has

grown there continually, while there would be plenty of easily available

food for plants with a different kind of root system and different root

acids, etc. This is one reason why rotation of crops is so good; it

gives a combination of root acids and root systems to the soil during a

term of years, and it also frees the soil from one certain kind of

organism because it cannot survive the absence of the particular plants

on which it thrives.

Summer-Fallow Before Fruit Planting.

I recently bought a ranch at Sheridan, Placer county, and was intending

to put 10 acres to peaches and 50 acres to wheat or barley, but the

residents tell me that the land must be summer-fallowed before I can do

anything. The soil is a red loam and has not been plowed for six years.

Your local advisers are probably right as to the necessity for

summer-fallowing in order to conserve moisture from a previous year's

rainfall and to get the land otherwise into good condition. There might

be such a generous rainfall that an excellent crop might come without

summer-fallowing, and the results will depend upon the rainfall. If it

should be small in amount, you might not recover your seed. By the same

sign you might not get much growth on your fruit trees, but you could

help them by constant cultivation and by using the water-wagon if the

season should be very dry. Therefore, you are likely to do better with

trees than with grain without summer-fallowing, although even for trees

it is a decided advantage to have more moisture stored in the subsoil

and the surface soil pulverized by more tillage.

Defects in Soil Moisture.

I have apricot trees that appear to be almost dead; all but a very few

small green leaves are gone, and they look bad, still I think they might

be saved if I only knew what to do.

Presumably your apricot tree is suffering from too much standing water

during the dormant season, or from a lack of water during the dry

season. The remedy would be to correct moisture conditions, either by

underdrainage for winter excess or by irrigation for summer deficiency.

When a tree gets into a position such as you describe, it should be cut

back freely and irrigation supplied, if the soil is dry, in the house

that the roots may be able to restore themselves and promote a new

growth in the top.

Dry Plowing for Soil and Weed Growth.

Is there any scientific reason to support the belief that it is

injurious to the soil to dry-plow it for seeding to grain this fall and

winter? Will dry-plowing now cause a worse growth of filth after the

rains than the customary fallowing in the spring? Should the stubble be

burned, or plowed under!

The points against dry-plowing to which you allude may arise from two

claims or beliefs: first, that turning up land to the sun has a tendency

to "burn out the humus"; second, that dry-plowing may leave the land so

rough and cloddy that a small rainfall is currently lost by evaporation

and leaves less moisture available for a crop than if it is plowed in

the usual way after the rains. The first claim is probably largely

fanciful, so far as an upturning in the reduced sunshine of the autumn

goes. Whatever there may be in it would occur in vastly increased degree

in a properly worked summer-fallow, and even that is negligible, because

of the greater advantage which the summer-fallow yields. There may be

cases in which one will get less growth on dry-plowing than on winter

plowing, if the land is rough and the rain scant, and yet dry-plowing

before the rains is a foundation for moisture reception and retention -

if the land is not only plowed, but is also harrowed or otherwise worked

down out of its large cloddy condition. When that is done, dry-plowing

may be a great help toward early sowing and large growth afterward. As

for weeds, dry-plowing may help their starting, but that is an advantage

and not otherwise, because they can be destroyed by cultivation before

sowing. If the land is full of weed seed, the best thing to do is to

start it and kill it. The trouble with dry-plowing probably arises, not

from the plowing, but from lack of work enough between the plowing and

the sowing. Stubble should often be burned: it depends upon the soil and

the rainfall. On a heavy soil with a good rainfall, plowing-in stubble

is an addition to the humus of the soil, because conditions favor its

reduction to that form, and there is moisture enough to accomplish that

and promote also a satisfactory growth of the new crop.

Treatment of Dry-Plowed Land.

We are plowing a piece of light sandy mesa land, dry, which has

considerable tarweed and other weeds growing before plowing. Which would

be best, to leave the land as it is until the rains come and then

harrow, or harrow now? Would the land left without harrowing gather any

elements from the air before rain comes! The above land is for oat hay

and beans next season.

Roll down the 'tar-weed, if it is tall and likely to be troublesome, and

plow in at once so that decay may begin as soon as the land gets

moisture from the rain. It would be well to allow the land to lie in

that shape, and disc in the seed without disturbing the weeds which have

been plowed under. If all this is done early, with plenty of rain coming

there is likely to be water enough to settle the soil, decay the weeds,

and grow the hay crop. Of course, such practice could not be commenced

much later in the season. The land gains practically nothing from the

atmosphere by lying in its present condition. If there is any

appreciable gain, it would be larger after breaking up as proposed. In

dry farming, harrowing or disking should be done immediately after

plowing, not to produce a fine surface as for a seed bed, but to settle

the soil enough to prevent too free movement of dry air. If your

rainfall is ample, the land may be left looser for water-settling.

For a Refractory Soil.

What can I do to soil that dries out and crusts over so hard that it

won't permit vegetable growth? A liberal amount of stable manure has

been applied, and the land deeply plowed, harrowed and cultivated, but

as soon as water gets on it, it forms a deep crust on evaporation. Will

guano help, or is sodium nitrate or potash the thing?

None of the things you mention are of any particular use for the

specific purpose you describe. Keep on working in stable manure or

rotten straw, or any other coarse vegetable matter, when the soil is

moist enough for its decay. Plow under all the weeds you can grow, or

green barley or rye, and later grow a crop of peas or vetches to plow in

green. Keep at this till the pesky stuff gets mellow. If you think the

soil is alkaline, use gypsum freely; if not, dose it with lime to the

limit of your purse and patience, and put in all the tillage you can

whenever the soil breaks well.

More Manure, Water and Cultivation Required.

I have a small place on a hillside, with brown soil about one to two

feet deep to hardpan and I am getting rather discouraged, as so many

things fail to come up and others grow so very slowly after they are up.

A neighbor planted some dahlia roots the same time I did. Only one of

mine came up and it is not in bloom yet, while several of his have been

blooming for some weeks and are ten times as large in mass of foliage as

mine with its lone stalk and one little bud on the top. Peas came up and

kept dying at the bottom with blossoms at the top tilt they were four or

five feet high, but I never could get enough peas for a mess. Can you

help me get this thing right?

Use of stable manure and water freely. Your trouble probably lies either

in the lack of plant food or of moisture in the soil. This, of course,

is supposing that you cultivate well so that the moisture you use shall

not be evaporated and the ground hardened by the process. During the

summer a good surface application of stable manure to which water can be

applied would be better than to work manure into the soil, which should

be done at the beginning of the rainy season. As your soil is so shallow

it will be well for you to stand along the side of the plant much of the

time with a bucket of water in one hand and a shovel of manure in the

other.

Planting Trees in Alkali Soil.

My land contains a considerable quantity of both the black and white

alkalies, the upper two feet being a rather heavy, sticky clay, the next

three feet below being fine sand, containing more or less alkali, while

immediately underneath this sand is a dense black muck in which, summer

and winter, is found the ground-water. Do you think the following method

of setting trees would be advantageous. Excavate for each tree a hole

three feet in diameter and three feet deep. Fill in a layer of three or

four inches of coarse hay, forming a lining for the excavation. Then

fill the hole with sandy loam in which the tree is to be set. The sandy

loam would give the young tree a good start, while the lining of hay

would break up the capillary attraction between the filled-in sand and

the ground-water in the surrounding alkali-charged soil.

The fresh soil which you put in would before long be impregnated through

the surface evaporation of the rising moisture, which your straw lining

would not long exclude. The trees would not be permanently satisfactory

under such conditions as you describe, though they might grow well at

first. It would be interesting, of course, to make a small-scale

experiment to demonstrate what would actually occur and it would,

perhaps, give you a chance to sell out to a tenderfoot.

Planting in Mud.

Why does ground lose its vitality or its growing qualities when it is

plowed or stirred when wet, and does this act in all kinds of soil in

the same way? We are planting a fig and olive orchard at the present

time, but some were planted when the ground was extremely wet. The holes

were dug before the rain and after a heavy rain they started to plant.

After placing the trees in the holes they filled them half full with wet

dirt, in fact so wet that it was actually slush. What would you advise

under the circumstances and what can be done to counteract this? We have

not finished filling in the holes since the planting was done, which was

about a week ago.

The soil loses its vitality after working when too wet, because it is

thrown into bad mechanical (or physical) condition and therefore becomes

difficult of root extension and of movement of moisture and air. How

easily soil may be thrown into bad mechanical condition depends upon its

character. A light sandy loam could be plowed and trees planted as you

describe without serious injury perhaps, while such a treatment of a

clay would bring a plant into the midst of a soil brick which would

cause it to spindle and perhaps to fail outright. The best treatment

would consist in keeping the soil around the roots continually moist,

yet not too wet. The upper part of the holes should be filled loosely

and the ground kept from surface compacting. The maintenance of such a

condition during the coming summer will probably allow the trees to

overcome the mistake made at their planting, unless the soil should be a

tough adobe or other soil which has a disposition to act like cement.

Electro-Agriculture.

Kindly tell me of any one who is working upon the application of

electricity to stimulating agricultural growth-especially here on the

Coast. A friend who has done some work in this line seeks to interest

me. I have seen notices of this work, and have read of Professor

Arrhenius stimulating the mental activity of children, etc., but I

desire more definite information, if possible. Does the idea seem to you

to be feasible?

So far as we know, there has been no local trial of the effect of

electric light in stimulating plant growth. Much has been done with it

in Europe and in this country. There is much about it in European

scientific literature. It is perfectly rational that increased growth

should be attained by continuous light in the same way, though in less

degree than occurs in the extreme north during the period of the

midnight sun. It is known that moonlight, to the extent of its

illumination, increases plant growth, and it has been amply demonstrated

that light is light, just as heat is heat, irrespective of the source

thereof. Of course, the commercial advantage must be sought in the

relative amount of increased growth and the selling value of whatever is

gained in point of time.

