QUERIES AND ANSWERS. 57 



tilizing ingredients and loosens and aerates the soil. Soils too frequently 

 treated with commercial fertilizer become compacted. 



328. Q. Should I plant my radish seed during the increase or decline of Moon 



the moon ? influence. 



A. The moon has no influence upon vegetation. That is an exploded 

 idea too dead to be resurrected. 



329. Q. Why is there more fungus growth some seasons than others? Fungi. 

 A. Nearly all fungus growths can, in a general way, be likened to a 



mushroom growth, and the mushroom, it is well known, flourishes under 

 conditions of moisture. So, likewise, fungus developments are most 

 common in wet seasons. 



330. Q. Why are insects more destructive to vegetables some seasons insects, 

 than others ? 



A. Insects destructive to vegetables always appear in greater numbers 

 after a mild Winter. The larvte of such insects lay dormant in the soil 

 over Winter, and very hard frost kills millions. While under the condi- 

 tions of a mild Winter all live and show themselves in Spring or Summer. 



331. Q. Is a wet or dry season the most profitable to the practical Most 

 market gardener ? Profltabie 



A. A dry one, as a wet season smiles alike on both good and poormana- Seasons. 

 gers, while in a dry season, when so many crops fail, the good manager, 

 having a variety of crops put in at diS"erent periods and possessing practi- 

 cal experience in meeting difficulties as they arise, succeeds in obtaining 

 good crops from some portions of his land and high prices for his products. 



332. Q. Is the perennial Lima bean a desirable sort for garden cultiva- Perennial 

 tion ? Lima. 



A. It does not possess any particular merit beyond novelty. It devel- 

 ops a small bushy plant of slender and procumbent character ; pods four 

 to five inches long and depressed between the seeds, which, when 

 dry, are oblong and thick and of good quality. It is late and a shy 

 bearer. It has the peculiar character of keeping the cotyledons under the 

 earth. Other Limas elevate them. 



333. Q. How many forms of Lima beans are there in general cultivation ? Lima Beans. 

 A. Two very distinct classes, the pole and the bush. The pole or 



climbing class can be divided into the Large Lima, the Challenger Lima, 

 King of Garden Lima, and the Carolina, both white, yellow, spotted 

 and black. The bush or dwarf class can be divided into the Dwarf 

 Carolina in three colors, white, yellow, spotted ; the Potato Lima, or 

 Dreer's Dwarf, or Kumerle, the Burpee Lima, and the Perennial Lima. 



334. Q. Can the Large Lima bean be kept alive so that the same roots perennial 

 will produce a crop the second Summer ? Beans. 



A. It is doubtful if it could be done, except in Southern Florida. In 

 California, the Perennial Lima and the White Dutch Runner beans, which 

 both have fleshy roots, often live over Winter, and send up from near the 

 surface a second growth of vines, producing a second crop of pods. 



335. Q. Why is a snap short or stringless bean called a string bean? ^ string Beans. 

 A. Simply through force of habit or custom. The bean of years ago, 



