114 



QUESTIONS Asked and answered. 



2769. Best "fomato for Family Use. What variety is best 

 flavored and free from rot ? 



2770. Knife or Shears for Pruning- Grapes. Wliich is 

 most suitable? My experience with the shears is not satisfactory. 

 -J. Q. B., Conn. 



■!.T1\. Straw'berry Products. Can wine, jelly or syrup be 

 manufactured from strawberries, and placed on the market with 

 profit?— C. N. F., Mich. 



2772. Cement for Holes in Trees. Is there any mixture of 

 cement or other substances that could be recommended for filling 

 up holes in old apple trees that have resulted from the decay of 

 limbs?— G. S. C, A-. Y. 



2yjT,. Preventive for Wormy Apples. Which is the best 

 method of keeping apples from getting wormy ? — A. A., Utah. 



277). Grass for Shady Places. What kinds will succeed 

 best?— K. N., R. I. 



2775. Eng-lish Walnuts. Who can give me information a? 

 to best varieties of English walnut, and where can I purchase best 

 trees for California planting? C. S. J., Boston. 



2731. Winter-Storage of Bulbs.— To keep tulips 

 and similar bulbs in paper boxes in a cool room over 

 winter, planting them in the spring, is not the best 

 course. By planting in September or October, root- 

 growth starts at once and continue more or less until 

 blooming-time the spring following, and thus the bulb is 

 in the best possible condition to develop a fine show of 

 bloom, with which the blooms from bulbs wintered 

 out of the soil as described could ill compare. Of 

 the other bulbs you name, we would prefer to see only 

 tuberose kept out of soil. All others would do better 

 ■planted in the fall, even though kept so cool as not to in. 

 cite leaf-growth, or stored outdoors, covered thoroughly 

 to keep away hard frost from them. 



2704. Propagation of Clematis.— Various meansiare 

 employed — cuttings, layers and grafts ; but layering is 

 the best for those not skilled in propagation. The layer- 

 ing is done when the newwood ismoderately firm — pref- 

 erably in five or six-inch pots, filled with a mixture of 

 loam and sand, with drainage-bits at bottom. With the 

 pot or pots at hand bring down the shoots, cut them 

 partly through in a slanting direction and peg them 

 securely in the pots, the surface of the soil at this stage 

 being two inches, or a little less, from the top of the 

 pot, and quite firmly pressed. Afterwards cover the 

 layer with about an inch of soil, and the process is com- 

 plete. After-treatment consists in maintaining moisture 

 in the soil, made easier in hot, dry weather by earth or 

 coal-ashes, etc, being packed about them. It will be 

 some months before the layered shoot can be severed from 

 the parent plant, hence it is worth while to be at some 

 pains so to pack the pots as to preserve moisture. When 

 at length roots have formed on the layered part, sever it 

 near the surface on the end towards the parent. 



2703. Free-Blooming Roses. — In addition to the 

 Wootton, LaFrance, Madame Etienne and Duchess of 

 Albany which you have, we recommend the varieties of 

 the polyantha and rugosa races ; such Bourbons as Apol- 

 line, Edward Desfosses, Hermosa, Louis Odier ; such 

 teas as Gloire de Dijon, Reine Marie Henriette, Bou- 

 gere, Gerard Desbois, Homer, Madame de Vatry, Marie 

 Ducher, Sombreuil; such Bengals as Agrippina, Douglass, 

 Duchess of Edinburgh and James Sprunt. 

 2697. Market for Sweet-Peas.— Following are some 



of the leading wholesale commission florists in New 

 York with whom you might correspond : J. K. Allen, 106 

 West Twenty-fourth street; Wm. H. Gunther, 36 West 

 Twenty-ninth street, Frank D. Hunter, 51 West Thir- 

 tieth street, Thomas Young, 20 West Twenty-fourth 

 street, James Purdy, 112 West Fortieth street. 



2690. Transplanting Hemlocks. — Our choice of sea- 

 son for transplanting any evergreens is early spring, as 

 soon as soil will work up dry and fine. August trans- 

 planting is safe provided the season is not loo dry and 

 hot, but as these conditions of heat and drouth are 

 usually upon us at that season, it is better not to count 

 on doing the work then. Transplanting in winter when 

 the ground is frozen, by cutting out and removing a 

 large block of frozen earth with the roots, is expensive, 

 but safe for the plant. 



2739. Mixtures for Grape Diseases.— The most ap- 

 proved formula for Bordeaux mixture is as follows : Six 

 pounds of sulphate of copper, four pounds fresh lime, 

 twenty-two gallons of water. Dissolve the copper in 

 sixte'en gallons of water, and in another vessel slake the 

 lime in six gallons of water. When the latter mixture 

 has cooled, pouritslowlyintothecopper solution, mixing 

 the fluidsthoroughly by constant stirring. Prepare some 

 days before use. Stir before applying. This mixture 

 shou'd be used only for the earlier applications. It is 

 strongly adherent, and its presence upon the ripening 

 fruit is pretty certain to attract attention, and may pofn 

 sibly injure the sale of the fruit when marketed. The 

 stains, however, may be removed by dipping the fruit in 

 a mixture of one quart of strong cider vinegar and five 

 gallons of water, allowing it to remain a few minutes, 

 then rinsing once or twice in clear water. On the whole, 

 we think the ammoniated copper carbonate solution will 

 do as well as the Bordeaux mixture in most cases, and 

 as it is cheaper, and involves no risk of discoloring the 

 fruit and giving it a suspicious appearance, should 

 usually be given the preference. Dissolve three ounces 

 of carbonate of copper in one quart of liquid ammonia 

 (strength 22 degrees Baume) by stirring rapidly for a 

 few moments. This will form a clear blue liquid, and 

 thus prepared may be kept indefinitely in an air-tight 

 vessel. For use dilute to twenty-eight gallons. 



2676. Root-Lice on Apple Trees. — During some 

 winters at the south these lice are very numerous, and 

 occasionally the ground appears to be full of them. It 

 often happens where there is a thick growth of the lesser 

 chickweed, these lice will be found in great numbers on 

 its roots. The ground is often very damp, and this ap- 

 pears to be favorable to their welfare, and it may be that 

 tile draining would do much to help destroy them. Per- 

 haps the best plan of all would be to give the land a 

 dressing of nitrate of soda, kainit or wood-ashes ; com- 

 mon salt would, afgreat distance from the sea, be found 

 to help in some measure. Plowing frequently does not 

 in any way appear to inconvenience them. Where only 

 one or two trees or plants are infested, they might be 

 freed by pouring boiling water around the roots, but not 

 so near the stem as to scald the bark. If you fear to try 

 this remedy, dissolve a quarter of a pound of kainit in a 

 gallon of water and pour this around the tree, or strew 

 the kainit on the ground and allow the rain to wash it in. 

 Wood-ashes may be used in the same way.— H. W.~S. 



