QUERIES AND ANSWERS. 149 



upon sod ground or upon land prepared for planting by plowing down a 

 crop of Winter wheat or Winter rye, the sod or grass aerating or keeping 

 loose the soil. Two ounces of seed to 100 yards of row. 



The seed is planted at about corn-seeding time or when the apple is in 

 bloom, in hills about four-and-a-half feet in each direction. Twoshovels- 

 ful of well-rotted stable manure being tramped into each hill and covered 

 with earth. The large long melons like the Reedland Giant and Casaba 

 are generally sold by the hundred ; melons of the ordinary form and size 

 are sold by the basket of one-half to five-eighths bushel capacity. 



Philadelphia commission merchants pay as a highest price $1.50 to $2.00 

 per bushel. As an average price forty to fifty cents per bushel. Canta- 

 loupe melons are frequently a drug in the market. 



894. Q. Why did you say seed purchasing was a matter of confidence ? confidence in 

 A. Because it is so. The man who buys dry goods or groceries, corn or seed 



cotton, can, to a very considerable extent, judge of the quality and value of ^a^'ciiasing. 

 the article. This is not the case with seeds. Simply because a dealer says 

 a certain cabbage seed he holds in his hand is Large Late Flat Dutch, it does 

 not follow that it is so. He may have been deceived himself. No one 

 can tell till valuable time and labor have been expended on the crop. No 

 other commodity but drugs is so entirely a matter of confidence. It be- 

 hooves every one to get their supplies from dealers of recognized repute, 

 men who have a reputation at stake. Cheapness at once is suflScient to 

 raise a doubt both as to vitality and quality. Good seeds have a value — 

 they cannot be cheap in the common acceptation of the word. The rather 

 inelegant though expressive phrase, " cJieap and nasty," applies to seeds 

 more than to any other commodity. 



895. Q. What is darnell ? Darnell. 

 A. It is Cheat or Chess, a plant somewhat of the appearance of wheat, 



but never, as some people think, developing from wheat. Darnel is 

 hardier than wheat, which sometimes when Winter killed is succeeded by 

 darnell, and ignorant people think that the wheat has turned to darnell. 

 Cheat whenever grown under a heavy crop of wheat never reaches over 

 a few inches in height, and is not noticed, but when given a chance by 

 the Winter killing of the wheat rises to a height of one to two feet. 



896. Q. Will you furnish me a table showing the relative periods of Maturity of 

 maturity of different sorts of peas ? Peas. 



A. In our trial grounds the past season we tested 125 samples of peas 

 from various sources, comprising nearly every variety at home and 

 abroad of any note. Twenty feet of row was given to each trial. All 

 were planted the same day, and upon equal conditions in every respect. 

 The stocks of each were the best obtainable. Landreths' Extra Early were 

 the first to bloom and first to ripen for the table, fifty days from sowing, 

 or forty-seven days from germination. This variety has, under other 

 conditions of heat and rainfall, ripened for table thirty-eight days from 

 germination. It has been in cultivation by us for over sixty years, and 

 has never been excelled in earliness or delicacy of flavor. All the Eng- 



