You Do More Work WITH Stevenson Ladders Because They're Easy on Trees, on the User, on the Pocket Hard to Break Easy to Repair Phone or Write for Circular to show this very essential information sufficiently complete. Committee Met Board of Equalization A committee was appointed by the Agricultural Legislative Committee for the purpose of conferring with the State Board of Equalization regarding the corporation franchise tax. This committee was composed of Mr. H. C. Dunlap, California Prune and Apricot Growers, Mr. C. Thorpe, California Walnut Growers' Association, Frank T. Swett, of the California Pear Growers' Association, Bruce W. McDaniel, Mutual Orange Distributors and R. N. Wilson, Secretary of the Agricultural Legislative Committee. The committee met with the State Board of Equalization on the morning of December 22, in Sacramento, for the purpose of discussing the present status of the Corporation Franchise Tax. As a result of this meeting, it was seen that some of the corporations were failing to supply the State Board Equalization with proper information. In order to alleviate this difficulty, the Committee decided to prepare certain exhibits to be sent to the various associations forming the Agricultural Legislative Committee, informing each association or corporation as to the information which each should furnish the State Board of Equalization. It is believed that this movement will tend to eliminate the present source of misunderstanding and improper valuation. Graduated Scale of Taxation Under the present scale of values adopted by the State Board of Equalization, which is subject to change as it desires, if the return to the growers made by an association amounts to a million dollars the franchise tax is placed at $352. The lowest tax is $8 and this is for an association or incorporation which returns not over one hundred thousand dollars per annum to its growers. The amount of the tax is graduated from $8 to $352 according to the amounts returned to the growers. He who would be active, and has to be so, need only think of that which is requisite for the moment, and he will succeed without difficulty or confusion.-Goethe. S "The best way of training the young is train yourself at the same time; not to admonish them, but to be seen always doing that of which you would admonish them."-Plato. For the New Year TART the New Year by planning and doing those things which will make the home dearer and happier for the children and then your own contentment will be assured. We are wonderfully blessed in being able to plan for our flower garden in January, because it teaches lessons that cannot be learned in school and insures the health and happiness of those who work in it. Here in Southern California our florist tells us to prepare our beds for spring planting, and dig in a plentiful supply of manure. Some of the roses may be pruned. Gladiolus bulbs may be planted. Of course food is just as important as the fresh air and sunshine and requires more thought and time than any of your other duties as homemaker. It determines to a great extent your health and that of your family. If you have been negligent about preparing well balanced menus, begin at once to make them different. It may be that your children do not like to eat eggs and milk, and other foods which they should have. Then do not be satisfied until you have found a way to prepare such foods that will be appetizing for them. For instance, you can hardly find a child who does not like ice cream, so serve it more frequently than you have in the past, if it is possible for you to do so. You will be more than repaid in the end, if you do begin to give more thought to the preparation of food, in the saving of doctors' bills, in the advancement your children make in school, and in their good dispositions. You will find that the children themselves can help. One little girl stopped buying and eating candy too frequently when her attention was repeatedly called to the fact that her ill temper was due to this habit. She gradually came to eat dishes that formerly did not appeal to her because she was told it would make her strong so that she could stand on her toes, as that was the one thing she was most desirous of doing. You can find help if you desire it along this line. The Red Cross is doing splendid work. Orange-Chocolate Cake Due to the combination of orange with chocolate the following recipe makes an unusually delicious cake: Filling and Icing 3 tablespoons melted butter 3 cups confectioners' sugar 1 egg white 2 tablespoons orange juice Grated rind of 1⁄2 orange and pulp of 1 orange 3 squares (3 oz.) unsweetened chocolate. Put butter, sugar, orange juice and rind into bowl. Cut pulp from orange, removing skin and seeds, and add. Beat all together until smooth. Fold in beaten egg white. Spread this icing on layer used for top of cake. While icing is soft, sprinkle with unsweetened chocolate shaved in fine pieces with sharp knife (use 1⁄2 square). To remaining icing add 22 squares unsweetened chocolate which has been melted. Spread this thickly between layers and on sides of cake. **Q*Q*0*0*0*0*0 Q* ̄*0*0*0*0 "If I might control the literature of the household, I would guarantee the wellbeing of church and state."