i8o QUESTIONS ASKED 



outside rows near the dead furrows with some vigorous- 

 growing corn, say, Mosby's Prolific, planted in the mid- 

 dle of May. This plan would allow of constant cultiva- 

 tion during the summer, and as soon as the cool weather 

 came the corn could be removed. Land that is very 

 foul with coco ought not to be planted to strawberries 

 before some effort has been made to rid the land of the 

 pe.st. To do this, several methods have been advocated, 

 but the best is to sow the land for a couple of seasons to 

 cow-peas. When selecting plants it will always be 

 found that those that are raised in the south will stand 

 the heat and drought better, and give more satisfactory 

 results than the plants obtained from the north. The 

 earliest strawberry to my knowledge in the south is 

 Stevens. This variety gave ripe fruit the first week in 

 January last. If I were planting I should choose from 

 among the following varieties : Stayman's No. i, Haver- 

 land, Belmont, Kentucky, Parker Earle, Eureka, Tippe- 

 canoe, Henderson, Warfield, Hatfield, Michel Early, 

 Great American, Manchester, Ohio, Enhance, Sharpless, 

 Crescent, Stevens, Hoffman, Bomba,Gandy, Jessie, Capt. 

 Jack. Plants of Kentucky and Wilson obtained from 

 Homer, Louisiana, grew well during the summer, while 

 the same varieties obtained from a northern grower 

 failed. A variety of good promise is Bauer's No. 7. 

 Charles Downing and Excelsior grew well during the 

 early summer, and produced a good crop of fruit, but 

 did not survive the heat and drought of May and June. 

 The following varieties are good andean resist the heat : 

 Ohio, Centennial, Bubach, Corille, Jucunda, Pearl, 

 Louise, Ivanhoe, Cloud, Middlefield. Next to these may 

 be placed Mark, May King, Crystal City, Warfield, Mon- 

 mouth, Indiana, Pineapple. The following varieties 

 died out during the summer, although they had exactly 

 the same chance as the others: Charles Downing, Ex- 

 celsior, Carmichael, Lady Rusk, Jewel, Norman, Cor' 

 nelia, Crawford. — H. W. Smith. 



2747. Remedy for Scale-Lice. — The insect referred 

 to has the scientific name Lecanuni lulipifercE. " These 

 scale-lice," says Professor Cook, in Gleanitigs, "belong 

 to the true bugs, and, though so small, each is armed or 

 equipped with an eflfective suction-pump, its slender beak. 

 This it inserts in the tissue of the leaf, and then it com- 

 mences to suck the sap and life from the tree. Though 

 each one is so small, yet from the millions of sappers, 

 and their constant pumping, the tree soon commences 

 to languish, and, unless relief comes, will die in about 

 three years. Just before the autumn winds carry the 

 leaves to the ground, the now partly grown lice migrate 

 to the tender twigs, and once more anchor by again in- 

 serting their suction-pipes, which are now much larger 

 than at time of hatching. As the spring sets the sap in 

 rapid circulation, the lice commence a more rapid pump- 

 ing, as instanced by their rapid growth. In July the 

 eggs are deposited under the scale, and the parent 

 louse dies ; yet the scale, now large, brown, and 

 plump, remains to cover and protect the lice. Thus 

 we understand the full life history of the insect. That 

 these insects would soon kill thetrees if left undisturbed, 

 there is no question. Some fine tulips on our college 

 campus did die from this cause ; yet this rarely occurs. 

 The very abundance of the lice makes the path of their 

 enemies, birds and insects, a very smooth one, and so 



AND ANSWERED. 



very soon the lice are conquered and our beautiful trees 

 saved. Twice in twenty years our trees have been at- 

 tacked seriously ; but in both cases our insect-friends 

 and the birds have come to the rescue in time to save 

 nearly all the trees. Four years ago these lice were very 

 abundant, and our trees seemed certainly doomed. This 

 year it was hard to find specimens of the scales to show 

 my class. A few trees may be killed, but very few." 



2745. Soot for the Lawn.— The soot from your 

 boiler, if scattered upon the lawn, may aid somewhat in 

 freshening up the color, and in producing a more vigor- 

 ous growth. It would not do, however, to depend on it 

 alone. By all means use a good dressing of some good, 

 high-grade complete manure, either one of the special 

 lawn-fertilizers, or a special potato or fruit-tree manure. 

 Any one of these will answer, if applied broadcast in 

 early spring, at the rate of from 500 to 1,500 pounds per 

 acre. 



2746. Acme or [Shense Apricot. — This variety is 

 known under three names, viz., Chinese, Shense and 

 Acme apricot. Prof. Budd introduced it from China, 

 and the first plants were sent out under the name 

 "Chinese apricot." The pit from which the original tree 

 was grown came from the Province Shense, which name 

 was afterwards given to the new fruit. Still later, Car- 

 penter & Gage, of Nebraska, sent it out under the name 

 " Acme." Prof. Budd advises thatthis last name, which 

 has become commercial and best known, should be gen- 

 erally accepted. The tree has been much hardier in 

 Iowa than any of the Russian sorts, in wood as well as 

 in fruit-bud and blossoms, and its large, handsome foli- 

 age has thus far remained perfectly free from disease. 



2742. Strawberry-Plants from Old Beds.— We 

 greatly prefer plants from beds that have never borne 

 a crop. Fruit bearing can not be otherwise than a 

 strain to the vitality of a plant, and consequently run- 

 ners produced on old plants after fruiting can not be ex- 

 pected to be as strong as those from new beds. This is 

 not only sound in theory, but also in accord with the ob- 

 servation of practical growers. 



2743. Marketing Cucumber-Pickles. — Farmers and 

 fruit-growers in this vicinity very generally use a 

 handy slatted crate, that holds about a bushel and a 

 peck, for carrying most of the bulky products of gardens 

 and orchards. These open crates are almost invariably 

 used for shipping cucumber-pickles, of which they usu. 

 ally hold from 500 to 600. The empties, of course, are 

 returned. These crates are sold in the flat by local 

 manufacturers, at about 11 cents each. 



2744. Remedy for Flea-beetle and Blight.— The 

 flea-beetle on potato-vines is hard to fight. We have 

 tried almost everything with little or no success. The 

 only thing that now promises relief, is spraying the vines 

 with a very strong decoction of tobacco-stems or other 

 refuse. Blight 01 the leaves can be prevented by fre- 

 quent and thorough sprayings with Bordeaux mixture, 

 or perhaps with the ammoniacal solution of copper car- 

 bonate. Still, we are yet very much in doubt whether 

 this treatment pays or not. The applications may cost 

 more than the part of the crop which we thereby saves 

 may be worth. 



2727. Preventive for Plum-Rot. — The brown rot 

 {Monilia frucligena) attacks the flowers, leaves and fruit 



