QUERIES AND ANSWERS. 113 



A. Only one course is practical, and that is to dig up and remove the 

 roots and soil, going to a depth of twelve inches Fill in the excavations 

 with new earth free from wire grass. 



704. Q. Are the methods of agriculture advancing as rapidly as the Methods of 

 practice of other arts and professions ? . , Agriculture. 



A. No art is so favored. No art has so many newspapers published 

 exclusively in its interests. Nearly every State of the Union has estab- 

 lished agricultural experimental stations. Every scientific naturalist is 

 working in the interest of agriculture. Thus there is being developed a 

 theory of agriculture ; but theory and the results of practice do not always 

 harmonize, as no control can be exercised over the degrees of rainfall, 

 cold or heat, all of which have so direct an influence over the growth of 

 plants, and little can be done to prevent the appearance of fungi and 

 insect enemies ; only palliative remedies when they do appear. Agricul- 

 tural theories are very valuable, but they alone will not make a crop, as 

 a ship-building designer plans an ocean racer. 



705. Q. Why do cabbage heads sometimes burst open or split? Cabbage 

 A. Because of an excess of moisture pumped up by the roots and so ""^^ ^"^' 



distending the tissues of the interior leaves as to burst the exterior ones. 

 Cabbages while in a healthy, growing condition never burst, but only 

 under the influences of a second growth. 



706. Q. My melon vines, now half-grown, are dying at the root. Can Fungus. 

 I do anything to save them ? 



A. The trouble may be from sunburn or from underground grubs, but 

 most probably it arises from a fungous attack destructive to the bark of 

 stem and roots. If this be so the bark is brown and slufllng ofi". Noth- 

 ing can be done to positively arrest the disease. Lime and sulphur may 

 have a good efi"ect. 



707. Q. What efl"ect has nitrate of soda upon garden vegetable crops, Nitrate of 

 and can it be used to the exclusion of other fertilizers ? Soda. 



A. Nitrate of soda is valuable for its nitrogen, which is an active stim- 

 ulant. Especially valuable to leaf-producing plants. It is not a com- 

 plete fertilizer, as plants want potash and phosphoric acid also. Most soils 

 contain enough lime. 



708. Q. What is the best receptacle I can use to exclude moisture from Keeping 

 my garden seeds ? Seeds. 



A. Tin boxes with screw tops or glass jars made air-tight by rubbers, 

 as in preserving jars. 



709. Q. What is the difierence in the production of seed in the Russian Sunflower. 

 sunflower and the old form ? 



A. The Russian is twice as productive, 2500 pounds of seed have been 

 raised to the acre. The Russian produces but one flower to the stalk. 

 The seed is valuable as food for poultry, hogs and cattle, and for making 

 oil. 



710 Q. When spraying my melon vines to kill the louse can I raise up Melon 

 the vines so as to expose the under surface to the spray ? Louse. 