-Bacon. Building for the Future If your children are too young to read for themselves, we must not fail to read to them as this affords an excellent medium for forming their ideals. If you are not within reach of a library or you do not know just what to read, you can secure the desired information through this or some other magazine that gives such service to its subscribers. The children will not only have more time for reading now than they will later in life, but what they gain in this way will help them all along the way. (Continued from Page 5) layers of air, just above this cold strata, remain warm for a time and cool chiefly by radiation. The relatively warm air on the hillsides is cooled by the soil and cold strata in the bottom of the valley. The warm air moves up on the slopes and it in turn is cooled and goes downward. There is therefore a continual interchange formed by the numerous fluctuating streams of flow between the cooling surface on the sides of the hill and the great reservoir of warm free air of the valley. Irrigation as a Factor Irrigation: Some growers rely entirely upon irrigation in protecting against frost. Years ago, cranberry growers found that by flooding the bogs, frost was generally warded off if not too severe. This method is effective but only under restricted conditions. There are several outstanding obstacles. The underlying factor involved is that the water gives off a certain heat supply which prevents the temperature of the surface air from decreasing so rapidly as it ordinarily would. Some growers report that the temperature has thus been raised from two to five degrees above that of nearby unirrigated areas. Good for Light Frosts That this method would be effective in meeting a slight frost is evident. In case of severe attack, the results are highly questionable. There are several factors which render this method questionable: (1) the inability of most growers to secure the water at the critical times and in quantities required; (2) the fact that, if additional precautions are later required, the ground is in a wet condition, which would impede the bringing of fuel, etc., onto the groves; (3) a wet soil is slow in absorbing heat during the day and allows of rapid radiation even in cloudy weather; so that if but one irrigation is possible the process is liable to do more harm than good, even though it wards off the frost the first night. Among the growers recommending the use of this method is George L. Belcher, of Pomona, who has had success in his grove at Alta Loma. He has his own irrigation plant and is in a position to get immediate flooding at any hour. Other Forms of Irrigation Used In addition to ordinary irrigation, some growers have tried using overhead sprays and burning wet straw. etc., to introduce moisture into the atmosphere, which raises the dew-point. Stean has also been tried but the excessive loss of heat through the boilers has made this a questionable practice. The California air is generally so dry and the air drainage so rapid, that these methods have met with no general success. In some cases, the fine sprays resulted, when used overhead, in the formation of dangerous ice coverings on the fruit, leaves and branches. and tightly, is a practice used by some California growers. As vegetation is a free radiator and also prevents the soil's heat from rising, the ground is kept clear of weeds and trash. The soil being tightly rolled increases its capacity as a heat conductor. The general use of winter cover crops prevents the utilization of this latent soil warmth. It is a matter for each grower to determine whether or not the amount of humus so acquired is of more value than the frost protection afforded by keeping the ground bare and tightly rolled. To be continued in February issue O Food Elements Which Proper Fertilizers Should Furnish By Geo. Van Buskirk of the F the eighty odd elements, there are ten which are necessary to the life of the average green plant. They are carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, magnesium, sulphur and iron. The carbon and oxygen are derived from the air in the form of carbonic acid gas, while the hydrogen is obtained from water Almost the entire weight of any plant (which of course includes the orange tree) is made up of those three elements, carbon, hydrogen and oxygen. However, this does not mean that the other seven elements are of lesser importance. In fact, it is the other seven which demand our entire attention as there is no argument concerning the need of air and water. Nitrogen, the element we have most to consider, is taken from the soil organic supply, where it is transferred from the insoluble organic state to the soluble inorganic or nitrate state by the action of bacteria in the soil. Of the other six elements there is much argument. In many soils they are present to a certain degree from the mineral particles incorporated in the soil, which by a weathering or disintegrating process are converted to a fine state. Proportions Vary Naturally all these elements are not needed in the same proportion. There is much disagreement as to several of the above elements being required in California soils. Suffice it to say, it is the opinion of many of our most successful orange growers, that a little phosphoric acid and potash in a soluble form is