Siloing First Crop Alfalfa.
How about putting first cutting of alfalfa and foxtail into the silo? Do you think there is any danger of fire in a wooden silo, and do you add salt and water when filling, and how long after it is cut would you advise putting it into the silo?
Put it through the silo cutter as soon as you can get it from the field. Do not let it cure at all, and be sure to cut and pack well. If at all dry, use water at the time of filling, and some salt then also, if you desire. There is no danger of firing if you put it in with good moisture, and by short cutting and hard packing you exclude the air. If you do not do this you will get a silo full of manure, and possibly have a fire while it is rotting.
Soil for Alfalfa.
What kind of soil is best for alfalfa on a dairy ranch?
An ideal soil for alfalfa is a deep well drained soil into which the roots can run deeply without danger of encountering standing water or alkali. Still we are finding that alfalfa is very successful on soils which are not strictly ideal, providing the moisture is supplied in such a way that the soil shall not be waterlogged nor the water be allowed to remain upon the surface during the hot weather, because this kills the plant.
Handling Young Alfalfa.
I have alfalfa that is doing very well for the first year. My soil is sandy loam with light traces of white alkali, although it does not seem to be detrimental to the growth thus far. I am in the dairy business and will have by winter enough manure to top-dress the field. Would it be good policy to use the manure, or would it be more satisfactory to top-dress with gypsum? Would it injure alfalfa to pasture lightly after the last cutting?
Presumably your soil contains enough lime, and therefore the application of gypsum at this time of the year would not be necessary. It may be desirable to top-dress with gypsum near the end of the rainy season to stimulate the growth of the plant. Gypsum, however, has no effect upon white alkali. So far as alkali goes, gypsum merely changes black alkali into white, thus making it less corrosive.
There would be no objection to pasturing lightly this fall. Be careful, however, to keep off the stock while the land is wet and not to overstock so as to injure root crowns by tramping. The manure can be used as a top dressing during the rainy season, unless you think it better to save it for the growth of other crops. Alfalfa is so deep rooting where conditions are favorable that it does not require fertilization usually on land which has been used for a long time for grain or other shallow-rooting plants.
Alfalfa Sowing with Gypsum.
I intend sowing alfalfa this fall on land that has some very compact hard spots. I aim to doctor these spots with gypsum at the rate of about 1000 pounds per acre and cultivate the gypsum in thoroughly two or three weeks before sowing the alfalfa seed. Would this be all right? Is there danger of injury to seed by coming in contact with gypsum?
Gypsum will not hurt the alfalfa seed. It is not corrosive like an alkali. Whether it will have time enough to ameliorate the soil in the spots in the period you mention depends upon there being moisture enough present at the time.
Red Clover for Shallow Land.
What can you say of red clover on shallow soils in the Sacramento valley under irrigation? How many crops, etc.?
Red clover is fine under the conditions you describe. We could never understand why people do not grow more of it on shallow land over hardpan which is free from alkali and not irrigated too much at a time. It is good on shallow land over water, where alfalfa roots decay, etc. Though we have no exact figures, we should expect to get about two-thirds as much weight from it as from an equally good stand of alfalfa.
Clovers for High Ground-Water.
Where, in California, is alfalfa being raised successfully above a water-table of, say, 4 feet or less, and are any unusual means used to accomplish this?
Over a high water-table, the alfalfa plant will be shorter lived according to the shallowness of soil above water. One could get very good results at from 4 to 6 feet, whereas at 2 or 3 feet the stand of alfalfa would soon become scant through decay of its fleshy root. Where the water comes very near the surface, a more shallow and fibrous rooting plant, like the Eastern red clover, should be substituted for alfalfa in California. It is a very vigorous grower and will yield a number of crops in succession although the water might be very near the surface, as in the case of the reclaimed islands in the Stockton and Sacramento regions and in shallow irrigated soils over bedrock in the foothills or over hardpan on the valley plains. In this statement, freedom from alkali is presumed.
Vetches in San joaquin.
In Michigan I was familiar with the use of the sand vetch as a forage plant, for hay, for green manure, and as a nitrogen producer. In western Michigan, on the loose sandy soil, I sowed in September or October 20 pounds per acre for a seed crop and 40 pounds per acre for pasture, hay, or green manure. Can I expect good results in Fresno and Tulare counties without irrigation? Will fall seeding the same as wheat produce a seed crop? Will sand vetch grow on soil having one-half of one per cent alkali?
