Calag Archive

Application of 0.75 Ibs per acre ethephon to bell peppers (variety Keystone Resistant Giant) when 10% of the fruit were red or in the breaker stage resulted in highly significant increases in yield of red fruit at harvest 22 days after treatment. Ethephon treated plants produced almost twice as much red fruit as the untreated check. In a subsequent experiment, ethephon treatment at 40% field maturity resulted in no significant change from the untreated check. Results indicate fields should be treated early to obtain maximum ripening response. A concentrated fruit set with a majority of mature green fruit should give the best response. No detrimental effects on foliage or fruit quality were observed.

A two-year study indicated that, under orchard conditions, it takes 96 to 120 hours for pollen tubes to grow through the styles of almond flowers. In view of a rapid decline in receptivity, probably the result of embryo sac degeneration, it is assumed that the sooner the flower is cross-pollinated after opening, the greater the chance of fertilization and fruit-set.

The FDA recommends and the California Agricultural Code requires that the milk supply be continuously screened for somatic cell number. Milk with counts over 1.5 million cells per milliliter is not acceptable. The number of somatic cells in milk from individual cows is an indication of udder health. A somatic cell count in the range of 30,000 to 300,000 per milliliter is currently considered normal; a count of 500,000 or more per milliliter is indicative of mastitis or other udder abnormalities.

Jackrabbits are significant threats to alfalfa production only when their population density is high, usually in drought periods preceded by years of plentiful rainfall. Jack-rabbits living near alfalfa fields do not usually depend solely on alfalfa for nutrition, but individuals may consume up to 65 Ibs dry alfalfa per year when desert forage is unsuitable. Observations indicate that hares may travel over two miles at night to reach fields. Fencing fields with poultry wire offers complete control.

A series of computer Land Use Mapping Programs (LUMP) is being developed to assist land use planners and decision makers in data interpretation vital to environmental planning. Forthcoming land use legislation will have important effects on individual land owners and on California agriculture. This system of programs is designed to be an in (pensive tool for the production of inven-iry, interpretive, combination and evaluation maps from social and physical resource data.