158 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE 



every variety would eventually run out 

 and vanish from the earth. It would be 

 difficult to estimate what the loss of 

 this valuable esculent would be to the 

 world. 



-J; j|c * * * 



Save the Potato Balls. 



Gone are the days when the pictur- 

 esque seed balls could be seen in count- 

 less numbers in every potato field. To- 

 day they almost seem a relic of a past 

 age. If any one is so fortunate as tc 

 find balls on their vines, they should 

 be saved with the utmost care. I can 

 use all you care to dispose of- 



Potato seeds grow as readily as to- 

 mato seeds. Plant them early in the 

 spring and when they are four or five 

 inches high transplant two feet apart 

 They will produce tubers the size of 

 marbles, with perhaps a few as large 

 as a hen's egg, the first year, and in 

 three years will attain their full de- 

 velopment. 



The growing of potatoes from the 

 seed is most interesting and the possi- 

 bilitv of producing a variety superioi 

 to all others and therefore more valu- 

 able than a gold mine is fascinating in 

 the extreme. 



setting out onions upside down is a 

 true incident. I do not pretend to un- 

 derstand it. I suppose the boy was in 

 error- I did not take the matter ser- 

 iously enough ever to try the plan. At 

 all events, I thought the incident is 

 along the same line as some of your 

 other articles and might call out some 

 interesting comments." 



Here and there an Autumn torch is lighted, 

 Here and there a tongue of flame is seen; 

 Soon there'll be a monster conflagration, 

 And so will end the Summer's reign of 

 green. 



— Emma Peirce. 



Planting Bulbs Upside Down. 



Hyde Park, New York. 

 To the Editor : 



Your several articles relative to the 

 planting of bulbs upside down remind 

 me of a little incident that occurred 

 several years ago. 



One spring as I was passing by a 

 neighbor's farm where his young son 

 was planting small onions, I jokingly 

 said, "Of course you know that onions 

 should be set out upside down." I 

 passed on, supposing he would take my 

 remark as a joke. But he didn't- Af- 

 ter harvesting the onions he said, "Mr. 

 Cook, you were right about planting 

 those onions, for those I planted upside 

 down yielded twice as much as the rest 

 Thus did my fame as a gardener early 

 begin to spread. 



A. T. Cook. 



An editorial inquiry called Mr. Cook's 

 attention to the danger of misunder- 

 standing this letter. Should onions be 

 planted upside down ! ! He replies : 



"My little item sent you relative to 



Yellow Jackets and Hornets. 



A letter just received from W. C. 

 Britton, State entomologist, says that 

 the plague of yellow jackets and other 

 hornets is extraordinary- He advises 

 carbon bi-sulphide in their nests, or 

 soaking with kerosene and burning out 

 at night. It is possible that fruit-grow- 

 ers will ask for a law protecting 

 skunks from being killed so extensively 

 as they are for their fur. Skunks are 

 a great benefit, although they do once 

 in a while steal young chickens that are 

 left unprotected at night. Skunks dig 

 up the yellow jackets' nests in the 

 ground and eat the insects and larvae 

 and they also devour many other nox- 

 ious insects, worms, moths, beetles 

 etc.. besides mice and moles. The ani- 

 mals have been trapped so extensively 

 that the increase in yellow jackets may 

 be the result. It is certainly interest- 

 ing to find the spots where skunks 

 have exhumed the hot little pests and 

 cleaned out their combs, a job that all 

 are willing to leave to friend skunk- 



-"The Stamford Advocate." 



This item from a local paper in no 

 sense exaggerates the number of yellow 

 jackets and hornets, especially the for- 

 mer, that are present this year. On a 

 recent visit to an apple orchard in 

 Georgetown, and again to a peach or- 

 chard in Hunting Ridge, I found it dif- 

 ficult to pare an apple or a peach on 

 account of the yellow jackets and hor- 

 nets that would alight on the fruit. 

 The peach orchards are full of yellow 

 jackets, and while the workmen do not 

 seem to be stung, it is annoying to have 

 face and hands covered with yellow 

 jackets. 



