48 



QUERIES AND ANSWERS. 



Germination. 



Melon 

 Mildew. 



Potatoes 

 Growing. 



Weeds- 



Twining of 

 Beans. 



Toads. 



Climbing 

 Plants. 



Cause of 

 Climbing. 



Spring 

 Wlieat. 



nate, then the seed might have been deficient in vitality. But, as you 

 say it is spotty, it indicates a cause not attributable to the seed, but possi- 

 bly to poor tillage, poor sowing, unfavorable conditions of rain fall, heat 

 or cold, or possibly to insects over or under ground. If one foot of row 

 was good, so should have been a thousand feet, for all the good seed could 

 not have got into one place. 



267. Q. Is mildew common to muskmelons ? Mine are covered with it. 

 A. Yes. Something like grape mildew. It can be held in check by 



spraying with Bordeaux mixture. 



268. Q. My potatoes stored in cellar have many of them developed new 

 young potatoes of an inch in size. "What is the cause of this? 



A. Probably heat and moisture. It is an old practice in England to 

 force such an abnormal growth. In under-glass experiments with pota- 

 toes it is quite common for potato eyes to at once produce small but per- 

 fect tubers. 



266. Q. How many varieties of weeds are there to annoy the farmer? 



A. The New Jersey State Agricultural College exhibited at the Chicago 

 Fair 751 species, and that did not comprise one-half of what exist in the 

 United States. 



270. Q. Why do beans and other climbing plants twist contrary to 

 the course of the sun ? 



A. You are mistaken, as all da not twist the same. Among those 

 twisting against the sun are Garden Pole beans, morning glory, jas- 

 minum, wistaria, clematis. Among those twisting with the sun are the 

 hop vine, honeysuckle, and many others, and some climbers go in both 

 directions, as the nasturtium. 



271. Q. My garden is infested by toads. Do you advise me to kill 

 them? 



A. No I They don't harm you or any of your vegetables or flowers, but, 

 to the contrary, eat thousands of insects which might be very destructive. 

 In France, gardeners pay twenty-five cents apiece for them as insect ex- 

 terminators. 



272. Q. How many classes of climbing plants are there ? 



A. Four classes : 1. Those which twine spirally round a support, as a 

 Lima bean. 2. Those which possess irritable organs, which, when 

 they touch any object, clasp it, as a clematis. 3. Those which climb up 

 by means of hooks, as cucumbers. 4. Those which climb by rootlets, as 

 the ivy. 



273. Q. "What causes the Lima bean, for instance, to climb a pole? 



A. The nerve force seems to be centred in the last formed internode — 

 the previously formed one losing its disposition to travel with or against 

 the sun. "What causes the movement it is impossible to say. 



274. Q. Can I grow in my section of Georgia a crop of Minnesota 

 Spring wheat? 



A. No ; not as a Spring-sown crop, but it might do well as an Autumn 

 crop same as Winter wheat. Many crops of an annual habit can be 



