QUERIES AND ANSWERS. 79 



growth. In the Bloomsdale experimental garden every plant of every 

 family may be said to be affected either iu leaf, stem or root, and the 

 plants there grown are healthy as can be found anywhere. Smut or mil- 

 dew or some other form of disease may be said to be always present. 



463. Q. The United States Secretary of Agriculture declares that the The Plow. 

 plow is a humbug. Is he correct ? 



A. After he invents a better implement he will be a better authority. 

 Political commissioners do not make practical farmers. 



464. Q. "What is the potato vine blight? Potato Blight 

 A. The potato is subject to the attacks of several parasitic fungi, two 



or more of which attack clover and lettuce, appearing as patches of white 

 film, which, in a few weeks, spread over the entire plant, extract the 

 juice and reduce the vigor of the plant so that growth of tubers ceases. 

 There is no remedy for this disease, and to prevent its spread exceedingly 

 great caution has to be observed in burning all the stems of the infected 

 crop. 



465. Q. Where does the white grub come from? White Grub. 

 A. The while grub is the larv?e of the familiar June bug, or, more cor- 

 rectly. May beetle, which, in the early Spring months, enters dwellings 



in the evening, swarming about the lights, buzzing loudly and violently, 

 knocking themselves against the walls and ceilings. The perfect insect 

 feeds upon the foliage of trees, and is more or less destructive. The eggs 

 are deposited in the earth, and hatch in about a month. The grubs re- 

 main in the ground, doing little injury till the second Summer, when 

 they attack the roots of plants. They remain as grubs in the earth for 

 nearly three years, by which time they reach a length of two inches, and 

 often appear in such great numbers as to do immense damage. 



466. Q. My asparagus, now about ready to send to market, is being de- Asparagus 

 stroyed by the beetle. What can I do ? Beetle. 



A. Nothing can be done to destroy the asparagus beetle upon the mar- 

 ketable shoots, as mineral poisons would be destructive to human life, and 

 offensive applications would destroy the value of the crop. 



Asparagus beds past the marketable condition of growth can be dressed 

 advantageously with a solution of a table^poonful of Paris green in 

 four gallons of water, which will be generally found to kill the slugs. 

 Sometimes effective results ensue by the application of freshly slaked lime i 



while the dew is on them, for the least particle of lime touching the skin 

 of a slug is certain to kill it. 



467. Q. Why do turnips, beets and carrots keep better some seasons Turnip 

 than others ? PreserTatlon. 



A. Probably because better protected from frost — or possibly no amount 

 of protection would have prevented decay, as the roots may have been 

 sickly, consequent upon an unhealthy growth, the result of Autumn 

 weather conditions, either too wet or too dry, or damage by insects or 

 fungous growth. 