High Hardpan and Low Water.

What detriment is hardpan if 14 inches below the surface and in some

places 12 inches? I have been plowing so I could set peach trees, but I

have been told that they will not grow. I would like your opinion about

it. I intended to blast holes for the trees, and the water is 30 feet

from surface. The top soil is red sandy and clay mixed, but it works

very easily.

You cannot expect much from trees on such a shallow soil

over hardpan without breaking it up, because the soil mass available to

the trees is small; also because the shallow surface layer over hardpan

will soon dry out in spite of the best cultivation, because there is no

moisture supply from below. If such a soil should be selected for fruit

trees at all, the breaking through the hardpan by dynamite or otherwise

is desirable, and irrigation will be, probably, indispensable.

Depth of Cultivation.

I would be glad to know whether in cultivating an orchard a light-draft

harrow could profitably be used, which cultivates three and a half

inches deep? I have used another cultivator, and try to have it go at

least seven inches.

A depth of 3 1-2 inches is not satisfactory in orchard cultivation,

although there may be some condition under which greater depth would be

difficult to obtain because of root injury to trees, which have been

encouraged to root near the surface. Both experience and actual

determinations of moisture in this State show that cultivation to a

depth of 5 inches conserves twice as much moisture in the lower soil as

can be saved by a 3-inch depth of cultivation under similar soil

conditions and water supply. It is all the better to go 7 inches if

young trees have been treated that way from the beginning.

Alfalfa Over Hardpan.

I have land graded for alfalfa and some of the checks are low and water

will stand on the low checks in the winter. There is on an average from

two to three feet of soil on top of hardpan and hardpan is about two

feet thick. Will water drain off the low checks if the hardpan is

dynamited, and will this land grow alfalfa with profit?

Yes; much of the hardpan in your district is thin enough and underlaid

by permeable strata so that drainage is readily secured by breaking up

the hardpan. Standing water on dormant alfalfa is not injurious.

Trees Over High-Water.

Which are the best fruit trees to plant on black adobe soil with water

table between 3 and 4 feet from surface? The soil is very rich and

productive. The land is leveled for alfalfa also; will the alfalfa

disturb the growth of trees?

We would not plant such land to fruit at all, except a family orchard.

The fruits most likely to succeed are pears and pecans. On such land

alfalfa should not hurt trees unless it is allowed to actually strangle

them. The alfalfa may help the trees by pumping out some of the surplus

water.

Soil Suitable for Fruits.

I am sending samples of soil in which there are apricots and prunes

growing, and ask you to examine it with reference to its suitability for

other fruits. Will lemons thrive in this soil?

It is not necessary to have analysis of the soil. If you find by

experience that apricot and prune trees are doing well, it is a

demonstration of its suitability for the orange, so far as soil is

concerned. The same would also be a demonstration for soil suitability

for the lemon because the lemon is always grown on orange root. The

thing to be determined is whether the temperature conditions suit the

lemon and whether you have an irrigation supply available, because

citrus fruits, being evergreen, require about fifty per cent more

moisture than deciduous fruits, and they are not grown successfully

anywhere in this State without irrigation, except, possibly, on land

with underflow. The matter to determine then is the surety of suitable

temperatures and water supply.

For Blowing Soils.

I am going to dry-sow rye late this fall. I want some leguminous plant

to seed with the rye for a wind-break crop, not to plow under. The land

varies from heavy loam to blow-sand. I have under consideration sweet

clover, burr clover, vetches. I see occasional stray plants of sweet

clover (the white-blossomed) growing in the alfalfa on both hard and

sandy soil. I read in an Eastern bee journal that sweet clover can be

sowed on hard uncultivated land with success. Could I grow it on the

hard vacant spots that occur in the alfalfa fields?

You can sow these leguminous plants all along during the earlier part of

the rainy season (September to December) except that they will not make

a good start in cold ground which does not seem to bother rye much. But

on sand you are not likely to get cold, waterlogged soil, so you can put

in there whenever you like - the earlier the better, however, if you

have moisture enough in the soil to sustain the growth as well as start

it. We should sow rye and common vetch. Sweet clover will grow anywhere,

from a river sandbar to an uncovered upland hardpan, but it will not do

much if your vacant spots are caused by alkali.

More Than Dynamite Needed.

I have some peculiar land. People here call it cement. It does not take

irrigation water readily, and water will pass over it for a long time

and not wet down more than an inch or so. When really wet it can be

dipped up with a spoon. Hardpan is down about 24 to 36 inches. I have

tried blowing up between the vines with dynamite, and see little

difference. Can you suggest anything to loosen up the soil?

You could not reasonably expect dynamite to transform the character of

the surface soil except as its rebelliousness might in some cases be

wholly due to lack of drainage - in that case blasting the hardpan might

work wonders. But you have another problem, viz: to change the physical

condition of the surface soil to prevent the particles from running

together and cementing. This is to be accomplished by the introduction

of coarse particles, preferably of a fibrous character. To do this the

free use of rotten straw or stable manure, deeply worked into the soil,

and the growth of green crops for plowing under, is a practical

suggestion. Such treatment would render your soil mellow, and, in

connection with blasting of the hardpan to prevent accumulation of

surplus water over it, would accomplish the transformation which you

desire. The cost and profit of such a course you can figure out for

yourself.

Is Dynamite Needed?

I have an old prune orchard on river bottom lands; soil about 15 or 16

feet deep. Quite a number of trees have died, I presume from old age. I

desire to remove them and to replace them with prune trees. I have been

advised to use dynamite in preparing the soil for the planting of the

new trees.

Whether you need dynamite or not depends upon the condition of the

sub-soil. If you are on river flats with an alluvial soil, rather loose

to a considerable depth, dynamiting is not necessary. If, by digging,

you encounter hardpan, or clay, dynamiting may be very profitable. This

matter must be looked into, because the failure of trees on river lands

is more often due to their planting over gravel streaks, which too

rapidly draw off water and cause the tree to fail for lack of moisture.

In such cases dynamite would only aggravate the trouble. Dynamiting

should be done in the fall and not in the spring. The land should have a

chance to settle and readjust itself by the action of the winter rains;

otherwise, your trees may dry out too much next summer.

Improving Heavy Soils.

What is adobe? What kind of plants will grow best in adobe? In this

Redwood City I find clay-like soil which looks very dark and heavy. What

kind of plants will grow best in this soil?

The term adobe does not mean any particular kind of soil. It is applied

locally to clay and clay-loam soils indiscriminately. It generally

signifies the heaviest, stickiest, crackingest soil in the vicinity.

Most plants will grow well on heavy soils if they are kept from getting

too dry and too full of water. This is done by using plenty of stable

manure and other coarse stuff to make the soil more friable, which

favors aeration, drainage, root extension and plant thrift. Friability

is also promoted by the use of lime and by good tillage. The particular

soil to which you refer is a black clay loam which can be improved in

all the ways stated. It is a good soil for most flowers and vegetables

if handled as suggested. You can get hints of what does best by studying

your neighbors' earlier plantings.

For a Reclaimed Swamp.

I have land, formerly a pond which dried up in the summer months. It has

been thoroughly drained now for several years. The land surrounding it

is good fertile soil and produces good crops. On this piece, however,

crops come up and look fairly well until about two inches high when they

turn yellow and die. Mesquite grass and strawberries seem to be the only

crops that will live, and they do not do at all well. Sorrel grows

abundantly in the natural state.

Apparently the reclaimed land which you speak of needs liming to

overcome the acidity in the soil. Common builders' lime applied at the

rate of 1000 pounds to the acre at the beginning of the rainy season

ought to make the land much more productive and the soil, at the same

time, more friable. Deep plowing with aeration will also help the land,

and this treatment can begin at once if the soil is workable. Other

additions of lime can be made later as they may be required to make the

improvement permanent.

Improving Uncovered Subsoil.

What is the best treatment for spots that have been scraped in leveling

for irrigation?

The land can be improved by plowing deeply and turning in stable manure

or green alfalfa or any other vegetable matter which may decay,

rendering the soil rich in humus and more friable. Of course, it will

take some time to accomplish this improvement, and it is necessary that

there be moisture enough present to cause the material to decay in order

that the improvement may be secured.

Sand for Clay Soils.

Will beach sand do adobe or clay soil any good? It gets hard at times

and I thought that if I was to put beach sand in the ground the salt in

the sand would do the ground harm.

It is certainly desirable to mix sand with heavy soil for the purpose of

making it lighter - that is, better drained and more friable and

therefore improving it for the growth of plants. Sometimes beach sand

contains a good deal of salt, which, however, is readily removed by

fresh water, and sand hauled and exposed to the rains rapidly loses any

excess of salt it may contain. Probably with such an amount of sand as

you are likely to use to mix with your adobe, there is no danger at all

from salt. Even if such sand should contain considerable salt, if

applied at the beginning of the rainy season it would be so quickly

distributed as to not constitute a menace to the growth of plants. The

worst adobe can be transformed into a most beautiful garden soil by the

application of sand and stable manure.

Plowing from or Towards.

Which is the proper way to plow an orchard? First to plow to the trees

and then to plow from them, or to plow from the trees and then to them,

and your reasons? I have had many arguments with my neighbor farmers.

There is difference of opinion everywhere as to whether the first

plowing should be toward or away from the trees. In places where the

soil is pretty heavy and the rainfall is apt to be quite large, plowing

toward the trees and opening a dead furrow near the center seems to

promote rapid distribution of surplus water. If the rainfall is less and

arrangements for deep penetration are more necessary, the plowing can

well be away from the trees, so as to direct the water toward the row.