Most of the vetches grow well in the California valleys during the rainy season; the common vetch, Vicia sativa, and the hairy vetch, Vicia hirsuta, are giving best results. The proper time to plant is at the beginning of the rainy season. They will stand some alkali, especially during the rainy season, when it is likely to be distributed by the downward movement of water, but it is very easy to find land which has too much alkali for them. These plants seed well in some parts of the valley, but a local trial must be made to give you definite information.
Growing Vetch for Hay.
How many pounds of vetch seed should be sown to the acre? How many tons per acre in the crop? As I desire to change my crop, having to some extent exhausted the soil with oats, how advisable will it be to sow wheat with the vetch to give it something to climb on? If so, and wheat is not desirable under the circumstances, what? In using vetch for horse fodder, how much barley should be fed with it per day for a driving horse? For a draught horse? Is vetch sown and harvested at about the same time as other crops?
Except in very frosty places, vetch can be sown after the rain begins at about 40 to 60 pounds of seed to the acre. The yield will depend upon the land and on the moisture supply, and cannot be prophesied. One grower reports three tons of hay per acre near Napa. If the land usually yields a good hay crop, it should yield a greater weight of vetch. In mowing for hay purposes it is desirable to raise the vetch off the ground to facilitate the action of the mower. Oats would be better than wheat, because rather quicker in winter growth. If the vetch is to be fed green, rye is a good grain, but not good for hay purposes because of the hardness of the stem. There is no particular difference in the plant-food requirements of the different grains, so that there is nothing gained in that way in the choice of wheat. In feeding a combined vetch and barley hay, the ration is balanced; the feeding of grain would not be necessary, except in case of hard work under the same conditions grain is usually fed to horses and in about the same amounts. Vetch requires a longer season than ordinary oat or barley hay crop to make a larger growth, consequently an early sowing is desirable.
Cover Crop in Hop Yard.
Will you please give information concerning cow peas or the most suitable crop to sow in a hop field for winter growth, to be plowed under as a fertilizer in the spring? Also, would it injure the vines to be cut down before they die, so as to sow the mulch crop soon as possible after the hops are gathered?
Cow peas would not do for the use which you propose, because they would be speedily killed by frost on low lands, usually chosen for hops, and would give you no growth during the frosty season. Probably there is nothing better than burr clover for such a winter growth. Hop vines should be allowed to grow as long as they maintain the thrifty green color, because the growth of the leaves strengthens the root. But when they begin to become weakened and yellow they can be removed without injury. It is not necessary to wait for them to become fully dead.
Growing Cowpeas.
What is the best variety of cow peas for a forage crap? I want a variety which with irrigation will come up after it has been cut, so as to keep growing and not be like some which I tried last year. They grew up like ordinary garden peas and were just a waste of ground.
Possibly you did not get cowpeas; they do not look like garden peas at all: they look more like running beans, which they are. The crop is not counted satisfactory except on low, moist land, for on uplands, even with irrigation, it does not seem to behave right. We do not know that a second growth can be expected, for in the Southern States it is grown as a single crop, and resowing is done if a succession is desired, the point being made at the South that the plant is adapted to this method of culture because it grows so rapidly that it can be twice sown and harvested during the frost-free period.
Cowpeas in the San Joaquin.
How late in the season will it be profitable to plant cowpeas? What is the best manner of planting? Are there several varieties? If so, which one is best adapted to plant after oats? The land can be irrigated until about August 10. Will it be advisable to plow up a poor stand of alfalfa about July 1 and plant to cow peas?
You can plant cowpeas all summer on land which is moist enough by natural moisture or irrigation to promote growth. What you will get by late planting depends upon moisture and absence of an early fall frost. If your alfalfa stand is bad enough to need re-sowing anyway, you may get a good catch crop of cowpeas by doing as you propose. If, however, you plow under much coarse stuff in putting in the peas the growth may be irregular. It can, of course, be improved by free irrigation. On clear land moderately retentive much more is being done in summer growth of cowpeas without irrigation than expected. There are several good varieties. One of these is the Whippoorwill. Cowpeas can be sown in furrows three feet apart and cultivated, using about 40 pounds of seed to the acre, or they may be broadcasted, which takes about twice as much seed.
Cowpeas and Canadian Peas.
Would Canadian field peas and cow peas be valuable as a forage crop for cows and hogs; also as fertilizer? Please tell us also when to plant, how to plant, etc.