a good investment each year. Calcium, where needed, is supplied by the addition of lime, while sulphur is rapidly closing its experimental stage as a soil conditioner. Consider Nitrogen Now Nevertheless, it is to nitrogen that we as orange growers must direct our attention right now, for the early spring is the time for the Mutual Orange Distributors nitrogenous fertilizing particularly. Nitrogen is the essential ingredient in all living matter, whether plant or animal. No other element takes such an important part in agriculture. What a queer trick Nature played on us mortals when she placed approximately thirty thousand tons of free nitrogen over each acre of land, yet no part was possible of consumption by the plant. Nitrogen to enter the plant life must be in the nitrate form as we have said above. Nitrogen can be added to the soil in organic or inorganic form. Blood, tankage, fish meal. cottonseed meal, etc., comprise the so-called ammoniates, and are the chief source of organic nitrogen. This is the ideal form to be used; it is natural food to the tree. In these products, a decomposing takes place in the soil and the bacteria convert the organic nitrogen into the nitrate form. Naturally, this is a longer, slower process than the inorganic, therefore the above fertilizers should be put into the soil just as early as possible in the spring. Inorganic Sources are The most important inorganic sources nitrate of soda, sulphate of ammonia, nitrate of lime, and calcium cyanamid. Of these we will consider the two which bid fair to take the front rank among our home production, namely sulphate of ammonia and nitrate of lime. The latter at the present time is not manufactured in the United States at all commercially. Norway is the chief producer at present. However, if the government nitrate plant at Muscle Shoals is converted into a large fertilizer works during this age of peace, we may in time be a factor. At present Henry Ford is endeavoring to take up this project, but thus far his propositions have not been accepted by the government. It behooves the American agriculturist to follow up this Muscle Shoals proposition as it may PISTONS FOR EVERY MAKE OF TRACTOR MFGRS. OF THE CELEBRATED AMERICAN RITE-WATE PISTONS We have the largest plant on the Pacific Coast devoted to this class of work. WRITE FOR FOLDER ON TRACTOR TROUBLES become a factor in the fertilizer market. Nitrate of lime would be the first product to be formed, although this could be easily converted to sulphate of ammonia. At present sulphate of ammonia constitutes our greatest domestic source of inorganic nitrogen. Our supply is the outcome of the past decade and is possible of still considerable development. Most of the supply is derived from by-product coke ovens, which collect the gases given off in the conversion of bituminous coal to coke. The old beehive ovens allowed all these valuable gases to escape into the air, thereby wasting approximately $22,000,000 annually. These new ovens are capable ordinarily of producing about twenty pounds of ammonium sulphate for each ton of coal. Sulphate of Ammonia Sulphate of ammonia is a crystalline salt, quite soluble, being completely dissolved in twice its weight of cold water, and analyzes when 97% pure 20% nitrogen. Being soluble, it is thus quickly available for plant use, but also quickly used up. The best method is to put on several applications during the spring, of say three pounds to the tree. As to the action in the soil, it is most generally agreed that sulphate of ammonia breaks up into ammonia and sulphuric acid and that the remainder interacts with calcium carbonate in the soil to form more free ammonia and minute quantities of calcium sulphate. An excellent practice followed by many successful ranchers consists in putting on their organic fertilizer early in February and using a few pounds of sulphate of ammonia to the tree along about April. I know of a number this year who are putting in organic nitrogen during December. With slow acting materials this experiment might prove valuable. THE FERTILIZER MARKET Blood-Due to absence of buyers the past month, blood reacted and is now floating around $5.75 per unit nitrogen. Supply about normal. Tankage-A slight reduction in price; in slow demand during December. The producers are in seemingly strong position. Cottonseed Meal-Price advanced another $2.00 the middle of December, due to small stocks and fine export demand. Fish Meal-Supplies on coast limited. Menhaden fish meal from the east now offered here. Most likely will not affect the market. Prices firm for spring delivery. Nitrate of Soda-Everybody looking for lower prices. However, if price is lowered it may be too late to get supply here in time for spring. Sulphate of Ammonia-A substantial price reduction noticed for December. Can be bought now for about $75.00 a ton. Will no doubt, strengthen later on. NOKUT LETTERS OF PATENT 1099281 END GUARDS -ask the Supply Department to send a trial lot. the winged card that protects Oranges and Lemons at the press. Nokuts save enough fruit to make their cost a paying investment. Nokuts hold fruit inside the packing box, eliminate press pinches, do away with beveling and assist packers to make better packs. BLAKE, MOFFITT & TOWNE WHOLESALE PAPER DEALERS |