Calag Archive

Climatic adaptability should be one of the major considerations in selecting grass for the home lawn. Although grasses are very adaptable and can endure in a wide range of climates, use of the climate zone maps to select a naturally adapted “cool season” grass for the temperate zone or a “warm season” grass for the subtropical zone will offer more lasting satisfaction.

All California breeders of purebred sheep are invited to study this program aimed at the production of meat-type lambs and to express their interest to the author—positive or negative—with suggestions for improvement. Meetings can be arranged with breeder groups to discuss details. If the plan is found feasible, assistance can be obtained in helping to set up a California sheep improvement association.

Symptoms of severe copper deficiency were visually diagnosed in a 27-acre grapefruit orchard near Hemet, California, in February 1958, and again in a nearby orchard in 1962. Typical symptoms were dieback of young twigs, chlorosis of terminal leaves, and misshapen, rough fruit with brown necrotic spots on the outside and gum pockets in the albedo or white portion of the rind. Leaf samples from the orchard contained less than 0.75 ppm copper on a dry-weight basis, thus confirming copper deficiency. The annual application of a copper spray has corrected the severe symptoms of copper deficiency. A minor element study of southern California citrus orchards suggests that approximately 20 per cent of the orchards may possibly respond to a copper spray program.

EPTC can aid in the establishment of seeded annual clovers in dryland pastures where a weedy annual grass problem exists. Trials conducted in Mendocino, Mariposa, San Benito and Santa Barbara counties indicate that the pre-emergence herbicide will reduce competition from annual grasses but not from forbs such as mustard and filaree. Success is still dependent on climate, fertilizer treatment, grazing use and other related factors. EPTC application provides a method of altering species composition of a pasture. It can be applied in the late summer to prevent seed germination, in contrast to many herbicides that must be applied to living plants.

Improper pipe size is a common fault of vacuum supply systems on California dairies. Data presented in this study indicate that a minimum vacuum supply pipe diameter of 1 1/4 inches is needed to handle four or five milking units and 2-inch pipe is the minimum size required for 7 to 12 units.

Laboratory tests with grape containers at Davis emphasized the severe vibration injury possible in shipment of loose-packed fruit. Least shipment injury appeared when tops were stapled onto boxes that had been left a little more than level full, following a few seconds of vibration settling by machine. The laboratory testing equipment developed at Davis closely reproduced the effects of a transcontinental rail trip on fruits and containers. Such tests can be run in less than an hour and at a small fraction of the costs of a test shipment.