These plants are of high forage value as cow feed; also as a soil restorative when the whole crop is plowed under green or when the roots and manure from feeding add to the soil. But for either purpose the result depends upon how much growth you can get, and that should be told by local trial before any great outlay is undertaken. Canadian peas are hardy against frost and can be broadcasted and covered with shallow plowing as soon as the land is moist enough from fall rains - except in very frosty parts of the State. They can also be sown in drills to advantage. Cow peas are beans, and cannot be planted until frost danger is over in the spring. They are only available for summer feeding, and whether they will be worth while or not depends upon how much moisture can be held in the soil for summer growth. They should be sown in drills and cultivation continued for moisture conservation until the plants cover the ground too much to get the cultivator through.
Canadian or Niles Peas.
I send a sample of peas which I bought for Canada field peas, and they were so labeled. I would like to know what they are.
The peas are, apparently, one kind of Canada peas. There is some variation in Canada peas, but these are peas of that class. Some of the Canada pea are hardly distinguishable from the so-called Niles pea of California growth, and it does not matter much, anyway, for one is about as good as the other.
Sunflowers and Soy Beans.
I would like information concerning cultivation, method of feeding and food value of soy beans. Also sunflowers.
Soy beans are grown like other beans, in rows which, for convenience in field culture, should be about 2 1/2 feet apart and cultivated up to blooming time at least. They should be sown after frost danger is over and the weather is settled warm, for they enjoy heat. For feeding they can be made into hay before maturity, or the beans can be matured and prepared for feeding by grinding. As with other beans, small amounts should be used in connection with other feeds. They are a rich food and somewhat heavy on the digestion. The same is true of sunflowers, except that the seed is richer in oil than in protein, as beans are. Sunflowers in field culture are planted and cultivated like beans. The seed is flailed out of the heads after they lie for a time to dry.
Jersey Kale.
Please inform me how to plant Jersey or cow kale.
Jersey kale can be planted by thin scattering of seeds in rows 2 1/2 feet apart so as to admit of cultivation, or the plants can be grown just as cabbage plants are and set out 2 1/2 or 3 feet apart, the squares to admit of cultivation both ways. The plant needs a good deal more space than an ordinary cabbage, for it makes a tall free growth, and space must be had for the growth of the plant and for going into the patch for stripping off leaves and cultivation. The plant can be started in the rainy season whenever the land comes into good condition. It is a winter grower in California valleys.
Rape and Milo.
Would rape be a good pasture crop sown broadcast? If so, at what time should it be planted? Will Milo maize grow profitable in Sonoma county?
Rape can be sown as soon as the land gets moist enough from early rains to start the seed and hold the growth. It is a wintergrowing plant in this State. We believe, however, you will get better results with common vetch, which is also a winter grower and more nutritious. If you desire one of the cabbage family, kale will probably serve you better than rape. Milo is one of the sorghums and will only grow during the frostless period, like Kafir, Egyptian corn and other sorghums. It will do well with you, but probably make less growth than in the interior valleys.
Sweet Clover Not an Alfalfa.
I send you a sample of alfalfa which grows very vigorous here on my place spontaneously and would like you to give me all the information about it you will, as a feed for cows and hogs. The stock seem to eat it well.
The plant is not alfalfa at all. It is white sweet clover (melilotus alba), and it is usually considered a great pest in alfalfa fields, because although it grows vigorously as you describe, it is not generally accepted by stock, unless once in awhile some one considers it a good thing, perhaps because he keeps stock hungry enough to enjoy it in spite of its rank taste and smell, but, usually when they can get alfalfa they will not pay much attention to this plant. It is good for bee pasturage, however, and is grown to some extent for that purpose. You probably had the seed of it in your alfalfa seed. It is a biennial and not a perennial like alfalfa. It will disappear if you can keep it from going to seed.
Sweet Clover as a Cover Crop.
How about melilotus as a cover crop? Last year in certain sections it proved very successful, while in others it did not give satisfaction.
Melilotus, by virtue of its hardiness in growing at low temperatures, its depth of root penetration, the availability of the seed, the smallness of the seed so that the weight required for the acre is not large, is to be favored for a cover crop. The objections are two: The fact that it does not seem to grow well under some conditions; second, that when a growth is made it is coarse and rangey, and the amount of green stuff to the acre is much less than its appearance would indicate. We know of cases where what seemed to be a good stand of melilotus yielded only about ten tons of green stuff to the acre, and what appeared to be a less growth of vetches or peas yielded from fifteen to twenty tons to the acre. And yet we believe that in some places it will be found extremely desirable for a cover crop in harmony with what was reported some time ago as the result of experiments by the Arizona Experiment Station.
Spineless Cactus.
There seems to be two distinct kinds of cactus: One for forage, the other for fruit. It is claimed by some people that the spineless cactus is more valuable as a forage plant than alfalfa. What is your opinion?
