140 



QUERIES AND ANSWERS. 



Potato 863. Q. Some worm is in the stalks of my potato patch boring them 



stem Borer. fj-Qm end to end so that they are drying up. What can I do ? 



A. You can't do anything. The pest is most likely a grub known as 

 the potato stem borer, a worm about a quarter of an inch long. They 

 begin their work in June and frequently eat out the entire heart of the 

 stems. Of course they reduce the crop, and there is no remedy known to 

 destroy the grub while working within the stem. After harvest burn all 

 potatoes vines and everything else upon the field. 



Shallots. 864. Q. In what way does a shallot differ from an onion? 



A. A shallot seldom produces seed, and its bulbs when planted divide 

 into a number of cloves which remain attached to a common disc, and 

 finally become as large as the original bulb. The true shallot grows about 

 an inch in diameter, is pale gray, and is much elongated, but there is a 

 bastard form nearly round. 



Potato Onion 865. Q. In what way does the Potato onion differ from the usual form 

 of onion ? 



A. It does not produce either seed or bulblets, and is only propagated 

 by cloves formed underground, same as in the case of the shallot. If 

 well-developed cloves are planted in September, fair-sized edible onions 

 may be harvested in April, but if left in the ground several weeks longer 

 the bulbs will split, producing many small ones, the largest of these in 

 time producing cloves, the smallest forming edible bulbs. Potato onions 

 are very diflicult to keep when taken out of the ground, as they decay 

 rapidly. 



866. Q. Describe the difference between Top onions and ordinary 

 onions. 



A. Top onions of large size are grown from sets or bulblets produced 

 the preceding year on the top of high stalks sent up from large onions. 

 There are two forms, those producing bulbs with one heart and those 

 of three to five hearts. Only the form producing the single-hearted 

 bulblet is valuable, the others splitting up into many undersized plants 

 which never reach a good size and seldom ripen down their tops. The 

 single-hearted sort is worth three times the price of those having divided 

 hearts, which are next to valueless except as scullions. 



867. Q. How does garlic differ from the onion ? 



A. The garlic bulb, which is pungent and strong in flavor, is a com- 

 pound one, comprised of six or more cloves within a membranous skin 

 or envelope, generally white or rose color. It is propagated by cloves 

 produced on the top of high seed stalks after the style of the Top onion. 



868. Q. What is the distinction between a leek and an onion ? 

 A. An onion is bred to develop the edible portion as a round or a flat 



bulb, but in a leek the plant has been bred to develop numerous thick 

 leaves, enveloping one another at the base and for a considerable distance 

 above it, forming a thick fleshy neck of edible quality. Tlie leek pro- 

 duces black seed similar to onion seed. 

 Corn, gg9 Q Is "White Flint corn of any use except for hominy purposes ? 



"White Flint. 



Top Onion. 



Garlic. 



liOek. 



