QUERIES AND ANSWERS. 87 



525. Q. Is it true that melon seeds several years old are usually more oui Melon 

 productive than fresh seed ? Seed. 



A. It is true ; and the reason is that fresh seeds have often so much 

 vigor that the plants produce little but stems and leaves, while old 

 seeds of less vigor put out many blossoms which set and develop fruit, all 

 borne upon short-jointed vines. 



526. Q. Why don't cauliflower flourish equally with cabbage ? Cauliflower. 

 A. Because cabbage will grow in any locality where the soil is good 



and the manuring suflicient, but cauliflower requires particular condi- 

 tions, flourishing best in a humid and salt atmosphere. 



527. Q. Is there any vegetable growth which appears to be animal. Fungus. 

 A. Yes ; several. One quite common in some gardens is that fungus 



which develops the club root in cabbage, turnip and carrot. The spores 

 have tail-like appendages which by vibration move along over wet surfaces 

 in a life-like manner. 



528. Q. What is the best all-around fertilizer for vegetables ? Stable 

 A. Well-rotted stable manure from corn-fed and well-kept horses. Manure. 



It contains all the ingredients necessary to a perfectly satisfactory growth. 



529. Q. Which is the superior for cattle feeding — beets, carrots or Beets, 

 turnips ? 



A. Turnips are the least nutritious, but the quickest and cheapest to 

 produce. Carrots are very fattening, but are expensive, and they require 

 much attention. Beets, more properly Mangold, are the most bulky pro- 

 ducers, are rich in sugar and are easily harvested and preserved. They 

 are the best for cattle food. 



530. Q. Can a trucker rely upon phosphates to develop his crops? Phosphateo 

 A. Yes; if the soil contains nitrates and potash from previous manur- 



ings. Most commercial superphosphates contain valuable proportions of 

 nitrogen and often some potash. Heavy soils should have stable manure 

 or green crops plowed under to lighten them. Commercial fertilizers do 

 not aerate the soil ; under their continued use soils become very hard. 



531. Q. Does potash help in growing sweet corn ? Potash. 

 A. Certainly. Wood ashes, it is well known by all farmers, has been 



found very efiiective as a fertilizer to corn crops. But it is not a stimulant 

 to early growth, is only felt very late in the season. 



532. Q. How can I rid my land of white grubs ? Grubs. 

 A. Apply lime and salt, and plow deeply just after frost, and turn the 



furrow slices upside down so that hard frost may kill the pupa of all in- 

 sects awaiting the return of spring. 



533. Q. Why do wrinkled varieties of peas mildew more than hard, Pea Mildew. 

 round-seeded sorts ? 



A. Mildew is a cryptogamic development which for some reason occurs 

 more frequently upon broad-leaved peas than on those of smaller foliage. 

 Early peas hardening their foliage early do not afford so favorable a field 

 for the spread of the fungus. 



