For a Reclaimed Swamp.

I have land, formerly a pond which dried up in the summer months.  It has been thoroughly drained now for several years.  The land surrounding it is good fertile soil and produces good crops.  On this piece, however, crops come up and look fairly well until about two inches high when they turn yellow and die.  Mesquite grass and strawberries seem to be the only crops that will live, and they do not do at all well.  Sorrel grows abundantly in the natural state.

Apparently the reclaimed land which you speak of needs liming to overcome the acidity in the soil.  Common builders’ lime applied at the rate of 1000 pounds to the acre at the beginning of the rainy season ought to make the land much more productive and the soil, at the same time, more friable.  Deep plowing with aeration will also help the land, and this treatment can begin at once if the soil is workable.  Other additions of lime can be made later as they may be required to make the improvement permanent.

Improving Uncovered Subsoil.

What is the best treatment for spots that have been scraped in leveling for irrigation?

The land can be improved by plowing deeply and turning in stable manure or green alfalfa or any other vegetable matter which may decay, rendering the soil rich in humus and more friable.  Of course, it will take some time to accomplish this improvement, and it is necessary that there be moisture enough present to cause the material to decay in order that the improvement may be secured.

Sand for Clay Soils.

Will beach sand do adobe or clay soil any good?  It gets hard at times and I thought that if I was to put beach sand in the ground the salt in the sand would do the ground harm.

It is certainly desirable to mix sand with heavy soil for the purpose of making it lighter — that is, better drained and more friable and therefore improving it for the growth of plants.  Sometimes beach sand contains a good deal of salt, which, however, is readily removed by fresh water, and sand hauled and exposed to the rains rapidly loses any excess of salt it may contain.  Probably with such an amount of sand as you are likely to use to mix with your adobe, there is no danger at all from salt.  Even if such sand should contain considerable salt, if applied at the beginning of the rainy season it would be so quickly distributed as to not constitute a menace to the growth of plants.  The worst adobe can be transformed into a most beautiful garden soil by the application of sand and stable manure.

Plowing from or Towards.

Which is the proper way to plow an orchard?  First to plow to the trees and then to plow from them, or to plow from the trees and then to them, and your reasons?  I have had many arguments with my neighbor farmers.