It is, of course, exceedingly important in this case, that the land

should be worked back before it has a chance to dry out by exposure and

this is one of the chief objections to the practice, because one is apt

to let the land lie away from the trees, hoping for a late rain which

may not come. Whatever theoretical advantages there may be in either of

these methods, they can only be secured by the greatest care to avoid

the dangers which attend them. This uncertainty is the reason why people

so generally disagree as to which is the best practice, and they are

right in disagreeing.

Dry Plowing and Sowing.

I dry-plowed my grain field to a depth averaging seven inches; it turned

up very rough. I then disked and harrowed it, but it is still very

rough. I intended to drill the seed, wait for sufficient rain, and

harrow to a satisfactory condition, but have been advised to put no

implement on after the drill, as a harrow would spoil the work done by

the drill, and a slab or roller would cause the ground to bake. If I

wait for rain to work the soil before drilling, it will bring the

seeding too late.

You have probably done a pretty good job of dry work. If the land is

still too rough for the drill, we should broadcast and harrow again. It

is not desirable to harrow after the drill, and to roll or rub is likely

to smooth too much, because the land would bake or crust after the heavy

rains. This would cause loss of moisture and it is therefore better to

leave the surface a little rough. You can roll lightly after the grain

is up, if the surface seems to need closing a little.

Artesian Water.

I have a large tract of adobe soil, a black clay top soil. For about

five months in the year there is not sufficient water on the place. I

have sunk wells in different parts, but with very poor results, the

further we went down the drier and harder the soil got. What little

water we did obtain was unfit for domestic use. Can you give me an idea

as to what might be the result of an artesian well in such soil?

Artesian water has nothing to do with the soils. It is a deeper

proposition than that. Artesian water comes from gravel strata overlaid

with impervious layers of rock or clay in such a way that water in the

gravel is under pressure because the gravel leads up and away to some

point where water is poured into it by rain falling or snow melting on

mountain or high plateau. As the water cannot get out of this gravel

until you punch a hole in its lid, its effort will be to shoot up to

something less than the elevation at which it gained entrance to this

gravel - as soon as your puncture gives it a chance. Geologists who know

the locality may be able to tell you that you have little or no chance,

but no one can tell you whether you have a good chance or not until he

has tested the matter by boring. The quality of the artesian water is

determined by its distant source and the bad water you have found is

therefore no indication of the quality of what may be below it. No one

should enter an artesian undertaking, except to tap a stratum of known

depth, without a long purse. Probably one in a thousand of the bores

made into the crust of the earth yields as many gallons of artesian

water as gallons of various liquids used in boring it - and yet some of

them are good wells to pump from because they pierce other strata

carrying water, but not under pressure causing it to rise.

Treatment of Alkali.

I am advised that in some cases alkali may be drained and that in others

it is treated with gypsum.

Gypsum is not a cure for alkali, but simply a means of transforming

black alkali into white, which is less corrosive and therefore less

destructive to plants, but there may be easily too much white alkali

present - so much that the land would be made sterile by it. You cannot

remove alkali by flooding unless two conditions can be assured: first,

that the water itself is free from alkali before application to the

land; second, that you underdrain the land at a depth of from three to

four feet with tile, so that the fresh water on the surface can flow

through the soil into the drains, carrying away from the land the

alkali, which it dissolves in its course. To flood land even with fresh

water without making arrangements for carrying off the alkali water

below, is to increase the alkali on the surface as the water evaporates,

and such treatment does land injury rather than benefit. We cannot give

you any estimate as to the cost of washing out. It depends altogether

upon local conditions: whether you use hand work or machinery for the

ditching, and what your water will cost.

Alkali, Gypsum and Shade Trees.

Kindly advise how to apply gypsum, and how much, to heavy, sticky soil,

the worst sort of adobe and heavily saturated with alkali. We want to

plant shade trees. Eucalyptus and peppers succeed fairly well after once

started. Gypsum seems to help, but I don't know how much to use.

The amount of gypsum required to neutralize black alkali depends upon

how much black alkali there is to be neutralized, and no definite

amount, therefore, can be prescribed beforehand as sufficient without a

determination of the amount of alkali. In some experiments gypsum to the

amount of thirty tons to the acre or more has been used just for the

purpose of seeing how much the land would take, and a fine growth of

grain has been secured after using that much gypsum, but that, of

course, would be out of the question because the outlay would be more

than the land or the crop would be worth.

In the planting of trees at some distance apart, the tree can be

protected from destruction and enabled to make a stand in the soil by

using gypsum on the spot rather than the treatment of the whole surface.

In this way five or ten pounds of gypsum could be used by mixing with

the soil to fill a good-sized hole.

Distribution of Alkali.

I am told by all the ranchers on the east and south sides of the valley

that their wells are excellent. But they all say that on the west side -

they are bringing up alkali. One also said that the water level was

rising throughout all the valley. Is it safe to depend on this in part,

or will the alkali spread over all the valley and the foothills?

It is not unusual to find people who predict the rise of alkali almost

anywhere except on their own premises. No one can exactly tell where

alkali will go, because no one has complete knowledge of the water

movement in underlying strata. Wherever the ground water rises on lower

levels because of irrigation on higher levels there is danger of the

rising of the alkali, for which the only cure is underdrainage with tile

so that this rising water is carried to an outflow and not allowed to

approach within three or four feet of the surface. If you have such an

outflow and desire to undertake the expense of tiling, you can insure

yourself against a serious rise of alkali indefinitely. We do not see,

however, how alkali can rise to the higher lands of the valley. Its

first effect would be to make lakes or ponds in the lowest parts of the

valley, and even then the surrounding mesa lands would not be injured.

Plants Will Tell About Alkali.

Please give information as to the application of gypsum to my soil which

is somewhat alkaline. I do not care to have an analysis made of my soil,

and believe that you can advise me without it.

If your soil is too alkaline for the growth of plants you can

demonstrate that fact by experiment, or if it is capable of being used

by the application of gypsum, that also can be determined by experiment

and noting the behavior of the same plants afterwards. It is rather a

slow process but it is sure enough.

Litmus and Alkali.

Is there any simple soil test for alkali that can be made without a

chemical analysis?

You can ascertain the presence of alkali by using red litmus paper,

which will be turned blue by the alkali in the soil, if the soil is

moist enough. This does not determine the amount of alkali, but the

quickness of the turning to the blue color and the depth of the color

are both attained when the alkali is very strong. When there is less

alkali, the reaction is slower and weaker. This test, however, gives you

only a rough idea whether the soil is suitable for growing plants. You

can tell that better by the appearance of the plants which you find. Any

druggist can furnish the litmus paper, and give you a demonstration of

how it acts on contact with alkali.

Using Gypsum for Alkali.

Is it better, to kill the black alkali in the soil with gypsum, just to

scatter it over an alkalied spot or to plow the soil first and then use

the gypsum? I am going to sow alfalfa.

Use the gypsum after plowing, for it will wet down more quickly, and the

gypsum has to be dissolved to act freely. The best way to cure your spot

is to run an underdrain into it, if possible, so the rain-water can run

through the soil freely and take the alkali with it.

Blasting or Tiling.

In planting trees where hardpan is four feet from the surface is it

necessary to blast the hardpan, or is there no benefit derived by the

blasting?

If there should be a good available soil under a shallow layer of

hardpan, which you say is four feet from the surface, it might be of

considerable advantage to bore into the hardpan and explode a dynamite

cartridge in it. But if your good soil is really only four feet deep and

hardpan continuous below, the blast might cause fissures which would

prevent standing water in the upper stratum. If you are sure of four

feet of good soil above the hardpan you will have no difficulty in

growing good trees, if you get the moisture just right and the hardpan

slopes in such a way that surplus moisture will move away. If, however,

you have hardpan at different depths on the tract, so that it may really

make basins which will hold water, you are likely to have trouble from

accumulations of water which will not only prevent the roots extending

to the full depths of the soil, but will also cause some trees to die.

Such a danger could be removed by draining the soil to a depth of three

and a half or four feet with tile, in order to prevent accumulations at

any point. This would be expensive perhaps, but you would be sure that

you had rendered your four feet of soil safe and available. If you trust

to blasting you will have to wait several years for the trees to tell

you whether you helped them or not.

Effects of Blasting.

I have land which is underlaid with hardpan two or three feet deep and

this in turn is underlaid with sand or sandpan. What I would like

to know is whether blasting the holes before setting trees would allow

more moisture coming from this sandpan, or, rather, what effect it would

have as to moisture.

We do not know. It might make the soil better for the trees by allowing

escape for surplus water through previous layers. It might allow the

tree to root more deeply for moisture in those strata. It might allow

water to rise from such strata if they have water under pressure. It

might do other things good or bad, according to conditions prevailing

under the hardpan. If you are to irrigate the land the effects would

probably be good.

The Sub-soil Plow.

I am contemplating using a sub-soil plow for the purpose of breaking

plow-sole on grain land. This is about 4 1/2 inches below the surface

and is about 5 inches thick. This soil is comparatively loose and seems

to be of good quality. Do you think that the sub-soil plow run low

enough to break this plow-sole will benefit the land?

There can be no question about the benefit of breaking up this tight

stratum, provided you use a long-tooth harrow or a subsoil packer

afterward to reduce the land so that it will not be too open to loss of

moisture by too free circulation of air. The best way to treat such a

soil would be to use a tractor and plow to a full foot of depth, for

this, followed by good harrowing, would disintegrate the hard stuff and

commingle it with the loose surface soil and make it somewhat more

retentive - doing this when the moisture is just right for

disintegration and mixing. If you are not ready to go to this expense, a

subsoiler, following the plow with another team, would put your land in

better shape for dry farming or for irrigation than it is now. Starting

late, however, might give you less crop the first year on such deep

working than by shallow plowing if the year's rainfall should be scant.

