Soils, Fertilizf.rs and Irrigation 149 



For Blowing Soils. 



/ am going to dry-sow rye late this fall. I want some leguminous 

 plant to seed with the rye for a wind-break crop, not to plow under. 

 The land varies from heavy loam to blozv-sand. I have under considera- 

 tion sivcet clover, burr clover, vetches. I see occasional stray plants of 

 sweet clover {the white-blossomed) growing in the alfalfa on both hard 

 and sandy soil. I read in an Eastern bee journal that sweet clover can 

 be sowed on hard uncultivated land ivith success. Could I groiv it on 

 the hard vacant spots that occur in the alfalfa fields? 



You can sow these leguminous plants all along during the earlier 

 part of the rainy season (September to December) except that they 

 will not make a good start in cold ground which does not seem to 

 bother rye much. But on sand you are not likely to get cold, water- 

 logged soil, so you can put in there whenever you like — the earlier 

 the better, however, if you have moisture enough in the soil to sus- 

 tain the growth as well as start it. We should sow rye and common 

 vetch. Sweet clover will grow anywhere, from a river sandbar to 

 an uncovered upland hardpan, but it will not do much if your vacant 

 spots are caused by alkali. 



More Than Dsmamite Needed. 



/ have some peculiar land. People here call it cement. It does not 

 take irrigation water readily, and zvatcr will pass over it for a long time 

 and not wet down more than an inch or so. When really zvet it can be 

 dipped up with a spoon. Hardpan is down about 24 to 36 inches. I have 

 tried blowing up between the vines with dynamite, and see little differ- 

 ence. Can you suggest anything to loosen up the soil? 



You could not reasonably expect dynamite to transform the 

 character of the surface soil except as its rebelliousness might in 

 some casjs be wholly due to lack of drainage — in that case blasting 

 the hardpan might work wonders. But you have another problem, 

 viz: to change the physical condition of the surface soil to prevent 

 the particles from running together and cementing. This is to be 

 accomplished by the introduction of coarse particles, preferably of 

 a fibrous character. To do this the free use of rotten straw or 

 stable manure, deeply worked into the soil, and the growth of green 

 crops for plowing under, is a practical suggestion. Such treatment 

 would render your soil mellow, and, in connection with blasting of 

 the hardpan to prevent accumulation of surplus water over it, would 

 accomplish the transformation which you desire. The cost and profit 

 of such a course you can figure out for yourself. 



Is Dynamite Needed? 



/ have an old prune orchard on river bottom lands; soil about 15 or 

 16 feet deep. Quite a number of trees have died, I presume from old 

 age. I desire to remove them and to replace them zvith prune trees. I 

 have been advised to use dynamite in preparing the soil for the planting 

 of the new trees. 



