PART IV. SOILS, FERTILIZERS 

 AND IRRIGATION 



Information on California Soils. 



Where can I get the latest and best information on southern Cali- 

 fornia soils; how to tell what defects exist and how to remedy them? 



Much information on these points is to be obtained in Hilgard's 

 "Soils," and in the publications of the University of California Agri- 

 cultural Experiment Station at Berkeley, which you can find in any 

 of the larger town libraries. Reports and soil maps of certain districts 

 of California are available from the Division of Soils, U. S. Dept. Agr., 

 Washington, D. C. Professor Lipman says that the great deficiency of 

 southern California soils is in organic matter. That can only be remedied 

 by the use of large quantities of barnyard manure where available, the 

 continual use of green manure crops, and in addition to that, the rather 

 limited use of tillage during the hot summer months, replacing tillage 

 with surface straw or manure mulch in order to prevent oxidation of 

 the organic matter introduced in the form of the first two classes of 

 materials named above. By the addition of this organic matter, and also 

 of the nitrogen, which in part is added by means of the organic matter, 

 but also may be added in the form of fertilizer, the greatest defects of 

 the soils in question can be readily remedied within a period of three 

 to five years. 



Beet Tops for Alkali. 



/ have heard that they reclaim alkali spots in the beet fields by cover- 

 ing with the tops and plowing under. 



The plowing under of beet tops or stable manure loosens the surface 

 soil and thus decreases evaporation of moisture and makes the alkali 

 weaker in the upper soil so that it may not be strong enough to prevent 

 the germination of the seed. After starting the plant can handle more 

 alkali and be more thrifty. But it all depends upon how much alkali 

 there is in the soil. Plowing in such stuff is not a panacea. 



Treatment of Alkali Spots. 



I have land with some low spots seeming, to have alkali. In plowing 

 these spots plow deeper than the surrounding ground, being wet and 

 somewhat boggy. Could these be overcome by filling in with good soil 

 from surrounding points to a level with the other land? Would it be 

 desirable to plow stalks or straw under in these spots? I have plenty of 

 water for Hooding and the land can be well drained. The soil around 

 these spots is fine and produces fine alfalfa and grain, ivhile they 

 do not produce. 



