One Thousand Questions in California Agriculture Answered

by Edward J. Wickson

Handling Young Alfalfa.

I have alfalfa that is doing very well for the first year. My soil is sandy loam with light traces of white alkali, although it does not seem to be detrimental to the growth thus far. I am in the dairy business and will have by winter enough manure to top-dress the field. Would it be good policy to use the manure, or would it be more satisfactory to top-dress with gypsum? Would it injure alfalfa to pasture lightly after the last cutting?

Presumably your soil contains enough lime, and therefore the application of gypsum at this time of the year would not be necessary. It may be desirable to top-dress with gypsum near the end of the rainy season to stimulate the growth of the plant. Gypsum, however, has no effect upon white alkali. So far as alkali goes, gypsum merely changes black alkali into white, thus making it less corrosive.

There would be no objection to pasturing lightly this fall. Be careful, however, to keep off the stock while the land is wet and not to overstock so as to injure root crowns by tramping. The manure can be used as a top dressing during the rainy season, unless you think it better to save it for the growth of other crops. Alfalfa is so deep rooting where conditions are favorable that it does not require fertilization usually on land which has been used for a long time for grain or other shallow-rooting plants.

Alfalfa Sowing with Gypsum.

I intend sowing alfalfa this fall on land that has some very compact hard spots. I aim to doctor these spots with gypsum at the rate of about 1000 pounds per acre and cultivate the gypsum in thoroughly two or three weeks before sowing the alfalfa seed. Would this be all right? Is there danger of injury to seed by coming in contact with gypsum?

Gypsum will not hurt the alfalfa seed. It is not corrosive like an alkali. Whether it will have time enough to ameliorate the soil in the spots in the period you mention depends upon there being moisture enough present at the time.

Red Clover for Shallow Land.

What can you say of red clover on shallow soils in the Sacramento valley under irrigation? How many crops, etc.?

Red clover is fine under the conditions you describe. We could never understand why people do not grow more of it on shallow land over hardpan which is free from alkali and not irrigated too much at a time. It is good on shallow land over water, where alfalfa roots decay, etc. Though we have no exact figures, we should expect to get about two-thirds as much weight from it as from an equally good stand of alfalfa.