One Thousand Questions in California Agriculture Answered Part 35

Oats and Rust

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

There is no way of treating oats which will prevent s.m.u.t, if the variety is liable to it. There is a great difference in the resistance of different varieties. A few dark-colored oats are practically rust-proof, and you can get seed of them from the seedsmen in San Francisco and Los Angeles. Such varieties are chiefly grown on the southern coast. Foggy weather has much to do with the rust, because it causes atmospheric moisture which is favorable to the growth of the fungus, which is usually checked by dry heat, and yet there are atmospheric conditions occasionally which favor the rust even in the driest parts of the State.

The fog favors rust, but does not cause it. The cause is a fungus, long ago thoroughly understood and named puccinia graminis.

Midsummer Hay Sowing.

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

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

Loose Hay by Measure.

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

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

When to Cut Oat Hay.

To make the best red oat hay should it be cut when in the "milk,"

"dough" or nearly ripe!

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

Rye for Hay.

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

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

Rye in California.

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

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

That Old Seven-Headed Wheat.

We are sending you some heads of grain which was grown in this county.

The land was planted with an imported Australian wheat, which we believe the smaller heads to be, but the wheat is about evenly mired with grain like the large heads, which we think to be a species of barley.

The grain is an old, coa.r.s.e, bearded wheat which is continually appearing in fields of ordinary grain and naturally excites interest among all to whom the variety is a novelty. It is the old seven-headed Egyptian wheat, which has never proved of any cultural value, because its manifolding of the head is of no advantage. It is better to have a straight well-filled head than to have a branching head of this kind.

This matter has been fully demonstrated by experience during the last thirty or forty years, not only in this State, but in other States, for the variety has a way of getting around the world, and seed has sometimes been sold at exorbitant prices to people who have been persuaded that it is of particular value.

Speltz.

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

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

Italian Rye Gra.s.s.

What kind of gra.s.s is enclosed? Also the best method to eradicate it?

The gra.s.s is the Italian rye gra.s.s, or as it is sometimes called, the Italian variety of the perennial rye gra.s.s. It is proving a very satisfactory gra.s.s in California for moderate drought resistance and for winter growing, and a great deal of it is being sown for these purposes.

You can readily kill it out by cultivation, but most people are more occupied with its propagation than with its destruction.

Fall Feed.

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