QUERIES AND ANSWERS. 171 



A. Near the equator a tomato is said to live for many years like the 

 grapevine In this latitude there have been thousands of instances where 

 in glass houses tomato vines have been kept in bearing condition for 

 several years. 



951. Q. Is salt good for land, and if so, why ? Salt. 



A. It is not strictly a manure, but changes existing conditions and may 

 therefore be looked upon as an alterative. It also drives worms and in- 

 sects, and by its affinity for water keeps land moist. 



953. Q. Is Carolina phosphate rock a good dependence upon which to Carolina 

 make a crop of garden truck ? Kock. 



A. No, it is not. It is little better than a make-weight, or a component 

 of a manufactured Fertilizer, reinforced by the addition of better materials. 



953. Q. Three weeks ago I drilled my spinach seed, but by reason of Spinach Seed 

 drought not a seed has sprouted. Will it grow when there is rain ? 



A. Probably it will if the heat of the sun during the drought was not 

 sufficient to bake the seed. If the seed made an effort to grow and was 

 arrested by the drought it will not start again as wheat would do, for 

 spinach does not possess that quality. 



954. Q. Does a thickly broadcasted com crop collect nitrogen ? Nitrogen. 

 A. Certainly, it obtains a little from the soil ; but neither the leaves of 



corn nor the roots collect it from the air in the same quantity as do plants 

 of the clover, bean, or pea family. 



955. Q. Which is the most important fertilizer on a wheat farm ? Phosphoric 

 A. Phosphoric acid, as the cereal crops draw largely upon it, and as it Acid. 



is stored away in the grain which is generally sold off the farm, conse- 

 quently the drain upon the land is severe, and the phosphoric acid has to 

 be replaced by artificial application. Potash is taken up by grain crops 

 also, but the potash goes back to the soil in the form of straw, so also in 

 the case of clover, beans, roots, fed upon the farm, the potash goes back 

 to a large extent. 



956. Q. Are Savoy cabbages superior to smooth-leaved sorts ? Savoy 

 A. They are incomparably better, in fact almost equal to cauliflower. Cabbage. 



and they can. be grown where neither cauliflower nor broccoli can be 

 produced. They can be grown on any cabbage soil. 



957. Q. Down here in Florida I have great difficulty In obtaining a Egg Plant, 

 good stand of egg plants. What do you advise ? How to 



A. Advise the adoption of the Northern system of growing egg plants. ^''^ **^® Seed.^ 

 In Jersey a market gardener sows his egg plants in a hotbed witn plenty 

 of bottom heat and gives the bed every attention experience can dictate ; 

 plenty of heat, rich soil, sufficient watering, sufficient air under the glass 

 at proper times, and he thinks well if he gets 50 pei cent, of the best seed 

 to stand, and only by greatest attention does he keep them free from 

 fungous attack, for if mold once strikes them then he has no recourse. 

 But in Florida the general system is to plant the seed in the open field, 

 often in nearly white sand, generally without any protection from the 

 sun. How can much success be looked for under such a system ? 



