Calag Archive

Comparative yields for hand cutting and nonselective mechanical harvesting of white asparagus were determined during the 1964 cannery season, using an experimental harvester. In the tests, the machine-harvested all-white treatment on a peat soil produced 72% as much weight of good, white asparagus as did the hand-cut rows. A rough cost analysis indicates that, under these conditions, nonselective mechanical harvesting may be economically feasible. Results were less favorable in a 16-year-old planting on a clay loam soil. Mechanical harvesting caused the beds to dry out more than hand cutting and increased the tendency for the peat soil to blow.

soil crusting has long been recog- nized as an obstacle to seedling emergence. This is particularly true with small-sized seed. Soil crusts will often result after a soil is wetted by rain or sprinkling and then dried. Seeds planted during the winter or spring months in much of California stand a very good chance of Ileinp rained on, allowing a crust to form above the seed before emergence. Overplanting the number of seeds required ih the customary way to assure an adequate stand of row crops under these conditions. However, mechanization of many row crops depends in part on planting the crop to a stand, or at least spacing the individual plants so they can lw mechanically thinned.

Exocortis in citrus—an increasing problem for California growers—has emphasized the need for a rapid-indexing method for periodic testing of trees used as sources of budwood. Detection of this disease in symptomless citrus trees by field-indexing on sensitive indicator rootstocks has previously required from one and one half to more than five years. The practical method of indexing exocortis in glasshouse plants reported here caused symptoms to develop within one to five months.

Trade expansion for California is being examined currently as much for its balance and composition as for its increases. Efforts being made to stimulate California export trade are of a long-run nature to develop commercial markets. The state and its agricultural industries, faced with the need and opportunity for enlarged markets abroad, are recognizing that we cannot stand aloof. What is happening in the European Common Market, the changing trends of world trade, and the relations between the developed and newly emerging nations all affect the future of California agriculture. This article discusses agriculture in the pattern of international trade.

Imidazole, an antimetabolite of histamine and nicotinic acid, has been found to be a safe and effective pesticide and is now undergoing field tests. Developed at U.C., Los Angeles, the new material has been patented and given the trade name “Imutex.” Imidazole, when synergized with boric acid, may be employed at low levels to proof fabric satisfactorily against insect attack. When synergized with 2-Aminopyridine, along with several newer synergists, and combined with base oil, imidazole is capable of controlling a number of insects and related arthropod species. Effectiveness is significantly increased by adding two surfactants to base oil. A hydrophilic surfactant increases the physiological activity of imidazole without improving the physical properties of the oil carrier, while perchloroethylene directly increases solubility. The particularly exciting quality about the material is its low mammalian toxicity.