Gypsum And Alfalfa

Categories: Soils, Fertilizers and Irrigation

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 ren er 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.