It would, however, be a good start for summer-fallowing and a big crop

the next year.

Sour Soil.

What is "sour" soil? Is that the name by which it is commonly known, and

what is the treatment for it?

Sour soil is soil in which an acid is developed by plant decay and

exclusion of air. The proper treatment is the application of lime, and

aeration by open tillage and underdrainage.

Old Plaster for Sour Land.

Can house plaster be used in reclaiming sour ground and how much per

acre? The ground produces some sour grass - not a great deal. The

plaster is from an old building that is being torn down.

House plaster is desirable as an application to land which is sour. It

also adds to the mellowness of land which is hard, because of the sand

contained in it. It has always been considered a good dressing for

garden land. So far as the correction of sourness goes, it is much less

active than fresh lime, but it acts in the same way to a limited extent.

It is certainly worth using, providing it does not cost too much for

delivery, and can be freely used if the land is heavy and needs

friability.

Application of Manure Ashes.

Having recently got a lot of manure plentifully supplied with redwood

shavings that had been used with the bedding, and being afraid to use

the same in that shape, as it takes such a long time for the wood to

rot, I reduced the pile to a heap of ashes. How can it be best applied

to ornamental trees and shrubbery in a light gravelly soil?

You have done unwisely in burning the manure. We would have taken the

risk of a single use of shavings for the sake of the manurial matter

associated with them, and this risk of too much lightening of a gravelly

soil would be especially small in connection with deep rooting plants

like ornamental trees and shrubbery. You have left merely the skeleton

of the manure, and much of that of doubtful solubility, if the

temperature ran very high by burning in a mass. You need not be fearful

about using these ashes. Scatter or spread them over the ground just as

you would have spread the manure, let the rains dissolve and carry down

what they can and go on with your usual methods of cultivation.

The Best Fertilizer for Sand.

How can I best fertilize soil that is pure sand?

The best fertilizer for pure sand is well-rotted stable manure, because

it not only supplies all kinds of plant food, but increases the humus in

the soil, which is exceedingly important in making the sand more

retentive of moisture as well as more productive.

Fertilizers in Tree Holes.

Would it be harmful to add 2 or 3 pounds of steamed bone meal to the

hole of a young tree just before planting?

There would be no injury, providing you mix it with a considerable

amount of soil by digging over the bottom of the hole, but our

conviction is that on lands which are good enough for the commercial

planting of fruit trees, it is not necessary to stimulate a young tree

in this way, but that it is better to postpone the use of fertilizers

until the trees come into bearing and show the desirability of more

liberal feeding. Of course, if young trees do not make satisfactory

growth, they may be stimulated either with some kind of a fertilizer or

with a freer use of water, and it is generally the latter that they are

chiefly in need of.

Wood Ashes and Tomatoes.

Is there any harm to vegetable growing to dig sufficient of wood ashes

in for mellowing heavy soil? My tomato plants grew splendidly this year,

but the fruits were all rough and wrinkled. I gave them plenty of horse

and poultry manure at planting and plenty of wood ashes and falling

leaves of cypress later.

Wood ashes do not mellow a heavy soil. The effect of the potash is to

overcome the granular structure and increase compactness. Coal ashes,

because they are coarser in particles and devoid of potash, do promote

mellowness, and are valuable mechanically on a heavy soil although they

do not contain appreciable amounts of plant food. You are overfeeding

your tomato plants, probably. The chances are that you had poor seed.

There is no best tomato, because you ought to grow early and late kinds:

there is also some difference in the behavior of varieties in different

places.

Was It the Potash or the Water?

Last year the lye from the prune dipper was turned on the ground near

two almond trees which seemed to be dying, and to my surprise they have

taken a new lease of life. Hence my conclusion that potash was good for

our soil.

Your experience seems to justify the application of potash, surely, but

the question still remains, how much good the potash did the trees, and

how much they needed the extra water which the waste dips supplied. It

would be desirable for you to make another experiment with other trees,

applying wood ashes, if you have them, or about four pounds per tree of

the potash which you use for dipping, scattering well and working it

into the soil after it is moistened by the rains, and not using any more

water than the trees ordinarily received from rainfall. After this trial

you will be in a position to know whether your trees need potash or

irrigation - by comparing with other trees adjacent. Besides are you

sure that your lye dip was caustic potash and not caustic soda? The

latter has no fertilizing value.

Prunings as Fertilizer.

Is orchard and vineyard brush worth enough as a fertilizer to pay for

cutting or breaking and putting back on the land?

We should say not. It takes too much labor to put it in any form to

promote decay, and is even then too indestructible. It is also possible

that its decay may induce root rot of trees. We should burn the stuff

and spread the ashes. Vineyard prunings are more promising because more

easily and quickly reduced by decay. Vinecane-hashers have been proposed

from time to time, but we do not know anyone who long used them.

Gypsum on Grain Land.

Is there any profit in sowing gypsum on grain land, say on wheat or oat

crop? At what stage should it be applied and in what quantity?

It would have a tendency to make the surface more friable and therefore

better for moisture retention, and it could be used at the rate of 1000

pounds to the acre, broadcasted before plowing for grain. As our soils

are, however, usually well supplied with lime, there is a question

whether there would be any profit in the use of gypsum, for, aside from

lime, it contains no plant food, although it does act rather

energetically upon other coil contents. Gypsum is a tonic and not a

fertilizer from that point of view. The best way to satisfy yourself of

its effect would be to try a small area, marked so as you could note its

behavior as compared with the rest of the field.

Gypsum and Alfalfa.

What is gypsum composed of? Is it detrimental to land in future years?

Have the lands of California any black alkali in them? I notice my

neighbors who sow gypsum on their alfalfa get a very much better yield

of hay than those who do not.

Gypsum is sulphate of lime. It is not detrimental to the land in after

years except that its action is to render immediately available other

plant foods and this may render the land poorer - not by the addition of

anything that is injurious but by the quicker using up of plant food

which it already contains. Black alkali is very common in California in

alkali lands. In lands which show their quality by good cropping, there

is no reason to apprehend black alkali nor to use gypsum to prevent its

occurrence. The use of gypsum does stimulate the growth of alfalfa and

makes its product greater just as you observe in the experience of your

neighbors, but the more they use up the land now the less they will have

later, unless they resort to regular fertilization to restore what has

been exhausted. But even that may be a good business proposition.

What Gypsum Does.

I intend to fertilize alfalfa and should like to know about gypsum. I

have heard it stimulates the growth temporarily but in three or four

years hurts the land. I have heavy land.

The functions of gypsum are: (a) to supply lime when the soil lacks it;

(b) to make a heavy soil more mellow, and (c) to act upon other soil

substances to render them more available for plant food. These are some

of the soil aspects of gypsum; it may have plant aspects also. It is too

much to say that gypsum hurts the land; it does, however, help the plant

to more quickly exhaust its fertility, and in this respect is not like

the direct plant foods which comprise the true fertilizers - one of

which gypsum is not. It might be best for your pocketbook and for the

mechanical condition of the soil to use it, but do not think that it is

maintaining the fertility of the land (a service which we expect from

the true fertilizers) except as it may supply a possible deficiency of

lime.

How Much Gypsum?

How much per acre, how frequently and what seasons of the year are the

best time to apply gypsum?

Of gypsum on alkali, we should begin at the rate of one ton to the acre

and repeat the application as frequently as necessary to achieve the

desired result. If the alkali was quite strong we would use twice as

much. Without reference to an alkaline condition in the soil, and to

give heavy soil a more friable character, which promotes cultivation,

aeration, etc., and, therefore, ministers to more successful production,

half a ton to the acre can be used, applications to be repeated as

conditions seem to warrant it.

Wood Ashes in the Garden.

There is available in my neighborhood a free supply of wood ashes. Can

you tell me how best to distribute the same in a garden (flowers and

garden truck), and what, if any, treatment is to be given the ashes for

the best results.

Wood ashes long exposed to rain lose most of their valuable contents,

and leached ashes are only of small value. If they are fresh ashes or

ashes which have been kept dry, they are chiefly valuable for potash,

which is good in its way, but not all that a plant needs. If, however,

your soil is shy of potash, the use of ashes will notably improve growth

if not applied in excess in the caustic form in which it occurs in the

ashes. They require no treatment. Spread, say, a quarter of an inch

thickness all over the ground and dig in deeply. It may also help you by

destruction of wire worms and other ground pests.

Coal Ashes in the Garden.

What is the effect of coal ashes on the red clay soil of Redlands or

wood and coal ashes combined?

Coal ashes are exceedingly desirable upon clay land because their

mechanical mixture with the fine particles of the clay renders the soil

more friable, permeable and better adapted to the growth of most plants.

Coal ashes, however, possess no fertilizing value - their action is

merely mechanical. The wood ashes which may be combined with them are

desirable as a source of potash which most plants require.

Liming a Chicken Yard.

I have a small family orchard of half an acre, fenced in as a chicken

yard, the soil of which has become very foul. When would be the best

time to apply lime and how much?

Put on 500 pounds of lime and plow under as soon as you can - that is,

spread the lime just before the plowing, with a shower or two on the

lime before plowing, if the weather runs that way.

Poultry Manure.

Give directions for using chicken manure. For use of young trees, is

there any difference in treatment of deciduous and citrus trees? For use

in the vegetable garden and the flower garden, what should be mixed with

it and in what proportions? So many people say poultry manure is so

strong, I am afraid to use it.

It is a fact that poultry manure, free from earth, contains even as high

as four times as much plant food as ordinary stable manure. It is,

therefore, to be used with proportional care, so that the plants shall

not receive too much, and particularly so that there may not be too much

collected in one place. Probably the best way to guard against this is

to thoroughly mix the manure with three or four times its bulk of

ordinary garden soil and then use this mixture at about the same rate

you would stable manure. If you do not desire to go to all this trouble,

make an even scattering of the manure and work it into the soil. There

is no reason to fear the material; simply guard against the unwise use

of it. It is good for all the plants which you mention; in fact, for any

plant grown, provided it is sparingly and evenly distributed.

