46 SECOND THOUSAND QUESTIONS IN AGRICULTURE 



these do not prevail. Naturally, more injury from this disease may 

 be expected near the coast than in the interior. Cutting and butning 

 the infested stuff will reduce the spores ready to attack later growth. 



Gypsum and Alfalfa. 



Would gypsum stimulate the growth of alfalfa on places where I did 

 a good deal of scraping when leveling the land a year ago? Next year I 

 probably will have stable manure, but for this season I should have some- 

 thing to stimulate the growth. 



Gypsum will push the growth and will help to mellow the hard 

 places, if you are irrigating, so as to dissolve it. It is best applied 

 before the last rains are over. But you are right in getting some 

 stable manure as soon as you can. (See also Part IV, Vol 1.) 



Rape and Alfalfa. 



Does rape grow well in this country, which is irrigated? Is it better 

 than alfalfa for hog pasture? Must it be planted each year, and how do 

 the plants compare as to feeding qualities? 



The chief advantage of rape in California is that it is a winter 

 grower and will make much green forage at temperatures which keep 

 alfalfa dormant and will turn rainfall to account. Irrigation water is 

 far better used in growing alfalfa because it is much richer and can 

 be made into hay, which rape cannot. Rape is an annual. Alfalfa is 

 perennial. For California a winter-growing legume, like vetch, is 

 much better feeding than rape, because it is nearer to the alfalfa 

 standard of nutritiveness. 



Russian Thistle and Alfalfa. 



Is it wise to sow alfalfa on land infested with "Russian thistle"? 

 What is the most successful means of fighting this pest? 



There are several plants which are locally called "Russian thistle" 

 in California, so we are not quite sure whether you have the true 

 Russian (salsola) or not. Supposing you have the true one, the answer 

 would be: the way to kill out the plant is to keep it from going to seed. 

 It is an annual and therefore has no hold-over roots. It can therefore 

 be killed out by frequent mowing or by herding sheep on it, for it is 

 liked by stock when young. It is desirable to sprout as much of the 

 seed as you can by early-fall heat moisture and clean the land by 

 several diskings. Then plow deeply so as to bury more seed, work up 

 the surface, and put on the alfalfa in February, or later, if your land 

 is frosty. If the alfalfa gets ahead it will run out the weed all right. 

 On blowing, sandy soil in Nevada it has proved desirable to drill the 

 alfalfa among the young thistle, thus using the thistle as a sort of a 

 nurse crop. The thistle shades the soil and prevents the sand from 

 blowing; also helps hold the moisture till the alfalfa gets its right 

 start. Then the alfalfa will crowd out the thistle. 



