98 



QUERIES AXD ANSWERS. 



Red Color 

 Mystical. 



Forest 

 Growth. 



Celery 

 BUght. 



Celery in 

 the South. 



Ergot. 



Fertilizing. 



Moon's 

 Influence. 



which developed heat and greatly extended the growth of some fungous 

 disease already on the pods. This result can be partially avoided by dry- 

 ing and airing the pods under cover in a cool place, as on tables in a 

 shed. No vegetable should be shipped direct from the field until it is 

 cooled off, 



596. Q. "Why do country horsemen and stable boys tie up the tails of 

 their horses with red cloth ? 



A. It is an old tradition that red is the proper thing to use, the color 

 being a mystical safeguard against evil spirits. They don't do it for this 

 purpose, but simply because it is the practice. 



597. Q. Does soft wood— as pine — or hard wood — as oak and chestnut — 

 indicate the agricultural qualities of land ? 



A. Not always ; for many sections of country, without any change in 

 soil, naturally develop both, hard and soft forests following each other. 

 Two hundred years ago the State of Delaware was covered with hard 

 woods, and no oak was superior then, or is now, to the oak of Delaware ; 

 but large sections where oak was cut off, pines followed, and the soil is 

 the same now as then. 



598. Q. What causes the blight in celery ? 



A. It is caused by a parasitic fungus. A preventive sometimes used 

 before the celery crop is planted is kainit. This should be applied not 

 only to the field but to the seed bed. 



599. Q. Why cannot I grow celery at Savannah as successfully as I 

 formerly did at Easton, Pa.? 



A. You can, provided your soil and location is of the proper kind, as 

 celery is successfully grown as far South as Tampa, Fla. As for the soil, 

 it should be rich and mucky ; as for the location, it should be upon land 

 where a constant understrata of water is near the surface. Celery is a 

 bog plant, and should do in many locations on rice plantations, and so 

 should cauliflower. It would be found advantageous to shade celery by 

 alternate rows of corn or sunflower. 



600. Q. What is ergot on rye ? 



A. A fungus attacking the grain when quite young, producing a horny 

 growth of disagreeable odor and quite poisonous. When ergoted grain is 

 used for making meal it always develops sickness and sometimes produces 

 convulsions, gangrene, and often death. 



601. Q. Can vegetables be fertilized through their foliage? 



A. Not in the open garden, but to a small extent in glass houses, by 

 making an artificial atmosphere charged slightly with carbonate of am- 

 monia. 



602. Q. I want to put a new shingle roof upon my barn and my country 

 carpenter tells me I should only do it during the decline of the moon. Is 

 there any force in this ? 



A. The proper time to shingle a roof, to plant seed, or to kill pork is 

 just when you are ready. All these old-fashioned ideas about the influence 

 of the moon are exploded, except in the opinions of a few old-fashioned 



