106 



QUERIES AND ANSWERS. 



Fungi. 



Cabbage. 



Sunbam. 



Beet. 



Onion. 



Web Worm. 



French 

 Artichoke. 



A. After the crop is removed the fungus germs nearly always find 

 weeds and plants of some other kind on the same land to feed upon, to 

 perpetuate their species over the balance of the growing season, and 

 through most Winters the germs will lie dormant, ready to attach them- 

 selves to some plant the next Spring. 



654. Q. "What are fungi? 



A. A very low order of vegetation, a flowerless order, illustrated in 

 our vegetable gardens by the mushroom and propagated by minute, 

 spreading fronds. 



655. Q. If after I have set out my cabbage plants and they have rooted 

 and commenced to grow, there comes a spell of cold weather which, 

 although not enough to wilt the leaves, checks the growth for a period of 

 several days, what would probably be the efiect on their heading? 



A. The check of transplanting young cabbage plants from the seed 

 bed to the field seems to induce an inclination to form heads, but after the 

 transplanted cabbages are well established any subsequent check from 

 frost or severe drought seems to induce a disposition to go to seed. That 

 inclination once established, the plants commence to show all sorts of vari- 

 ability of shape and character, sometimes not over half of the crop mak- 

 ing good heads. 



656. Q. Can I use any preventive against sunburn of my water- 

 melons ? 



A. When the vines are about half grown broadcast buckwheat, which 

 by time the melons are ripe will protect them partially from the sun. 



657. Q. Where did the beet originate, or from whence did the first beet 

 come? 



A. It is a native of sandy seacoasts of the Mediterranean, Black and 

 Caspian seas. 



658. Q. Is the origin of the onion known ? 



A. It is not ; but it certainly is one of the earliest of cultivated plants — 

 well known to the Egyptians. 



659. Q. What shall I do to drive off an insect which is destroying ray 

 beets and mangels by eating the leaves and spinning a web on the top of 

 the wreck ? 



A. The description would mark it as one of the web-worms, of which 

 there are several. They do not confine themselves to beets, but will take 

 anything in the way of garden truck. To kill them, spray with a solu- 

 tion of Paris green, one pound of tlie poison to 150 gallons of water, and 

 three gallons of molasses to make it stick to the leaves. 



660. Q. Why is not the artichoke cultivated as generally in the United 

 States as in France ? 



A. Because our Winters are too severe, except in the cotton States, and 

 because we are accustomed to better food. The artichoke is really of so 

 little merit that it is not received with favor by Americans, even in local- 

 ities where it can be successfully grown. The artichoke plant is a form 

 of cardoon, which latter plant is cultivated for its bleached foot stalks 



