Length Of Cultivation
Categories: CONTROL OF SOIL MOISTUREMost tilled crops grow rapidly until they shade
and mulch the soil. Tillage should continue, if possible, until this
occurs. The exception is in the case of orchard trees and other plants
that should not have their period of growth extended late in the fall.
Good tillage tends to increase the lateness of a crop by encouraging
growth. The new wood of trees may not become hardy enough to withstand
the frost of winter if tillage is continued. Early maturity is hastened
by exhaustion of soil moisture and plant-food.
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Keeping Citrus Trees Low
My tangerines last fall shot up like lemon trees - a dozen to twenty shoots two or three feet high. The trees are eight years old and are loaded with bloom and some of the shoots have buds and bloom clear to the top. Some shoots have no bloom. W... Keeping Potatoes
Advise me how to keep my potatoes. What is the best way? Would a dark room be suitable? Some people are digging holes in the ground to put them in. Potatoes, if properly matured and free from disease, will keep for a considerable time in dark... Keeping Pumpkins
What is the best way of storing pumpkins, under ordinary farm conditions, in a climate such as we have here in northern California? I have no facilities for cold storage. All you have to do in this climate to keep pumpkins is to keep them out ... 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 cro... Kidney Trouble
My horse has some trouble in passing water. What can I give him that may be put in the mash? I don't think his trouble is due all to old age, for it didn't come on gradually. Give gran. sal nitre: a teaspoonful daily in water is good to stimul... Kidney Trouble In Horse
What is the remedy for a horse that stops often to urinate while working? The horse is affected by an irritation of the kidneys. Give 1 quart of flaxseed tea daily, change the food and give 1 drachm of C. P. hydro-chloric acid in one bucket o... Killing Moss On Old Trees
I have some Bartlett pear trees that are covered with moss and mold, and the bark is rough and checked. I have used potash (98%), 1 pound to 6 gallons spray. It kills the long moss, but the green mold it does not seem to affect. The trees have b... Killing Stumps By Medication
Will boring into green stumps and inserting a handful of saltpeter kill the roots and cause the stump to readily burn up a few months later? We have tried all kinds of prescriptions and have never killed a stump which had a mind to live. Many ... Kind Of Tile
When clay tile is used, it should be well burned. Some manufacturers offer soft tile for sale, as the loss from warping and cracking is less in case of insufficient burning. The claim may be made that the efficiency of soft tile is greater than that o... Largely Compiled From The Writings Of Mrs W Russell James And Mrs
... 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... Late Pruning
Will I do injury to my peach trees if I delay pruning until the last of February, or until the sap begins to run and the buds to swell? It will not do any particular harm to let your peach pruning go until the buds swell or even after the leav... 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... Leases For Sugar Beets
I have land in Yolo county that has made an average yield yearly of from 12 to 18 sacks of wheat and barley. A beet sugar company proposes renting this land and plant it to sugar beets and I would prefer not to consider any agreement of less tha... Legal Milk House
What is a legal milk house in California? The State dairy law says little concerning the construction or equipment of the milk house. It says that the house, or room, shall be properly screened to exclude flies and insects, and is to be used f... Legume Seed Inoculation
Is there any virtue in inoculating plants with the bacteria that some seed firms offer? I refer to such plants as peas and beans. If the land is yielding good crops of these plants and the roots are noduled, it does not need addition of germs.... Length Of Cultivation
Most tilled crops grow rapidly until they shade and mulch the soil. Tillage should continue, if possible, until this occurs. The exception is in the case of orchard trees and other plants that should not have their period of growth extended late in th... Less Water And More Heat
What chemicals should I put into the soil to insure a good crop of vegetables, such as tomatoes, string beans, or other over-ground producers? Last year my tomatoes and string beans grew plentifully, but never produced any tomatoes or beans, yet... Licorice Growing In California
I have for some time been seeking far some information as to the method of preparation for market and sale of licorice roots. I have a lot of them and have never been able to find a market, and do not know how they are prepared for market. Li... Light Soil And Scant Moisture
Advise me as to plowing under a crop of last year's weeds where I intend to plant beans, corn, etc. The soil is "slickens," on the Yuba river, and the weeds grew up last year in a crop of volunteer barley, which was hogged off. I expect to plow ... Limber-neck
A very peculiar disease is taking off my fowls. The head of the fowl bends down to the breast and the fowl looks like dead, there is also a slight discharge from the mouth. The head and tail droop and if the fowl could stand up they would almost... 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 mor... 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 ... 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, ... Limitations On Gooseberries
Why is it that gooseberries are not grown more in California? Is there any reason, climatic or other, why the gooseberry should not be as successfully grown in California as elsewhere? There are two reasons. First, the gooseberry does not like... Liquid Spray For Red Spider
Is there any liquid spray I can use in my spraying that will kill the red spider without injuring the foliage of the almond? A liquid spray for red spider is made by taking sulphur 30 pounds; lime (reduced to milk form by water), 15 pounds; wa... 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 ... Liver Disease
I have hens which seem well in every respect up to the time of their combs changing color, when they die within three days. The combs turn a faint yellow, almost white; they are heavy, have their usual appetite up to the lost 24 hours. I have tr... Livestock Farming
The fertility of the soil is most safely guarded in regions devoted to livestock farming. "Selling everything off the farm" is a practice associated in the public mind with soil poverty. It is a rule with few exceptions that the absence of livestock o... Locating Main And Branches
There are various systems of drainage. Wherever a branch or lateral joins the main, the means of drainage is duplicated within the area that the main can drain, and the system should call for the least possible waste of this sort. It usually is best ... Longevity Of Almond And Peach
What is difference in life of peach and almond in California? The almond is the longer-lived, but we have seen both assuming the aspect of forest trees in abandoned pioneer places. Both are apt to live longer than their planters, if soil and m... 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 ...