It should be pulverized so that there shall not be lumps and masses in

the same place for fear of root injury. Of course, the strength depends

upon how much earth is gathered up with the manure. Sometimes there is

so much waste material that it can be handled just as ordinary farm

manure is.

We should not use over 20 pounds of clean droppings to a young tree and

should mix it with the soil for a considerable distance around the tree.

Old bearing trees might stand two or three tons to the acre if

distributed all over the ground. The material contains everything that

is necessary for the growth of the tree and formation of the fruit.

Ashes and Poultry Manure.

It is said that ashes mixed with chicken manure is not good. I use ashes

altogether on the drop boards because I can keep the boards cleaner. The

refuse is then scattered around the fruit trees.

Wood ashes and lime should never be used as you propose, because they

set free the nitrogen compounds which are the most valuable content of

poultry manures. This action is conditioned largely upon the presence of

moisture, and if the droppings are kept dry and hurried into the soil

the loss is lessened. Coal ashes, on the other hand, are a thoroughly

good absorbent when the coal burns to a fine ash or is sifted. They do

not act as wood ashes do, because they do not contain soluble alkali.

They also have a good mellowing effect on heavy soil.

Caustic Lime Not a Good Absorbent.

Would air-slackened lime be suitable to sprinkle over the dropping

boards in hen houses?

Gypsum is greatly superior to air-slacked lime for the hen houses, as it

has every beneficial effect of the latter, while the air-slacked lime

will set free much of the fertilizing value of the manure, which the

gypsum will not do.

Too Much Chicken Manure for Young Trees.

I have peach trees and apple trees, 3 to 6 years old, that are very

thrifty but grow only wood. The soil was poor when planting, and I have

put on plenty of sweepings from the chicken-yards. I suppose that is the

cause of the trouble.

Undoubtedly you have overmanured your soil with chicken manure, which is

a very strong fertilizer and should only be used in limited quantities.

In order to counteract any acidity or ill effects which have been

produced by its excessive application, it would be desirable for you to

apply about 500 to 1000 pounds per acre of common builders' lime at the

beginning of the rainy season, working it into the soil with the fall or

early winter plowing. Do not cut back the tree during the dormant

season, although, of course, you may have to remove surplus or

interfering branches for the sake of shaping the tree. Winter pruning

induces a greater wood growth during the following summer; therefore, it

should be avoided under such conditions as you describe. Having adopted

such a policy, there is nothing for you to do but to wait for the trees

to slow down and assume a normal bearing habit proper for their ages.

Summer pruning is an offset for excessive wood growth.

Suburban Wastes.

We keep a cow and poultry and have a dry-earth toilet. We have been

burying the manure in the little garden spot or along by the fences or

spreading it out on the alfalfa before it is rotted, but do not get good

results. How shall we apply it to get the best results ? We have a town

ordinance against leaving it in piles to rot.

You can compost it in a tight bin made of planks, and using enough water

to prevent too rapid fermentation and loss of valuable ingredients.

During the dry season you can probably use enough dry earth or road dust

to render the material inoffensive, and you can also distribute it then

without undesirable results.

Composting Garden Wastes.

You recommend making a compost of all scrapings, garbage, weeds, etc. Is

there any danger in having this in a pit near the house?

If you desire to put garden wastes, including manure, into a pit, the

only objection would be the heavy work of digging it out again. If you

allow waste water from the house to run into the pit, there would

probably be not enough dry material to absorb it, and the pit would be

not only objectionable on account of odors, but possibly dangerous to

health. The water would also prevent decomposition, because of exclusion

of air. At the same time, enough moisture to promote slow decomposition

is essential. It is usually more convenient to compost garden wastes on

the surface of the ground, enclosing them with a plank retainer, because

moisture can easily be applied with a hose, as desirable, the material

can be occasionally forked over to promote decay, and the heavy work of

digging material out of a pit is avoided. Such a collection is neither

offensive nor dangerous if handled right.

Composting Manure.

Will the dry barnyard manure, when heaped up and dampened with water,

make a valuable fertilizer?

For garden use, dry manure in heaps should be dampened with water from

time to time so as to prevent too active fermentation. Of course, water

should not be supplied so freely as to cause a leaching of the pile. It

is also desirable that the material should be forked over from time to

time to distribute moisture and promote decay. When this is done a

thoroughly first-class fertilizer is produced.

Barnyard Manure and Alkali.

In spots my land is hard and has some black alkali. Will barnyard manure

help the hard land if cultivated in?

Use stable manure because that would not only furnish nitrogen, if your

plants need any more, but it would add coarse material and ultimately

humus which would overcome the tendency of your soil to become compact

and thus concentrate alkali near the surface by evaporation. Mellow the

soil, increase the humus, make water movement freer and good cultivation

easier and alkali will become weaker by distribution through a greater

mass of the soil and may be too weak at any point to be troublesome,

unless you have too much to start with. Put on manure at the beginning

of the rainy season and plow it under, with all the green stuff which

grows upon it, during the winter or early spring.

Stable Manure and Bean Straw.

What are the approximate contents of common stable manure; also, how

much of the above is contained in bean straw?

The composition of mixed stable manure is given as containing in one

ton: Nitrogen, 10 pounds; phosphoric acid, 5 pounds; potash, 10 pounds.

The constituents of bean straw in one ton, are given as: Nitrogen, 28

pounds; phosphoric acid, 6 pounds; potash, 38 pounds; Of course, a large

part of the difference in composition is due to the excessive amount of

moisture which ordinary stable manure contains. Air dried stable manure,

such as is found in a California corral, would have much higher

fertilizing value than such moist manure as an Eastern chemist would be

likely to handle.

Roofing a Manure Pit.

Is it necessary to roof a manure pit, if the pit is tight so that all

rain on manure is caught in the liquid manure and nothing is lost?

To secure satisfactory composting of stable manures in a pit it is

necessary to be able to regulate the moisture of the mass. If it becomes

too dry, too rapid fermentation takes place and the material is

destroyed by what is called fire-fanging. If too much liquid enters the

pit, so that the material is submerged, the air is excluded and

fermentation stops. For these reasons it is necessary that a pit in the

region of large rainfall be covered, and water be used from a hose or

other source of supply in just sufficient quantity to keep the material

right for slow fermentation. How much water should be added to bring the

moisture to a right condition depends upon how much liquid waste runs

into the pit, and where water is used for cleaning a stable care has to

be taken that the pit is not submerged. Success with a pit is,

therefore, conditioned on the amount of moisture admitted, and this

cannot be controlled unless the pit has a cover fit to shed rainfall. Of

course, it may be adjustable so that some rainfall may be admitted as

may be desirable.

Value of Animals in Manure.

In the operation of our fruit and dairy ranch we have the manure from

some forty head of horses and cattle, which is distributed over the

place. We cut our alfalfa and feed it and do very little pasturing. In

order to give our dairy the proper credit, we would kindly ask what you

consider a fair price for the manure of a cow for one year. Also what

would the manure from a horse for one year be worth?

A compilation of a considerable number of weighings, analyses and

valuations in Europe, cited by Prof. Roberts in his book on the

"Fertility of the Land," gives an average value of the voidings of a cow

for a year as $32.25 and of a horse at $24.06. This is based, of course,

upon the collection and saving of all excrements which is never secured

except in careful experimentation. The value of manure depends upon the

quality of the feed. In two experiments, considered a safe substitute

for the straw, apart from the fact that the gave a value in manure of $1

per ton of hay fed; cows fed on clover and bran gave value in manure of

3.80 per ton of mixed feed. Your alfalfa feeding would approach the

higher value. You will have to make an estimate from the above data to

serve your purpose and you can figure it either by the number of animals

or by the tonnage of the feed.

Value of Fresh and Dry Manure.

What is the relative value of the weekly or semi-weekly corral scrapings

which are tramped fine and air-dried; and of the fresh, wet manure from

the stable? I do not understand that the latter has appreciable water

added, and the amount of sand in the corral scrapings would be small.

Fresh, mixed animal manure is usually calculated to contain about 75 per

cent of water. Manure which has been quickly dried, without fermentation

and without leaching by rains, may be worth four or five times as much

per ton. Nothing, however, short of analysis would determine the value

of any particular lot, for that depends somewhat upon the way the

animals are fed, as well as upon the moisture content.

Shavings in Stable Manure.

Is barnyard fertilizer containing shavings instead of straw, desirable?

Barnyard manure containing shavings is chiefly objectionable because of

the amount of inert material. The shavings are exceedingly slow to

decompose, and in light soil in considerable quantities would cause a

serious loss of moisture. If applied, on the other hand, to a heavy soil

and accompanied by sufficient irrigation water, the effect of making the

soil more friable might be very desirable. It depends then upon

circumstances whether shavings can be concited by Prof. Snyder in his

"Soils and Fertilizers," cows fed on hay straw is more valuable not only

because more easily decomposed, but because its content of plant food is

greater.

Handling Grape Pomace.

In the case of grape pomace, would not the large value shown by analysis

be chiefly in the seeds? My observation is that these are exceedingly

slow to became available in the soil. Would composting break down the

shell of the seed?

Grape pomace is slowly available because of the slow disintegration you

mention. It could be hastened by drying and grinding, but we doubt if

this or other treatment would return its cost. Decay by moisture

promoted by composting with manure, kept at a low temperature by

continuous moisture would render it sooner available, but this would

involve labor which, at our wage rates, would probably make the material

cost more than it is worth. This is probably a cost in which time is

cheaper than money.

