78 



QUERIES AND ANSWERS. 



Grubs. 



Arsenical 

 Poisons. 



Grasses 



for 



dry soils. 



Fangi and 

 Insects. 



Plant 

 Diseases. 



Pea Mold. 



Rye Grasses. 



Half-ripe 

 Seed. 



Vegetable 

 Diseases. 



454. Q. What is the best application to check the ravages of under- 

 ground grubs ? 



A. Kerosene emulsion has been found beneficial upon root-crops of 

 radish, and will be found offensive to all grubs. 



455. Q. What are arsenical food poisons ? 



A. Paris green, arsenite of copper, white arsenic, arsenious oxide, Lon- 

 don purple, calcium arsenite. 



456. Q. What kinds of grass are best adapted for culture in arid dis- 

 tricts ? 



A. Those with deeply-penetrating roots and others with thickened or 

 fleshy, creeping, underground stems. Gramma, Buffalo, Bermuda, and 

 Wire grass are the best. Shallow-rooted, broad-leaved grasses won't do. 



457. Q. Do insects dwelling upon garden vegetables eat fungi growing 

 upon the same plants? 



A. Yes ; very generally ; and a portion not eaten are taken up by the 

 hairs of insects and thus carried from the infected plants to healthy ones. 

 Some garden fungi germinate and continue to grow upon the bodies of 

 insects. 



458. Q. Is disease hereditary in plants ? 



A. By analogy it is so, and it is believed observations have proven it. 

 It is impossible to overestimate the importance of caution in the selection 

 of healthy seed. 



-^59. Q. What causes pea mold ? 



A. There are several forms of pea mold. One developed principally 

 under conditions of damp, close atmosphere and retarded by dry weather. 

 Another form is favored by dry atmosphere and retarded by rain. Noth- 

 ing can be offered as a satisfactory remedy to destroy the fungus while 

 preserving at the same time the value of the crop. 



460. Q. How can I distinguish Perennial Rye grass from the Italian ? 

 A. The bases of the Perennial are red and flat. The bases of the Italian 



are red and perfectly round. 



461. Q. Can a variety of a garden vegetable be made earlier by growing 

 it from half-ripened seed ? 



A. Experiments have demonstrated this to be so, provided the system 

 be continued for three or four successive generations. Plants grown from 

 such pedigree seed show an early habit because they are weak and puny. 

 Continued long enough the resultant crops would become exceedingly 

 unproductive. 



463. Q. Are diseases of vegetables increasing? 



A. No ; not to any great extent. But the close intercourse of remote 

 sections of the country tends to introduce into every section the fungous 

 diseases of every other section, and under the conditions of greatly in- 

 creased scientific agricultural knowledge the public has its attention 

 called to what some years ago would have passed unnoticed. Then as 

 now nearly every esculent vegetable was subject to disease, in fact it is 

 rare that any garden vegetable can be found not supporting a foreign 



