Calag Archive

During the past season a new carloading pattern for the shipment of fresh fruit was developed and tested. This “solid/spaced” loading pattern used tiers of solid containers alternating with tiers of spaced (but secured) boxes. It was effective for the loading of plums and nectarines in corrugated paper containers. The new loading method is easy and economical. It helps maintain load and temperature stability during transit with no ill effects on the container or its contents. It appears to offer a solution to many problems which have limited the acceptance of new packages for fruits such as cherries, peaches, and nectarines. It could also provide a margin of safety for pears or plums which may require a few degrees of additional cooling during transit. The results of these tests indicate that this loading pattern is worth evaluating for commercial use.

Two recently introduced short-statured wheat varieties, INIA 66 and Siete Cerros 66, h ave shown outstanding performance in University of California tests. Both varieties were developed in Mexico by the Mexican Ministry of Agriculture in cooperation with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center. Grain yields are equal or superior to those of the best varieties currently available, and they are adapted to a wide variety of growing conditions. Both have been approved for certification by the California Crop Improvement Association.

A performance index developed for beef herds enrolled in the California Beef Cattle Improvement Association provides a good estimate of an individual cow's future production potential, based on past production records-whether for one calf or for several.

Growers are interested in the feasibility of the establishment of commercial asparagus plantings by direct seeding as well as by the crown planting method presently used. The direct seeding of asparagus, although not a new idea, has not been used extensively because of many cultural difficulties. However, it does offer the possibility of the rapid establishment of commercial plantings at lower initial cost with higher plant densities than are now being used.

Gypsum is added to irrigation water to increase soil intake rates in some areas of California. More than a third of a ton of this compound is already present in each acre foot of irrigation water as it is delivered to farms in the Imperial Valley. Tests were conducted at the Imperial Valley Field Station to determine whether the addition of other soil amendments would increase the soil intake rates. These tests were conducted with three compounds commonly used by growers in the area as soil amendments: calcium polysulfide, ammonium polysulfide, and sulfuric acid. Water treated with these compounds was compared with untreated water in a randomized block design. Only ammonium polysulfide produced a significant increase in soil intake rates.

An Estimated 30,700 head of beef were confined in fcedlots on January 1, 1967 in Los Angclcs County. Another 85,000 dairy animals were estimated to be within the confines of its milkshed. Together with the more than three million pen-caged hens, they produce a lot of animal waste. These spccialized, factory-farmed animals create special manure-handling problcms. A feedlot operation of 10,000 head has a sewagedisposal problem equivalent to that of a city with more than 150,000 people. The animal by-product smells and attracts flies which use the waste as a breeding medium. Sanitation regulations and ordinances are imposed as livestock opcratioris and urbanization seek to coexit.

Although more than a dozen varieties are grown in California, two barley varieties occupy the bulk of California's 1,500,000 acres in this crop. California Mariout, which is planted on 55 per cent of the acreage, is widely grown in the San Joaquin and Imperial Valleys, and is recommended for late planting in the Sacramento Valley. The second variety, Arivat, comprises about 18 per cent of the barley acrcage. It is planted primarily in the Sacramento Valley, in the northern part of the San Joaquin Vallcy, and in coastal areas.

A new technique involving the immersion of oilseeds in lipid solvents allows the extraction of enough oil for analytical purposes without destroying seed viability. This testing procedure makes it possible to reject seed samples with undesirable oil composition characteristics before planting.