Salt
Categories: COMMERCIAL SOURCES OF PLANT-FOODSalt is not a direct fertilizer, and its use is not to be
advised unless it can be secured at a very low price per ton. Some
soils have been made more productive by the application of 200 to 300
pounds per acre, and chiefly in case the salt was mixed well with the
soil when the seed-bed was made. The practice of using salt as a
top-dressing on wheat in the spring gives less effectiveness it is
believed. Salt frees potash in the soil, and may have some practical
effect upon soil moisture. As a soil amendment, salt has had more
reputation than its performance justifies. If land is infertile, it is
better, as a rule, to apply actual plant-food.
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Rock-phosphate
While the greater part of our soils contain relatively scant stores of phosphoric acid, the deposits of this plant constituent in combination with lime are immense. The rock now chiefly used in this country is found in South Carolina, Tennessee, and F... Rolled Barley For Cows
Will rolled barley hurt milk cows, say two light feeds a day? Will it not do about as much good as the same amount of bran? Certainly not and otherwise will be good if not used in excess to encourage fattening. Bran is a better feed for milk b... Roofing A Manure Pit
Is it necessary to roof a manure pit, if the pit is tight so that all rain on manure is caught in the liquid manure and nothing is lost? To secure satisfactory composting of stable manures in a pit it is necessary to be able to regulate the mo... Roots For Fruit Trees
I wish to bud from certain trees that nurseries probably do not carry, as they came from a seedling. Is there more than one variety of myrobalan used, and if so, is one as good as another? If I take sprouts that come up where the roots have been... Roots For Orange Trees
What are the conditions most favorable to orange trees budded upon sour stock; also upon sweet stock and trifoliata? The sour stock is believed to be more hardy against trying conditions of soil moisture - both excess and deficiency, and disea... Roots For The Almond
Which is the best root to have the almond grafted on, peach or bitter almond? The soil is sandy. The bitter almond and the hard-shelled sweet almond are both used and we are not aware that any particular advantage has been demonstrated for ei... 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 ... Rotted Manure
Mixed stable manure contains in a ton as many pounds of potash as it does of nitrogen, and yet we speak of it as a highly nitrogenous fertilizer. When fresh manure has suffered no loss of the liquid part, much of its nitrogen is almost immediately ava... Roup In Turkeys
My turkeys have a disease that is spreading rapidly. They commence with a running at the nose, have swelling under the eyes which are filled with pus. This is clearly a case of cold developing into roup. Get one ounce of permanganate of potas... Roup Treatment
... Rupture Of Oviduct
I have had two other hens die suddenly when on the nest. The second one - we opened and found one egg broken near the vent and another with shell formed ready to be laid. Rupture of the oviduct was probably the cause of the hens dying on the ... Rye As A Cover Crop
As has been stated elsewhere, the plant that stores nitrogen in its organic matter is most desirable, but the greater part of the soil's stock of humus did not come through legumes. Among the good cover crops is rye, both on account of its ability to ... 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 earlie... Rye Grasses Better Than Brome
I see in an Eastern seed catalogue "Bromus Inermis" very highly spoken of as pasturage. Do you know anything of it, and do you think it would be suitable for reclaimed tule land in the bay section? Both English and Italian rye grasses have pro... 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... 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 Californi... Sales Off The Farm
The day is now here when the major portion of human food must be provided in grain and vegetables and fruit, and the demand for hay and grain for animals off the farm is very large. Fiber products likewise must be supplied. The draft upon the soil is ... Salt
Salt is not a direct fertilizer, and its use is not to be advised unless it can be secured at a very low price per ton. Some soils have been made more productive by the application of 200 to 300 pounds per acre, and chiefly in case the salt was mixed ... Salt Grass And Alfalfa
I have some land in Sutter county and it has some of this salt grass in spots. I am about to take a twenty-acre piece and put in alfalfa, but some old-timers tell me that the salt grass on it is bad stuff to handle. Your trouble will probably... Salting Hay
What kind of salt is used for salting hay, how much to use and how to apply it? Any good commercial salt such as is used for pork or beef packing is satisfactory for salting hay. A good handful to the ton, scattering it as the hay is stocked ... Sand For Clay Soils
Will beach sand do adobe or clay soil any good? It gets hard at times and I thought that if I was to put beach sand in the ground the salt in the sand would do the ground harm. It is certainly desirable to mix sand with heavy soil for the purp... Sawdust
As a fertilizer, sawdust does not have much value, but serves as an excellent absorbent in stables. Its presence in manure need not cause fear of injury to the soil. When fresh sawdust is applied in large quantity to a sandy soil, the effect upon phys... Scale On Apricots
... 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 sugges... Scions From Young Trees
I have bought some one-year-old apple trees that are certified pedigree trees. Would it be practical to take the tops of these trees and graft on one-year seedlings and get the same results as from the trees I bought? Will they bear just as good... Scours
Kindly recommend a treatment for a horse troubled with scours. He is on dry feed, but the trouble continues. Give very little water mornings and while worked, but give plenty at night. Feed dry rolled oats, oat hay, one handful of whole flaxse... Scrap Iron As A Fertilizer
Is cast or other iron in small pieces plowed into the land of any benefit to trees as a fertilizer? If so, what would be the value as such per 100 pounds? Junk dealers sometimes offer 25 cents per 100 pounds. If it has any value as a fertilizer,... Seed Farm Refuse As A Fertilizer
Would cleanings from sweet peas or all kinds of seeds grown on a seed farm be of any value as a fertilizer on sandy loam soil for an orchard? This has been in a pile for three years or more, and I can get it for the hauling. There are a hundred ... Seed-ends Of Potatoes
Is it bad practice to plant the seed-ends of potatoes? The seed-end of the potato is the least valuable part of it, but it is better probably to plant than to reject it. ... Seed-mixtures
When grass is wanted for hay as well as fertility, the clovers and timothy compose the greater part of a desirable mixture wherever the clovers and timothy thrive. Probably this condition always will continue. The clovers are needed to supply nitrogen... Seed-mixtures
Several varieties of grasses should be used when making a sod for grazing. They occupy all the surface more quickly and surely than a single variety, and the pasturage is better. The character of the soil determines the character of the mixture in lar... Seeding In August
Much land is infested with annual grasses and other weeds, and in such case seedings should be made in August, as described in Chapter VIII. ... Seeding In Late Summer
The natural time of beginning life, in the case of timothy, blue-grass, red-top, red clover, and alfalfa is in the summer or autumn. The best conditions of growth are given where no stronger plants take the plant-food and moisture. Wherever there is a... Seeding In Rye
When thin land is desired for pasture, and available fertility cannot well be applied, a sod may be formed more surely by seeding with rye, using the rye for pasture and a mulch, than, probably, in any other way. The ground should have good tillage an...