QUERIE3 AND ANSWERS. 137 



847. Q. What can I do to eradicate the wild carrot ? Wild Carrot. 

 A. Pulling up the plant or cutting off below the surface of the ground is 



the only remedy. 



848. Q. What are the merits of Dwarf Essex rape? Essex Rape. 

 A. It is a good, healthy, broad-foliaged, palatable plant for feeding cattle 



or sheep, producing twenty to thirty tons of green stuff to the acre. It 

 grows three feet high, and is highly recommended, especially for sheep 

 feeding. It covers the surface so densely as to smother out all weeds and 

 to kill twitch or quack grass. It should be sown in drills or rows at 

 twenty- four to thirty inches apart, and at the rate of two pounds to the 

 acre. 



849. Q. What is the substance termed pollen ? Pollen. 

 A. Taken as a whole, it may be described as a dust of microscopic 



parts or grains of defined shape, varying according to the family of plants 

 producing it. It is the vitalizing portion from the male organ of a plant, 

 and is intended by nature to be brought into contact with the female 

 organs of flowers, which occurs by its falling upon them, or by being car- 

 ried by insects. It retains its vitality for varying periods, in some cases 

 but for a day, in other cases for months. It can be carried by the wind 

 for many miles and thus produce many curious hybridizations. When a 

 grain of pollen reaches the mouth of the pistil, which is frequently moist, 

 the pollen grain immediately develops a long tube which penetrates, seem- 

 ingly by some mysterious instinct, the pistil no matter what its length, till 

 it reaches its base, when some hidden operation occurs necessary to the 

 development of seed which will perpetuate the species. The passage of 

 the above-described tube from the lip of the pistil down to the ovules at 

 its base may occur in a few minutes, or may take days, or weeks, accord- 

 ing to the species of plant. Sometimes the distance is equal to 9000 times 

 the diameter of the pollen grain, a familiar example being found in the 

 long silky threads of corn sometimes nearly two feet in length. Pollen 

 grains are produced in great numbers, often a single flower producing 

 100,000 grains. It is calculated that the pollen produced on an acre of 

 wheat amounts to fifty pounds. 



850. Q. What is the influence of size and weight of seed upon the Seed as to 



growth of plants ? Size and 



A. Full plump seeds will generally sprout quicker than smaller seeds ^ ***"*^* 

 of the same kind, and seeds under size will generally produce weaker 

 plants than those from plump heavy seed, but plants from the small seeds 

 will generally be found to mature a degree earlier and occasionally be 

 quite as productive. The plants from the plump seeds will generally be 

 more vigorous in foliage, as they obtain a better start immediately after 

 germination. 



851. Q. Down here I cannot obtain all the stable manure I require and commercial 

 want to know what you consider the best commercial fertilizer? Fertilizers. 



A. As there are over 1000 brands of commercial fertilizers made in the 

 United States, it is impossible to say what is best, for so many are good, 



