QUERIES AND ANSWERS. 117 



A. Treatment with fumes of bisulphide of carbon. The grain, how- 

 ever, if to be used for milling, must be thoroughly aired, otherwise an 

 offensive odor will remain. The work must be done in an air-tight room 

 of a size corresponding to the amount of the seed to be treated. Four 

 quarts of bisulphide is sufficient to treat four hundred bushels of grain at 

 one application. The exposure to the fumes should be from ten to twenty 

 hours. No fire should, in any case, be allowed near the room in which 

 the treatment takes place, as the vapor is highly explosive. 



730. Q. How long should I wait for seed to sprout before condemning Unvitai 

 the seed as unvitai ? Seed. 



A. That depends on the age of the seed, the kind of seed, the time of 

 sowing, the condition of the soil when sown, and the subsequent condi- 

 tions of atmosphere, and how shallow or how deeply put in. Any one of 

 these conditions being very unfavorable might prevent germination of 

 perfectly vital seed. Some people are entirely too quick to jump at a 

 conclusion that because seed don't come up that it is unvitai. They 

 know too much, based on a very small experience. 



731. Q. "Why do I have so much trouble in securing a good stand of Parsnips, 

 parsnips ? 



A. The seed is always very light and slow to germinate, even under 

 the most favorable conditions. When the soil is dry, and still worse, 

 baked by the sun, the seed is especially slow to sprout ; but, left alone, it 

 will generally come in time. Many crops are given up by the planters 

 entirely too soon — they should have patience. 



733. Q. Why are New Jersey cantaloupes sweeter than those grown Jersey 

 farther South ? Cantaloupes. 



A. A section two hundred or three hundred miles farther north of a 

 more southern section enjoys a longer daylight and twilight during July 

 and August, just as in extreme Northern regions, approaching the North 

 pole, the sun does not set, but shines continuously the twenty-four hours. 

 This condition of extended daylight is favorable to the development of 

 sugar. Visitors to Canada in August never fail to praise the Montreal 

 melons for their delicious flavor. The seed, taken from the melons and 

 planted in a more southern locality, will not produce melons equal to the 

 originals ; and generally Northern seed is not all vital, due to imperfect 

 pollination. New Jersey cantaloupes unite all the good qualities of form, 

 size, color and flavor. Jersey sands seem to be the home of the canta- 

 loupe. 



733. Q. When does the pollination of squash, melon, cucumber, and Pollination. 

 flow^ers of all other vine plants of like character take place? 



A. Nearly always early in the morning, and generally through the 

 agency of insects. Some time may elapse during the passage through the 

 style to the ovules, but it gets there finally. The female flower of the 

 cucurbit family generally produces an embryo fruit or ovary before fecun- 

 dation. Their fruit, if not fecundated, either produce unvitai seed or most 

 generally drop off". Vine crops are retarded in pollination when frequent 



