116 



QUERIES AND ANSWERS. 



Radish. 



Effect of 

 Selection. 



Cabbage 

 Idee. 



Hearing of 

 Insects. 



Electric 

 light. 



Hybridiza- 

 tion. 



Sight of 

 Insects. 



Asphyxiation 

 of Insects. 



Grain 

 Insects. 



the morning twilight begins a little after 3 o'clock. In fact it is only dark 

 for four or five hours This results in the development of a degree of sugar 

 far greater than possessed by any corn which can be grown in Virginia. 



721. Q. Which is the best Long White radish ? 



A. Lady-finger is three to four inches long, pure white, very brittle 

 and early of maturity. 



722. Q. Does careful selection over many years successivelj'' weaken 

 the seeding qualities of vegetables ? 



A. Yes ; all high-class vegetables, like animals, being by intense selec- 

 tion weakened in perpetuative powers. 



723. Q. Is a field afiiicted with cabbage lice upon a crop likely to be 

 affected with lice the next year? 



A. Yes, unless the Winter is severe, in which case not an insect may 

 appear the succeeding Summer. If then they appear they can be kept in 

 partial check by kerosene emulsion, the previous season demonstrating 

 the necessity of being prepared to fight them immediately upon their first 

 appearance. 



724. Q. Do garden insects hear? 



A. Yes, to a slight extent. The sound-producing insects all make 

 their noises by abdominal joints, never through their mouths. 



725. Q. What is the effect of electric light on growing plants? 



A. Electric light seems to take to a degree the place of solar light, the 

 plants continuing to decompose carbonic acid, to extract oxygen, and to 

 perspire. A plant's health depends very much upon the quantity of car- 

 bonic acid decomposed ; consequently the electric light is valuable as ex- 

 tending, as it were, the hours of daylight. 



726. Q. Will cabbage and turnip plants, blooming alongside of each 

 other, hybridize? 



A. There is little danger of hybridization occurring under natural con- 

 ditions, even if a field of cabbage and one of turnips be immediately ad- 

 jacent, but a hybridization will occur if an intense effort be made to- 

 effect it. 



727. Q. Is the sight of insects well developed ? 



A. No ; very imperfectly. They are to a large extent guided in their 

 movements by sense organs with which man has none to compare. 



728. Q. Is there any gas which I can use to kill bugs on my garden 

 plants ? 



A. You can use the vapor of bisulphide of carbon, provided you can 

 procure air-tight vessels of paper, tin, or glass to completely cover the 

 plants. Under these coverings, placed over the plants, introduce one 

 tablespoon ful of the liquid, which will evaporate and asphyxiate all in- 

 sects within an hour. The breathing apparatus of insects pervades the 

 whole body, and poisonous vapors penetrate simultaneously the entire 

 system. Don't inhale the vapor, as it is a rank poison. 



729. Q. What is the best course to adopt to kill insects in dry wheats 

 corn, or other grain or seed ? 



