Alfilaria and Winter Pasturage.
Will alfilaria (Erodium cicutarium) grow well on the hills of Sonoma
county partially covered with shrubs? I want something that will be food
for stock another year. I have heard of alfilaria and that it grows well
without being irrigated.
Alfilaria is a good winter-growing forage plant in places where it
accepts the situation. It is an annual and therefore does not make
permanent pasturage except where it may re-seed itself. On the coming of
the dry season it will speedily form seed and disappear. It is therefore
of no summer use under the conditions which you describe, nor is it
possible to secure any perennial grass which will be satisfactory on dry
hillsides without irrigation. Improved winter pasturage can be secured
by scattering seed of common rye at the beginning of the rainy season,
or of burr clover, both of which are winter-growing plants. Pasturage is
also capable of improvement by being careful not to overstock the land,
so that the native annuals may be able to produce seed and provide for
their own succession. The secret of successful pasturage on dry uplands
is to improve the winter growth. It is too much to expect much of them
for summer growth without irrigation.
Grasses for Bank-Holding.
We desire a grass to be used on levees, to keep from washing. Bermuda or
Johnson gross are dangerous to farming lands.
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