58 



QUERIES AND ANSWERS. 



Butter Beans. 



Germination. 



Bermuda 

 Grass. 



Cow Peas. 



Cotton 

 Fertilizers. 



Club Root. 



Green 

 IVIanuring. 



Grass Soils. 



all having been stringy, which undesirable quality has, by intense selec- 

 tion, been eliminated, the best "string beans" now not possessing any 

 strings, but snapping off short like sticks of glass. 



336. Q. What are "butter" beans ? 



A. At the present day the term butter beans is applied to yellow wax- 

 podded sorts, as they somewhat resemble butter in color ; but years ago 

 the term was only applied to the Lima bean, as it was usually served with 

 a butter sauce. 



337. Q. Do seeds diflFer much in sprouting qualities ? 



A. Yes ; very much. There is a great variation in germinative power 

 under diverse conditions of soil as respect heat and cold, excessive damp- 

 ness or dryness. Most seeds make but one effort to start or germinate, 

 that is, they start, and, if unchecked, continue to grow freely, or, per- 

 haps, drag along if not arrested entirely ; but some others, wheat, for ex- 

 ample, can be stopped entirely by cold or heat, excessive wet or drought, 

 and, upon the return of favorable conditions, start again and again, four 

 or five times repeated. 



338. Q. What is the best grass I can use in Florida to stop my land 

 from washing ? 



A. Bermuda grass, planted by cutting small pieces of sod and inserting it. 



339. Q. How do you recommend Cow peas to be used ? 



A. 1. The vines can be plowed under when green. 2. The vines can 

 be cut and dried for cattle food. 3. The vines can be allowed to dry and 

 produce a crop of seed. 4. The vines can be allowed to dry and fall ou 

 the surface and lay all Winter. 



340. Q. What is the best manure for cotton ? 



A. Cotton requires phosphoric acid, nitrogen and potash in the order 

 named. Or for a crop of say 300 pounds of lint per acre say 50 pounds 

 phosphoric acid, 20 pounds nitrogen, and 15 pounds potash. For the 

 phosphoric acid, use commercial super-phosphates possessing a large 

 quantity of soluble phosphoric acid ; for nitrogen, use dried blood, dried 

 fish, ground cotton seed ; for potash, use muriate of potash. 



341. Q. My cabbage has developed club root. Instruct me how to stop 

 it from destroying the entire field ? 



A. It cannot be stopped, as any application now would be too late. 

 After the crop is off, apply 80 bushels of slacked lime per acre and 8 

 bushels of salt. 



342. Q. What plants can I best use for green manuring? 



A. Cow pea, alfalfa, scarlet clover, melilotus, serradilla, lupine, vetch, 

 rye, maize, sorghum, red clover. 



343. Q. Name the situations where various grasses do best ? 



A. In special locations as on lowlands or mountain sides, or on special 

 soils as sands, gravels, clays, loams, some sorts may, with advantage, be 

 omitted and others added. Timothy, for example, a short-lived hay 

 grass, does best on well-drained land and in northern latitudes. Red 

 Top, a longer-lived sort, does better on moist land, even sustaining long- 



