Calag Archive

The daily consumption of high-moisture alfalfa wafers, with or without forced-air drying, averaged 31/2 Ibs per cow more than baled hay in a recent trial at Davis. There was no significant difference in milk production between conventionally stored wafers and baled hay, but on aerated wafers FCM (4% fat-corrected milk) was increased 2 Ibs per cow daily.

Animal grazing preferences, soil nitrogen, soil moisture, and herbage production were studied over a seven-year period in Humboldt County in an attempt to explain differential grazing. Animals obviously were selecting and sometimes overgrazing forages on certain soil series more than others. The less preferred areas frequently were undergrazed.

Bulk bins are adaptable to transporting a wide range of shipping fruits from the field to the packing house. Much of the citrus industry's fruit handling has changed from field boxes to bulk bins. Pears and apples are being handled by this method for both fresh shipment and processing. Some other processing fruits, such as prunes and cling peaches are also being frequently handled in bins. Picking directly into bins allows better field supervision and control of the pickers, easier and faster field handling of fruit, and reduced container replacement costs over a period of years. Factors to be balanced against these advantages include the initial cost of conversion, investment in new equipment, disposal of existing materials, and interim system complications.

Costly reconstruction of old compacted golf and bowling greens can be avoided by drilling holes at regular intervals and backfilling with a suitable growth medium, according to the southern California tests reported in the two accompanying articles. Extension Service assistance at Arrowhead Country Club, San Bernardino County, in 1961 and 1962 resulted in tests showing that deep aeration plus irrigation control increased root activity and, at the same time, reduced the amount of water needed to maintain acceptable turf during the fall and early winter by 50 to 60%. Tests last year at Arcadia, Los Angeles County, substantiated the earlier results with data showing that the 3-inch holes drilled by the usual machine—“aerators” are less effective for healthy regrowth than holes drilled to a depth of 8 inches.

Late in 1961, the Arrowhead Country J Club in San Bernardino County requested Extension Service assistance in its program of green replacements and repair. Two greens had a characteristic surface soil stratification, traffic compaction, impaired root penetration and health. The anaerobic soil condition was sufficiently severe that the cores developed a strong odor after exposure to the atmosphere for 20 to 30 minutes. One green was selected for replacement, and the other, Green No. 4, was selected for repair and rejuvenation tests.

This report presents data showing depletion of zinc and copper and accumulation of molybdenum and boron in four soils during a five-year (1958 to 1963) lysimeter experiment at Riverside. For each element the net change in the soil was calculated as the amount added in the irrigation water minus the amount removed in crops and leachate (drainage water). The lysimeter tanks, which were 4 ft in diameter and 6 ft deep were filled with soil during the winter of 1957–58. Six tanks were used for each soil to provide three treatments, including ammonium sulfate, calcium nitrate, and aqua ammonia as nitrogen sources, and two replications. Phosphorus as dicalcium phosphate was added to all tanks.

An agricultural extension project was initiated in the spring of 1962 to determine whether pear trees susceptible to decline could be saved by adding a new nonsusceptible root system around the base of the trees. Although the cause of pear decline was not yet known, it was an established fact that pear trees on Oriental pear and Old French (churn bottom) rootstocks were most susceptible to the disease. Rootstocks produced from Old Home cuttings or Domestic French seedlings grown from a seed source known to be free of Oriental pear pollination were for the most part immune to decline.

Production was increased by 30 to 50% in nematocide trials where onion fields we.re infested with nematodes in San Bernardino County. Preliminary greenhouse tests indicated that stubby root nematode had been one of the main factors in reducing onion yields.