Sheep and Goat Manure.

I can buy goat manure from an inclosure where this is deposited to an

amount of about five carloads. Will goat manure be of great value in

fertilizing an orchard? If so, how much of it should be spread an an

acre?

Accumulations of sheep and goat manure in a dry situation, that is,

where not leached out by heavy rainfall, have been found to run as high

as $13 per ton in fertilizing constituents. The average would, however,

be not above $7.50, and would depend not only upon the unleached

condition of the material but upon the amount of sand mixed with it. If

it is in a situation where sand blows very freely, it might not be worth

over $4 or $5 per ton, possibly not that much. You have, therefore, to

deal with a condition largely unknown. So far as its fertilizing quality

goes, however, it is freely available and directly calculated to

stimulate the growth of plants, and probably four or five tons could be

used to the acre without injury if well distributed over the surface of

the land. Application can be made at any time of the year, for the

drying will not injure it. It will not, however, become available until

the soil is sufficiently moist to carry its contents to the roots of the

plants. Under ordinary conditions in California, application should be

made just before the beginning of the rainy season.

Hog Manure and Potatoes.

What is the fertilizing value of hog manure, and also what is the best

fertilizer to use for potatoes? Our potatoes are planted early in

January.

Hog manure is rather a rank and strong fertilizer, usually very rich,

although the quality of it depends upon how well the hogs have been fed

- that from grain-fed hogs being notably better. The valuation of hog

manure ranges from $2.50 to $3.25 per ton, according to the feeding as

noted, while ordinary stable manure may be worth from $2 to $2.75 per

ton. It is not a good idea to apply these organic manures directly for

the growth of potatoes. It is better to apply them to the land for the

growth of a grain or forage crop, plowing in the stubble and using the

land for potatoes the following year. If you wish to fertilize directly

for potatoes, the use of a commercial fertilizer containing a good

amount of potash would be a better proposition.

Fertilizer for Sweet Potatoes and Melons.

I have sandy soil that has been used for sweet potatoes until it is worn

out for that crop, and would like your advice as to the best fertilizer

to use. Also, what fertilizer would be best for melons on land that has

been planted to melons for the past three years?

There is not much difference in the plant food required by the two crops

you mention, but both evidently need a freshened soil and an increase of

humus. We should apply a half ton to the acre of a complete fertilizer,

of which any dealer can give you descriptions and prices. If you wish to

do a good job, start a growth of peas or vetches or burr clover, and sow

the fertilizer evenly with the seed. Plow the growth under in February

and roll (as the soil is sandy) to close down and promote the decay of

the green stuff, which ought to be so well accomplished by the date that

it is safe to plant sweet potatoes or melons that it will give no

trouble in summer cultivation.

An Abuse of Grape Pomace.

I got in an argument with a neighbor of mine who stated that grape

pomace is not a fertilizer. Is it so? My neighbor says that two years

ago he had two apricot trees in his yard, and they were fine bearing and

healthy trees. After making his wine he put the pomace on the ground and

they died. Could that be the cause?

Yes, probably. He used too much fresh pomace and the resulting

fermentation of its products may have killed the trees. But grape

pomace, after going through fermentation and in the process of decay,

makes humus in addition to giving potash and other desirable substances

to the soil.

Manuring Vineyard.

Does barnyard manure have any injurious effect on the vines if applied

on my vineyard? One of my neighbors claims barnyard manure burned his

vines so he got no crop wherever he spread the manure, and nothing would

now induce him to use it again.

Barnyard manure can be safely used in a vineyard at the beginning of the

rainy season, working it in with the plowing, but not using too much.

Wine grapes are sometimes injuriously affected in flavor by the use of

such fertilizer, but the growth of the vine itself can be stimulated by

the rational use of it. Your neighbor apparently either used too much or

made the application at the beginning of the dry season or made some

other mistake.

Bones for Grape Vines.

I am going to plant out some grape vines, and would like to know if it

is a good plan to put old bones, broken up fine, into the holes when

planting.

Yes, if you do not use too much and it is mixed with earth, a little

beyond the touch of the roots at planting. You do not need to finely

break the bones. The roots will take care of that. But do not put in too

much coarse stuff, for fear of causing too rapid drainage.

Reviving Blighted Trees.

I have a couple of apple trees here that were hurt by the pear blight

three years ago and were cut back since then; they come out each year,

but the leaves curl up, and they do not do anything. I would like to

know if putting any fertilizer around them would help them to put out

their leaves, and if so what I should use?

Put some stable manure on the top of the soil around your trees now so

that the rains may reach the contents of the soil, then later in the

season dig the manure into the soil. Apply water during the summer time

and this will encourage the trees to grow, if there is any vigor

remaining in them. This treatment, however, will not protect them from

the blight.

Fertilizing Pear Orchard.

I have pear trees 15 years old which have fruited heavily for years and

have never been fertilized. What is the best fertilizer for the soil

which is heavy, and when is the best time to apply it? I intend planting

rye to plow under in the spring, but thought possibly the fertilizer

should be applied first.

If you have stable manure available, nothing could be better for the

feeding of the trees and for its mellowing effect upon your heavy soil.

Application can be made at once, to be worked into the land when the rye

is sown. It will help the trees and give you more rye which in the end

will help the trees. If you have no stable manure available, what is

called by the dealers a "complete fertilizer" for orchard purposes is

what you should use and apply it when you work the land for rye.

Fertilizing Olives.

What is the best means of fertilizing an olive orchard? My orchard gives

me a perfect quality of oil, but a poor quantity. My soil is dry

calcareous, red and gray, and is very thin in places, therefore, it

lacks moisture.

An olive orchard can be fertilized with stable manure or with a

"complete fertilizer," or with the special brands of different

manufacturers of special fruit fertilizers. But you must be sure that

your trees do not need moisture more than they need fertilizers, for

without adequate moisture fertilizers cannot do their best work. The

increase of the humus content of the soil, either secured by stable

manure or by the plowing under of winter-grown cover crops, is

desirable, as they not only give the trees more plant food, but make the

soil also more retentive of moisture. You will have to experiment along

this line to see just what is best for your trees.

Consult the Trees.

Can I send you a little soil out of my one-year-old pear orchard so that

you can advise me what I can do to improve its fertility. The trees are

fairly thrifty, but as fruit growing is my pleasure I wish to make it a

model orchard and add whatever it requires of nitrogen, humus, etc.,

immediately so as to increase the growth for this summer. Next winter I

intend to put manure around them and cultivate about every other month.

Careful experimenting with fertilizers will teach you more than analysis

would do, because the behavior of the tree under various conditions

tells you more than a chemist possibly could. Besides, we are of the

conviction that on good soils young fruit trees should not be pushed

beyond the growth which they would naturally make with a regular and

adequate moisture supply. Be careful about using fertilizers on young

trees, either in the summer or in the winter. When they come to bearing

age and yield large crops of fruit, that is another question. Any

California soil which will not grow young fruit trees thriftily should

not be used for orchard purposes unless an amateur desires to grow trees

on a picturesque lot of rocks or sand.

Results of Fertilizing Olives.

We have 100 acres in olives about six miles northeast of Rialto in San

Bernardino county. In 1908 we got about five tons from the 100 acres. We

began fertilizing and cultivating in 1909, and have put on the 100 acres

about the same amount of fertilizer each year. In 1909 we got 15 tons;

in 1910, 116 tons, and 1911 is estimated at 325 to 350 tons.

It is important that your olive trees are responding to good treatment

and fertilization. Unfortunately, that does not seem to be always the

case and a good many olive trees have been made into firewood because

nothing seemed to bring them into satisfactory bearing. Good bearing

olive trees are now among the very best of our horticultural properties,

while non-bearing olive trees are worth about $7 a cord for fire wood.

Nursery Fertilizers.

I have light sandy loam, well drained. It has been in blackberries, and

I now have it planted to nursery fruit tree stock. I have given it this

spring two applications of nitrate of soda, but no other fertilizer.

Will the nitrate act alone, or must I apply also the phosphate and

potash to get results?

Nitrate of soda will act alone and will stimulate growth, and there are

cases in which there is enough phosphate and potash already in the soil

to act with it. Usually, however, it is customary to use a complete

fertilizer containing phosphate and potash as well as nitrogen, in order

that the plant may be more roundly supplied and promoted, and one would

be a little safer in using that sort of fertilizer than in relying upon

the nitrate of soda alone. You will, of course, be careful not to use

these fertilizers in too large amounts, for nitrate of soda is

especially dangerous if used in excess.

Almond Hulls and Sawdust.

Is there any fertilizing value in the hulls of almonds? Would pine

sawdust from the lumber mills be a good substance to mix in and plow

under in a three-acre adobe patch in order to loosen and lighten the

soil for truck gardening?

Almond hulls have considerable fertilizing value, but they are slow to

decompose, and, therefore, may be a long time unused by the plant. They

also have a good feeding value for stock, and if you can expose them in

the corral so the stock can eat as they like, this is the best way to

get them into fertilizing form. If they can be cheaply ground their

availability as a fertilizer would, of course, be quickened. Redwood

sawdust is better than pine sawdust, but any kind of sawdust can be made

to serve a good purpose in mellowing heavy soils if not used to excess

and if there is plenty of moisture to promote decay.

Fertilizing Fruit Trees.

I have an orchard of prunes, apricots and cherries, which has been

bearing since some 30 years ago, without fertilization, except possibly

muddy sediment from occasional irrigations of mountain streams. Various

people are advocating the use of nitrates and other fertilizers. Should

I have samples of this earth analyzed in order to ascertain what the

soil most needs?

