One Thousand Questions in California Agriculture Answered Part 42

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 cla.s.s. 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 s.p.a.ce than an ordinary cabbage, for it makes a tall free growth, and s.p.a.ce 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 coa.r.s.e 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 cla.s.s 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.

s.m.u.tty Sorghum.

The various plantings of Egyptian corn on the ranch have turned s.m.u.tty, 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 s.m.u.t similar to that of other grains. It is due to the introduction of the germ of the disease which comes with the use of s.m.u.tty seed. Possibly the growth of the s.m.u.t 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 quant.i.ties as may be necessary, followed by a cultivation for the drying of the surface.