Calag Archive

Feedlot performance of British breeds of beef cattle fed during the summer months in the irrigated desert valleys of California averages 15% less than the performance of those fed during the cooler portion of the year. Heat stress is the major factor responsible for this lower performance.

This summary of four years work at the Hillside Management Project on the Los Angeles campus of the University of California details steps in brushland conversion capable of greatly reducing fuhazards on steep chaparral lands in residential areas. Grasses, ground covers and fire-resistant shrubs for replanting to provide erosion control and beautification are also considered.

This experiment was conducted in a greenhouse to study the influence of five irrigation and three soil-oxygen levels on the uptake of 12 nutrients in citrus seedlings. Different irrigation treatments used in this experiment significantly decreased the total amounts of nitrogen, chloride, sodium, zinc, copper, and iron in the whole seedling, while dry weights of seedlings—and the total amounts of phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, manganese, and boron—were not affected. A decrease of the soil-oxygen supply to seedling roots decreased the amounts of all elements except sodium, which was increased.

Harvesting almonds after most hulls have dehisced, but two to three weeks before the nuts become essentially dry on the tree, did not appear to affect yield in this study. Adverse effects on kernel and shell quality were evident, however. Allowing the almonds to dry on the ground for a few days to a week after knocking reduced or eliminated at least some adverse effects of this earlier harvesting on quality.