To find out whether your trees need fertilization, study the tree and

the product and do not depend upon chemical analysis of the soil. If

your trees are growing thriftily and have sufficiently goodsized leaves

of good color, and if fruit of good size and quality is obtained, it is

not necesssary to think of fertilization. If the trees are not

satisfactory in all these respects, the first thing to do is to

determine whether they have moisture enough during the later part of the

summer. This should be determined by digging or boring to a depth or

three or four feet in July or August. The subsoil should be reasonably

moist in order to sustain the tree during the late summer and early fall

when strong fruit buds for the coming year will be finished. If you are

sure the moisture supply is ample, then fertilization either with stable

manure or with commercial fertilizers containing especially nitrates and

phosphates should be undertaken experimentally, in accordance with

suggestions for application made to you by dealers in these articles,

who are usually well informed by observation. When you have the tree to

advise you of the condition of the soil, you do not need a chemist,

although if the tree manifests serious distress and is unable to make

satisfactory growth the suggestions of a chemist may be very helpful.

Fertilizing Oranges.

What is the general and what do you consider the ideal, manuring, and

when applied for orange trees from 15 to 12 years old under irrigation?

I use about 2 cwt. each of superphosphate, nitrate of soda and sulphate

of potash per acre, but am dissatisfied with my yields as compared with

yours in California.

There is not only no standard for fertilizing orange trees, but there is

no "ideal" which might be considered as a basis for a standard. All

growers who are awake to the necessity of doing something for bearing

trees, try all things and hold fast to what (they think) is good.

Practically none of them has any enduring conviction or demonstration as

to what is good, but they keep on trying. There is, however, one clear

and enduring conviction, and that is, that continuous fertilizing must

be done for profit, and our best growers are using the same materials

you mention in considerably larger amounts than you apply, and use also

other forms of nitrogenous fertilizers. The amounts of superphosphate

and nitrate which you use would be considered homeopathic treatment by

our growers.

Cow Stable Drainage for Fruit.

I have been told that the drainings from a cow barn make an excellent

fertilizer for orange and lemon trees, in fact, anywhere on plants where

manure is considered beneficial.

The drainage from a cow barn is excellent for fertilizing almost any

crop unless it is used in too large quantity. If it should be combined

with a considerable amount of water used for cleaning out the stable, it

would be excellent for the irrigation of all kinds of fruit trees. Care

should be taken, however, not to oversaturate the ground, which would be

the case if the washing of the stable was allowed to run continuously

alongside a single row of trees. The water should be changed from row to

row in succession, cultivating the ground meantime to promote aeration

and to prevent too great compacting of the soil.

Seed Farm Refuse as a Fertilizer.

Would cleanings from sweet peas or all kinds of seeds grown on a seed

farm be of any value as a fertilizer on sandy loam soil for an orchard?

This has been in a pile for three years or more, and I can get it for

the hauling. There are a hundred loads or more of it and not very far to

haul.

It would be worth more on a heavy soil, because the danger of drying out

would be less and the surety of reduction to humus greater. To get the

highest value from such stuff it should be composted with water and

turning in heaps, but that would occasion expense beyond value probably,

unless it could be composted with manure for market garden purposes. The

hauling might be good work for idle teams. Spread the stuff rather

thinly to be covered in with fall plowing, so that its decay could be

promoted during the rainy season.

Slow Stuff as a Fertilizer.

How can we use sawdust and shavings from our high school shop so as to

combine it with street sweepings, lawn cuttings, etc., and insure ready

decay without objectionable features?

Do not mix sawdust and shavings with lawn clippings and street

sweepings, because of the great difference in susceptibility to decay.

The lawn clippings and street sweepings, which would contain

considerable horse manure, would be readily transformed into a good

fertilizer by composting. Such treatment, however, would have no

appreciable effect upon sawdust or shavings for a considerable period of

time, and they would still be too coarse in their character to be of any

value unless you have to deal with heavy clay soil, and in that case the

sawdust and fine shavings might be dug in at once and trusted to decay

slowly in the soil, at the same time improving its friability by their

coarser particles. If, however, you are dealing with light sandy loam,

such coarse material would cause too rapid drying out and injure the

plant, which might be benefited by lawn clippings and street sweepings.

The best way to get rid of the sawdust and shavings is to set up an

altar, such as we have in our own backyard - a piece of an old boiler

about two feet in diameter and two and a half feet high, in which we

currently burn all rubbish which is not available for quick composting

into a fertilizer.

Lime on Sandy Soil.

Do you think 500 pounds of lime per acre would help a sandy soil which

has not been enriched by pasturing or legumes? Of course, we would not

apply the lime until next fall before plowing.

Lime is not usually called for in a sandy soil, which probably requires

direct fertilizing with stable or commercial fertilizers.

Lime on Alfalfa.

What effect does putting lime on land have in holding moisture? Also,

will it pay to put it on a large field of alfalfa? The land is adobe. I

can get slaked lime for the hauling, distance being about five miles.

The lime will make the land more friable and, therefore, less disposed

to bake and lose moisture by evaporation. Alfalfa is hungry for lime and

is generally advanced by the application of it.

Fertilizing Alfalfa.

Can new cow manure be put on alfalfa? Is not the best way to use the

above as a fertilizer in form of liquid being run from barn via pipes to

a settling-tank and from there via irrigation ditches to the land to be

irrigated? What is the best way to get rid of cow manure so as to keep a

barn sanitary and the place free from stench?

Cow manure can be used to advantage on alfalfa. Corrals can be cleaned

up and the manure spread at the beginning of the rainy season. During

the winter the manure can be spread as it is produced and very good

results will be noticed in the growth during the following summer. It is

perfectly rational for you to use the liquid fertilizer as you propose

in connection with irrigation water, but this is not generally done

because of the cost of the outfit and the labor of handling the material

in that way. The best way to keep a barn sanitary is to keep it clean,

removing all the waste matter to a considerable distance daily, allowing

nothing to accumulate, and have the stable drainage arranged so that the

stable can be frequently flushed out into good drainage outlets,

carrying the water to grass or alfalfa land if possible.

Fertilizing Corn.

We are going to plant about 20 acres to corn on a sidehill and intend to

put some fertilizer on, but want to give it to the corn only. Would it

be a good plan, after we have marked out our rows, to scatter some

fertilizer in these marks and put the corn right on top of it?

We take it you ask about the use of a readily soluble commercial

fertilizer. If so, you can do as you propose, being careful not to use

too much. The operation of planting will distribute the fertilizer

through enough soil if the application is not too heavy. The effect will

depend something upon what showers you get after planting.

Scrap Iron as a Fertilizer.

Is cast or other iron in small pieces plowed into the land of any

benefit to trees as a fertilizer? If so, what would be the value as such

per 100 pounds? Junk dealers sometimes offer 25 cents per 100 pounds. If

it has any value as a fertilizer, I am satisfied it must be worth four

times that price. We pay three cents a pound for sulphate of iron as a

fertilizer. Of course, it is a salt and dissolves quickly, therefore, I

believe cast iron, even if it works slowly, has some value, and at the

same time farmers can clean up and get rid of a lot of rubbish.

In most cases the California soils are sufficiently supplied with iron

by nature. Iron scraps have a little and remote value because they are

so slowly available by the process of rust disintegration. It might,

therefore, be worth while for farmers to bury such scrap iron as

accumulates on the place below the reach of the cultivating tools. But

it would not be profitable to buy iron scraps at junk dealers' price,

nor would it be profitable to haul this material any long distance, even

if it could be had for nothing.

Kelp as a Fertilizer.

Are there ill effects from using sea kelp as a fertilizer for orange

trees?

There is no ill effect. Sea kelp has been dragged from the beaches at

low tide, partly dried and used, for centuries perhaps, as field

fertilizer for all sorts of crops in Europe, and for decades, to some

extent, on the New England coast. The dangerous substance in it would

seem to indicate that that is not present in sufficient quantity to

cause trouble. The great difficulty lies in securing and transporting

the substance, for less than its fertilizing equivalent can be obtained

by purchase of other more concentrated manures.

Applying Thomas Phosphate.

When is the best time to apply Thomas phosphate slag on orchard land?

As Thomas phosphate is slowly soluble, it can be applied at any time

during the rainy season without danger of loss, and for the same fact,

it should be applied early during the rainy season in order to be

available to trees during the following summer's growth. It ought,

perhaps, to be added that other forms of phosphate have largely

displaced slag during the last few years in the United States, other

forms being more available.

Sugar Factory Lime for Fertilizing.

Is the lime from a sugar factory a good fertilizer for either oranges or

walnuts; if so, about what amount to the acre would you recommend?

If your land needs lime or if it is heavy and needs to be more friable,

or if you have reason to think that it may be soured by exclusion of air

or by excessive use of fermenting manures, the refuse lime you speak of

will do as a corrective just as other lime does, though, perhaps, not so

actively. Beyond that there is nothing of great value in it. You can use

two or three applications of 500 pounds to the acre without overdoing it

- if your land needs it at all.

Nitrate With Stable Manure.

I am going to plant about 2000 plants of rhubarb. I intend to put some

cow and horse manure under the plants as a fertilizer, but I do not

think I will have enough for all the plants, so I bought some nitrate of

lime, with the intention of mixing the cow and horse manure with the

lime nitrate, which I thought would allow me to spread the manure much

thinner and I could cover more surface. Now I am not sure but the

nitrate of lime will burn the manure if mixed with it.

You can mix either nitrate of lime or nitrate of soda with the stable

manure as you propose; in fact, it is frequently done. These nitrates

are neutral salts and do not act on manure as caustic lime or wood ashes

would do. They are quite content to keep along without kicking their

neighbors. But, of course, the more nitrate you add the more careful you

must be about using too much of the mixture, and as for putting manure

under any plant, at spring planting particular, it is dangerous

business.

Nitrate of Soda.

How shall I apply nitrate of soda as fertilizer for roses and other

flowers and lawns during the summer months?

