-^ O^^^^'ioC) DraLo^p. ^ 



A New Raspberry, 



1023. Sib, — I have among my seedling 

 raspberries a black raspberry or Black Cap, 

 that is the largest I ever saw — fully one- 

 third larger than Gregg. It fruits freely 

 from the new wood and is very late, the first 

 fruit on the new wood just ripening, and red 

 and green berries yet to ripen. If it proves 

 as good as 1 think it is, I ought to make 

 something out of it. Can you advise me as 

 to the best way to proceed ? 



L. Fairbanks, Whitby, Ont. 



We would advise our correspondent 

 to send samples to the New Fruits Com- 

 mittee ; and also to all nurserymen. Pos 

 sibly some one will buy the right of 

 propagation, if it has real value. 



Handling Potatoes. 



10341. Sir, — When is the proper time to 

 store potatoes ? I have an early kind about 

 ripe. Should they be put in cellar now, or 

 left in the ground, and if so, how long ? 



A. B. C, Iroquois. 



Potatoes should be dug when fully 

 matured, which helps prevent the devel 

 opment of the rot (blight), and kept at a 

 temperature not to exceed 50 degrees. 

 The ideal way of keeping potatoes is in 

 cool dry pits — where they retain their 

 best qualities. 



Few cellars are suitable for keeping 

 potatoes. Heat shrivels the tubers and 

 forces growth. Light makes the skin 

 and flesh green, and unfit for food. 



Alf. Brown, Iroquois. 



The Luna Moth. 



lO^'t. Sir, ■ — 1 managed to capture a 

 pair of worms on a hickory tree, and I can- 

 not find them in my insect books. 



They are green, with yellow specks in the 

 same places as the prickles on the Cecropia. 

 They are very much like the Polyphemus 

 only they have no specks on the back of the 

 head. 



Their cocoons are about an inch long and 



half an inch both'wide and high, and are per- 

 fectly white. 



George B. Pattison, Orimshy. 



The insect referred to in the above 

 letter, as far as I can judge from the 

 brief description of the worms and co- 

 coon, is probably the Luna Emperor 

 Moth (Actias luna), the most lovely 

 insect that we have in this country, with 

 its pale green wings drawn out into long 

 crescent shaped tails, and pure white 

 body. Its caterpillars feed upon hick- 

 ory, butternut, walnut and beech trees. 



C. J. S. Bethune, Fort Hope. 



Sunflower Seed for Poultry. 



1036. Sir, — Please give directions for 

 curing sunflower seed for poultry. 



A Subscriber, Iroquois. 



Sunflowers, for the seeds, should be 

 allowed to dry thoroughly on the plants, 

 if possible, and this will be quite possi- 

 ble if the weather remains as dry as we 

 have had it in this section of Ontario for 

 the past six weeks. 



Then the heads or flowers should be 

 cut off", leaving about 3 inches of the 

 stem on the heads, and then placed 

 heads upwards on a floor, always select- 

 ing a dry place (because sunflowers 

 readily gather moisture). When per- 

 fectly dry, the flowers should have the 

 seeds rubbed out of them by hand, 

 which will be done very quickly as soon 

 as the flowers are perfectly dry. 



I emphasize the fact of having the 

 flowers perfectly dry, because the sun- 

 flower seed is very difficult to dry if it 

 has gathered any moisture. 



Now, if the season should turn wet 

 towards the ripening-time of the flowers, 

 we recommend cutting them ahead, and 



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