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Wickson, Edward J. (Edward James), 1848-1923

"One Thousand Questions in California Agriculture Answered"

Peas came up and
kept dying at the bottom with blossoms at the top tilt they were four or
five feet high, but I never could get enough peas for a mess. Can you
help me get this thing right?
Use of stable manure and water freely. Your trouble probably lies either
in the lack of plant food or of moisture in the soil. This, of course,
is supposing that you cultivate well so that the moisture you use shall
not be evaporated and the ground hardened by the process. During the
summer a good surface application of stable manure to which water can be
applied would be better than to work manure into the soil, which should
be done at the beginning of the rainy season. As your soil is so shallow
it will be well for you to stand along the side of the plant much of the
time with a bucket of water in one hand and a shovel of manure in the
other.

Planting Trees in Alkali Soil.

My land contains a considerable quantity of both the black and white
alkalies, the upper two feet being a rather heavy, sticky clay, the next
three feet below being fine sand, containing more or less alkali, while
immediately underneath this sand is a dense black muck in which, summer
and winter, is found the ground-water. Do you think the following method
of setting trees would be advantageous. Excavate for each tree a hole
three feet in diameter and three feet deep. Fill in a layer of three or
four inches of coarse hay, forming a lining for the excavation.


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