One has to be very careful in the use of nitrate of soda not to use too

much and not to apply it unevenly, so that too much is brought in

contact with the roots of particular plants. From one to two hundred

pounds an acre evenly distributed is the usual prescription for nitrate

of soda, although in the case of bearing orange trees considerably

larger amounts have been successfully used. This would be at the rate of

about one ounce to one square yard of surface. It would be a safe

application to begin with and could be increased a little on the basis

of observation of results. Of course, the application should be

accompanied by copious irrigation in order to dissolve and distribute

the substance.

Fertilizing Strawberries.

I have half an acre of strawberries which will fruit their second season

this spring, and half an acre set last month. I had intended to use

nitrate of soda on them, but was talking to a friend who told me it

would kill my soil. That the first year it would produce an enormous

crop and the next year I couldn't raise anything. Which would be better

to use here, stable manure or commercial fertilizer?

It is true that nitrate of soda is a stimulant of plants, and by

rendering soil fertility immediately available may seem to reduce the

supply later, and yet it is a most available forcing fertilizer if used

with great caution, not over 200 pounds to the acre evenly scattered

over the whole surface or a less amount, of course, if confined to

particular areas. If used in excess it may actually kill the plants.

Still nitrate of soda is being used actively and intelligently by nearly

all growers of plants and must be counted on the whole a valuable

agency. If you can get stable manure, nothing is better as a complete

plant food. Application to strawberries must be made at the close of the

season, rubbish scraped away and manure applied and allowed to stand on

the surface during the early rains, being worked into the soil during

the rainy season. If the soil is light, sandy loam, too much coarse

material must be avoided. Therefore, well-rotted manure is important on

such soils while on a heavy soil coarser material may be used to

advantage if applied early in the rainy season. If you have no

well-rotted manure, a complete commercial fertilizer will give best

results.

Late Applications of Nitrate.

I have some prune trees which blossomed some time ago and the prunes are

already set, and of small size. Would you recommend me to use an

application of, say 100 pounds per acre of nitrate of soda, applied

immediately, or is it a little too late in the season to get the desired

result?

It would be perfectly safe to use 100 pounds of nitrate of soda to the

acre well distributed now; in fact, you could safely use twice as much,

but we doubt if you would get any benefit from it unless you should

irrigate, for there is no reason to expect showers that would have

penetrating powers enough to carry the nitrate any appreciable distance

into the soil. Of course, the nitrate could be plowed or cultivated in

to a considerable depth, but that would probably result in losing

moisture by deep opening or turning, which would do more harm than any

gain which the nitrate produces, if it were to become available. Our

judgment would be, then, that it is too late for any benefit to accrue

unless the land can be irrigated.

Charcoal is a Medicine, Not a Food.

Recently a lumberyard burned, leaving quite a quantity of charcoal. I

have a lot 50 x 150 feet in rhubarb. Would the charcoal be of any

service on that lot as a fertilizer? I now have it well fertilized with

horse manure, but would like to use the charcoal if it would be of any

material assistance to the plants.

Charcoal is of no value as a fertilizer. It is practically

indestructible in the soil. In fact, they are digging up now charcoal in

the graves of ancient Egyptians, who departed this life five thousand

years ago. Charcoal has corrective influence in absorbing some

substances which might make the soil sour or otherwise inhospitable to

plants. It has been found desirable sometimes to mix a certain amount of

charcoal with soil used in potting plants for the purpose of preventing

such trouble. The only way to make your charcoal of any value as a

fertilizer would be to set it on fire again and maintain the burning

until it was reduced to ashes, which are a source of potash and,

therefore, desirable, but it will probably cost more than the product of

potash will be worth.

Humus Burning Out.

I would like to know whether or not dry-plowing land, in preparation for

sowing oats for hay, injures the soil? I have heard that dry plowing

tends to wear out the soil, as the soil is exposed to the sun a long

time before harrowing. I have been dry-plowing my land to kill the,

weeds, but had a light crop of hay this year.

There is believed to be what is called "a burning out of humus," by long

exposure of the soil to the intense heat of our interior districts. It

is probable that the reduction of humus is due more to the lack of

effort to maintain the supply than to the actual destruction of it by

culture methods. Such a little time as might intervene between dry

plowing and sowing could not be charged with any appreciable destruction

of soil fertility. It is altogether more probable that your hay crop was

less from loss of moisture than from loss of other plant food; and it is

desirable to harrow a dry plowing, not so much to save the soil from the

action of the atmosphere, as to conserve the moisture, which, as you

know, will rise from below and will rapidly be evaporated from the

undisturbed bases of your furrows. Therefore, we should harrow a dry

plowing as soon as practicable, but with particular reference to the

moisture supply rather than to other forms of fertility.

Straw for Humus.

Do you consider straw good to plow under for humus, and which kind,

wheat, oat, or barley straw, is best?

Straw, by its decay in the soil, produces humus and, therefore acts in

the same way just as does the decay of other forms of vegetation. As,

however, straw is less easily decomposed than fresh vegetation, it is

less valuable and may be troublesome by acquiring a greater amount of

moisture by interfering with cultivation or by tending to dry out the

soil to the injury of other plants. If the soil is heavy and moisture

abundant, straw may be desirable, while in the case of a light soil and

scant moisture, may be injurious. There is no particular difference in

the straw of the different grains from this point of view.

The Best Legume for Cover Crop.

What would you advise to sow as a crop to plow under? When should it be

sowed, and when plowed under?

The best crop for green-manuring in any locality is the one which will

make the best growth when surplus moisture is available for it, and when

its growth can be undertaken with least interference with irrigation,

cultivation and other orchard operation. Generally in California, such a

crop can be most conveniently grown during the rainy season, but in some

parts of the State where irrigation water is available, a summer growth

can be procured with very satisfactory results; so that we are now

growing in California both wintergrowing legumes, like field peas,

vetches, burr clover, etc., which are hardy enough to grow in spite of

the light frosts which may prevail, and are also growing summer legumes

which thrive under high temperature, like cowpeas and other members of

the bean family, and for which water can be spared without injury to the

fruit trees which share the application of the land with them. The

plants which are worth trying are burr clover, common or Oregon vetch,

Canadian field pea, and the common California or Niles pea. Whichever

one of these makes the best winter growth so that it can be plowed under

early in the spring, say in February or March, while there is still

plenty of moisture in the soil for its decay, without robbing the trees

or rendering the soil difficult of summer cultivation, is the plant for

you to use largely. All these plants should be sown in California

valleys and foothills, as soon as there is moisture enough from rainfall

to warrant you in believing they will catch and continue to grow. If the

land is light they can be put in with a cultivator and plowed under

deeply in the spring, as stated. If the land is heavy, probably a

shallow plowing would be better to begin with.

Cowpeas for Cover Crop.

I planted cowpeas between peach trees which I have kept irrigated; when

should they be plowed under?

Cowpeas will be killed by frost in most places and should, therefore, be

plowed in this fall whenever you have a large growth of green stuff and

the ground gets moist enough so that the trees will not be endangered by

drying out of the soil, which is likely to occur after plowing in coarse

material, unless the soil is kept moist by rain or otherwise.

Garden Peas for Green Manure.

Would it be possible to plant the Yorkshire Hero pea in on orange grove

as late as December 25 and get a crop from the peas? Would this pea add

much to the fertility of the soil?

You can sow any garden peas as late as December 25, if the ground is in

good condition and the temperature not too low. They are grown as a

winter crop except when the ground freezes. You would not get as much

good for the grove by growing these peas for the market as you would by

plowing the whole growth under green, but you certainly will get

advantage from the decomposition of the pea straw and of the root growth

of the plant.

Grass for Green Manuring.

I wish to sow this fall some green grass to be plowed in next spring to

improve the soil of part of my land. I read for that purpose a bulletin

I had from the government, but the conditions are so different here in

California that I am very much puzzled which kind to select.

There is no grass which grows quickly enough to be worth seeding in the

fall for spring plowing. It is a good deal better to use a grain, either

barley or rye, for the seed is cheap, the growth quick and you can get a

good deal of green stuff to plow under. Legumes are, of course, better

because of their ability to absorb atmospheric nitrogen, but any plant

which makes a large green growth is good, and it is better to have a

heavy weight of wild vegetation than to have a light growth of an

introduced legume.

Manure with a Clover Crop.

I have an old apple orchard in which I intend to sow burr clover. In

order to get the clover to grow I know that I shall have to use

fertilizer of some kind and this is what I want your advice about.

If you can get it, use stable manure at the time of sowing the clover

seed. Stable manure alone will restore the humus and overcome the

rebellious behavior of the soil. Possibly you cannot secure sufficient

quantities of it. In that case a little with the burr clover seed will

give the plant a good start, or use a complete fertilizer to secure the

growth of a legume in the freest and quickest way.

Fenugreek as a Cover Crop.

Fenugreek has been recommended to be as a nitrogen-gathering plant, but

I cannot find information as to the amount of nitrogen it gathers in its

roots and tops, nor the amount of crop per acre.

Fenugreek is a good nitrogen gatherer and is desirable for green

manuring wherever you can get a good growth of the plant. You can count

it worth as much as peas, vetches, etc., if you can get as much growth

of the plant. It is most largely used in the lemon district near Santa

Paula. The best way to proceed would be to try a small area of all the

nitrogen gathering plants of which you can get the seed easily, and

determine by your own observation which makes the best growth under your

conditions.

Improvement of Cementing Soils.

I would like some advice in handling the "cementy" gravel soil. Manure

is beneficial in loosening up the soil, but there is not enough

available. Would the Canadian field pea make a satisfactory growth here

if sown as soon as the rains begin? I would try to grow either peas or

vetch and plow under in February or March and then set trees or vines on

the land.