The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1897-03-18

|
even if the tree does not die, it becomes
unfruitful. Even in a tough clay soil
under draining makes little cracks in
the soil and the roots permeate it and
deepen it. He had seen roots go down
twenty feet to get to moisture, and they
! got at the same time air and the sub
stance Of the soil, which is a big ad-
vantage.
Hard pan holds the water and should
if possible, be broken. Subsoil is differ
ent in the East from what it is here
| there being only nine or ten inches OF
top soil, while here it is two to twenty
! feet. There not more than an inch OF
subsoil must be turned up each year OF
! it does nc good. Here, in the foot
! hills, the subsoil is as good as the top
as shown by the pine trees that grow
! Immediately after the miners have
| taken off the top soil. Here it is neces-
sary to pillow eight inches to keep the
moisture in the ground. We have less
rain than in the East, and the manner
in which the soil is made is different
and the subsoil is different.
Plants take the greater part Of Their
substance from the air. The plants
(
growth almost entirely from the all
and take very little from the ground
| However, there are certain mineral in
gradients that are needed, such as pot
ash lime, phosphoric, acid and nitro
gen, which can be returned in fertil-
| izers.
In this country we need lime, as the
soil does not have it. The usual way
of treating soils, to find out about them
is to treat them with acid and extract
| the substances that are likely to be
used for plant food. He showed ar
ananlysis of 466 different soils east OF
| the Rockies, running clear to Pittsburg
and over 800 soils west of the Rockies
In the East the soil contains 90 pei
| cent. of potash, but it is not all availa-
BILE, while in the arid lands west of the
Rockies there are 10 per cent. In
! California the proportion is three times
as great as in the humid regions east
of the Mississippi.
Lime in the humid regions 10 pei
cent, while in the arid regions there is
| fourteen times as much. In the East
| lime lands are preferred, and on them
the people are Well-to-do. Where there
is not lime they put on mari, which
| contains lime. Our soils are all mar
and should be rich. Our average land
is equal to the best blue grass land in
Kentucky, and it has nearly the same
composition as the Yazoo River bot
tom, which is the richest of the Eastern
lands.
Here the insufficient rainfall has ar
effect on the hardpan soil In Fresno
| h. l.
er than three feet, and it takes the SOL
uble matter down with it. Among this
matter is the lime, and as this happens
year after year, it forms a hardpan
and shows in different localities the
| depth to which the rains penetrate
The potash and soda go with the lime
In the East they work out of the TOP
CT the soil, and the rains wash them
into the sea. Here they go down. There
is not much alkali in Sacramento
| County, but on the west side of the
river there is considerable, and they
must be treated accordingly. Most
people think that alllali should not be
in the soil. 1t is in the soil in the East
but the rains wash it out. Alkali is
hot an unmitigated evil. It contains
sal soda, common salt, but also some
times contains as much as 20 per cent
! of potash, 3 to 20 per cent. of Saltpeter
and per cent. of phosphoric acid
Whenever alkali is found do not man
ure it, as it already contains all the
plant food needed. There are other
ways of doing away with alkali and
getting profitable crops.
| Very few plants can take up nitro
| ha OH hut oJo he
leguminous pIants-do SO. Glover. peas,
vetches, etc, do it. Before the discOv-
cry was made Chile saltpeter was four
cents pound, but since chemists have
found that the nitrogen in the air
passes into clover and the other legu-
minous plants, the price has been re-
duced to one-half That is one of the
scientific things that some people used
tc laugh at and call theoretical" 1t is
got by the decay Of plants and passes
into the land. Burr clover is the farm
ers' best friend. If it is plowed in, it
returns what it has taken from the soil
and adds nitrogen.
| At the experiment station they are
trying hard to find leguminous plants
with the pea flower that will fit the diff
ferent parts of the State. The farmers
should avoid calling clovers grasses,
as they are not. Grasses take from the
soil, while legumins add to it, 1t is not
necessary to pillow it in, as the roots
carry the nitrogen into the soil and en-
rich it. Here we cannot make use of
red clover, and it is not as good as burr
clover. In the southern part of the
State lupins are used which they pillow
| in 10 hit bo hoe
in universal adaptation, and asked the
farmers to help the college in finding
the best plants. An agricultural map
of the State is needed badly, but the
farmers have not been able to get it,
although the miners were able to get a
mineral map of the State made.
! Many questions We're asked Professor
Hilgard about forage plants by Will
| lam Johnston, 2. II. Murphy, Daniel
Flint and others.
A fine vocal solo was rendered by
Mrs. LongbottOm.
VINICULTURE.
Charles E. Mack next read a most
interesting paper on "Viniculture"
| His twenty-acre tract of vines was in
| fine condition, on high ground. with
good surface drainage. A hard pan un-
derlies it, which he found in one place
where he blasted for a well, to be twen-
ty-six feet deep. In planting he re-
| jected many young vines where he
found too much force had been used in
pulling them from the ground. He
used principally the Mallet system in
propagating his cuttings. He found
that copious supply of water near the
do
Joints, while where little water was
uSed the roots We're on the lower Joints