One Thousand Questions in California Agriculture Answered

by Edward J. Wickson

There seems to be two distinct kinds of cactus: One for forage, the other for fruit. It is claimed by some people that the spineless cactus is more valuable as a forage plant than alfalfa. What is your opinion?

There are many varieties of smooth cacti. Some of them bear higher quality fruit than others, and some are freer growers and bear a greater amount of leaf substance for forage purposes; therefore, varieties are being developed which are superior for fruit or for forage, as the case may be. Spineless cactus is in no way comparable with alfalfa, either in nutritive content or in value of crop, providing you have land and water which will produce a good product of alfalfa. Cactus is for lands which are in an entirely different class and which are not capable of alfalfa production.

Probably Not Broom-Corn.

I have a side-hill ranch on which I would very much like to raise broom corn. The soil produces good grapes, fruit, corn, oats, peas, etc., and I wish to know if there are possibilities of broom-straw.

All the broom-corn which has been successfully produced in California has been produced on moist, riverside land. The plant is a sorghum - consequently subject to frost injury, and can only be grown during the frostless season as Indian corn is. This makes it impossible to get the advantage of rainfall on winter upland and necessitates the use of lowlands, which carry moisture enough to secure a free growth of the brush, for poor broom-corn is worthless practically, being too low priced to be profitable for brooms and too fibrous to be of value for feeding purposes. Even in a place where the plant grows well its product is worthless unless properly treated, and that requires full knowledge and a good deal of work.

The Outlook for Broom Corn.

Broom corn is way up in price, but that is an indication that everyone who has ever grown broom corn is likely to plant it this year. What is the outlook in California?

Nothing but a local experiment will determine whether you can get a satisfactory brush under the conditions prevailing in your vicinity. Undoubtedly, the high price of broom corn will stimulate production, but under quite sharp limitations in California, because a good, satisfactory brush cannot be grown on dry plains, although a good product is made in the river bottoms not far away. But there are so few people in California who understand how to handle broom corn to produce a good commercial article, and there are such rigid requirements in the size, quality, etc., that those who break into the business without proper knowledge cannot command even profitable prices. Therefore, if your enterprise is conducted with a full knowledge and with proper local conditions it would not encounter such a local disadvantage in the great increase of the product as one might think at first.

Smutty Sorghum.

The various plantings of Egyptian corn on the ranch have turned smutty, very much after the manner of wheat and barley. Is there any unusual reason for this, or could irrigation have caused it, and what is the best method of preventing it?