There are many varieties of smooth cacti. Some of them bear higher quality fruit than others, and some are freer growers and bear a greater amount of leaf substance for forage purposes; therefore, varieties are being developed which are superior for fruit or for forage, as the case may be. Spineless cactus is in no way comparable with alfalfa, either in nutritive content or in value of crop, providing you have land and water which will produce a good product of alfalfa. Cactus is for lands which are in an entirely different class and which are not capable of alfalfa production.
Probably Not Broom-Corn.
I have a side-hill ranch on which I would very much like to raise broom corn. The soil produces good grapes, fruit, corn, oats, peas, etc., and I wish to know if there are possibilities of broom-straw.
All the broom-corn which has been successfully produced in California has been produced on moist, riverside land. The plant is a sorghum - consequently subject to frost injury, and can only be grown during the frostless season as Indian corn is. This makes it impossible to get the advantage of rainfall on winter upland and necessitates the use of lowlands, which carry moisture enough to secure a free growth of the brush, for poor broom-corn is worthless practically, being too low priced to be profitable for brooms and too fibrous to be of value for feeding purposes. Even in a place where the plant grows well its product is worthless unless properly treated, and that requires full knowledge and a good deal of work.
The Outlook for Broom Corn.
Broom corn is way up in price, but that is an indication that everyone who has ever grown broom corn is likely to plant it this year. What is the outlook in California?
Nothing but a local experiment will determine whether you can get a satisfactory brush under the conditions prevailing in your vicinity. Undoubtedly, the high price of broom corn will stimulate production, but under quite sharp limitations in California, because a good, satisfactory brush cannot be grown on dry plains, although a good product is made in the river bottoms not far away. But there are so few people in California who understand how to handle broom corn to produce a good commercial article, and there are such rigid requirements in the size, quality, etc., that those who break into the business without proper knowledge cannot command even profitable prices. Therefore, if your enterprise is conducted with a full knowledge and with proper local conditions it would not encounter such a local disadvantage in the great increase of the product as one might think at first.
Smutty Sorghum.
The various plantings of Egyptian corn on the ranch have turned smutty, very much after the manner of wheat and barley. Is there any unusual reason for this, or could irrigation have caused it, and what is the best method of preventing it?
Sorghum is affected by a smut similar to that of other grains. It is due to the introduction of the germ of the disease which comes with the use of smutty seed. Possibly the growth of the smut may have been promoted by moisture arising from soil rendered very wet by irrigation, and for this plant free irrigation should not be used, because it will do more with less water than any other plant we are growing, and is likely to be more thrifty in a drier atmosphere. Get seed for next year from an absolutely clean field; get as much growth as you can without irrigation, and then use water in moderate quantities as may be necessary, followed by a cultivation for the drying of the surface.
Late-sown Sorghum.
How late can Egyptian corn be planted on good sediment soil capable of growing 40 to 50 socks of barley per acre in good years with ordinary rain? The field was cut this year for hay on account of rank growth of wild oats, after irrigating; land is still moist. Can I put in Egyptian corn with on assurance of crop, or is it too late? How much seed should be planted to the acre, also should seed be drilled in or broad-casted?
There is no difficulty in getting a start of Egyptian corn during the dry season providing the soil contains moisture enough to germinate the seed. Afterward the growth will be more or less according to the moisture present and will be available for forage purposes. Whether a seed crop can be had by late sowing depends upon the frost occurrence in the particular locality, for it only takes a light frost to destroy the plant. To get the best results, particularly with late sowing, the seeds should be drilled in rows far enough apart for horse cultivation; about forty pounds of seed to the acre. What you get in this way will depend upon the amount of moisture in the soil and the duration of the frost-freedom.
Kaffir and Egyptian Corn.
Does Kaffir corn yield as well here as Egyptian corn? The fodder is good feed and the heads stand erect and at a more even height from the ground, which makes three advantages over Egyptian. Irrigation in either case is the some.
The reasons you mention have no doubt had much to do with the present popularity of an upright plant like Kafir over a gooseneck like the old dhoura or Egyptian, which was the type first introduced in California. For years there has been more gooseneck sorghum in the Sacramento valley than in any other part of the State. It may have superior local adaptions or the people may be more conservative. The way to determine which is better is to try it out, and, unless the Egyptian does better in grain and forage than the upright growers, take to the grain which holds its head up.
Sorghums for Seed.
Which sorghum is the most profitable to plant for the seed only WhiteEgyptian, Brawn Egyptian or Yellow Mila?
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.
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.