i82 QUESTIONS ASKED 



to grow potted plants from, the previous August or Sep- 

 tember on a piece of land from which a crop of peas or 

 potatoes had just been taken. These plants should be 

 covered with something heavy, like earth or horse- ma- 

 nure, just before the ground freezes up, to keep them 

 from heaving out. In the spring cultivate them early 

 quite deep, close up to the plants. Hoe frequently and 

 do not let the weeds get started once. If you do, they 

 are unredeemable. Pick off all the blossoms and the 

 first few runners. When the runners show by their size 

 that the plant is strong enough to endure the drain on it, 

 allow them to grow. Fill the pots with soil and sink in 

 the earth — the top on a level with the surface. Put the 

 young plant over this and hold it in place till rooted, with 

 a stone or a handful of earth. When the pot is full of 

 roots, take up and place in partial shade, when they may 

 be watered till hardened off. When, after watering, the 

 plant will not wilt in the sunshine, it may be shipped 

 away or set out permanently. This " hardening off" is 

 very important. — L.J. Farmer. 



2724. Fruit- Trees for Northern Missouri. — Of ap- 

 ples, the Ben Davisstands first for regular crops and quick 

 returns, followed closely by Willow Twig and Jonathan. 

 These are the three best commercial varieties. For a 

 succession for family use, Early Harvest, Benoni, Pri- 

 mate, Maiden Blush, Fameuse, Rambo, Missouri Pippin 

 and Limber Twig may be mentioned as reliable varieties 

 for this section. Of pears, plant Anjou, KiefFer, Howell, 

 Duchess and Seckel. Bartlett seems to be the most sub- 

 ject to blight, and soon succumbs. English Morello and 

 Early Richmond cherries are always reliable. Of plums, 

 Wild Goose, Miner, Pottawattomie, the Blue Damson, 

 and possibly the Wolf, are considered the best.— E. L. P., 

 Clinton Co., Mo. 



28J0. Arrangement of Hotbeds and. Greenhouses. 

 —I am familiar with many experiments in heating hot- 

 beds with hot- water pipes, and all have been unsuccessful. 

 The heat generated by this means is difficult to govern. 

 Generally speaking, it affords too much heat, producing 

 weak and sickly plants. Fresh, unfermented horse-ma- 

 nure seems to afford just the genial bottom heat relished 

 by growing vegetation, but, even with this, care must be 

 exercised lest it afford too much heat. The aim should 

 be to make all growth under glass stocky and robust. 

 The greenhouses of Boston market-gardeners are mostly 

 of the lean-to style. The back is from 10 to 15 feet high, 

 studded with 2x4 inch studding, boarded up with 

 matched boards inside, and boarded and clapboarded 

 on the outside. The front or lower elevation is con- 

 structed of glass, and four to five feet high. The founda- 

 tion upon which the structure rests is made with cement 

 puddled with small stone, which is molded in shape by 

 standing on edge two parallel boards which remain until 

 cement is set. This makes a very durable foundation, 

 cheaper than brick. The foundation extends into the 

 ground about 4 feet, and rises above the general surface 

 some eight inches, thus keeping the sills from contact 

 with wet earth. — E. P. Kirby. 



2692. Growing Beans in Orchard. — The following 

 is my method : Plow and thoroughly harrow ground, and 

 plant about May 25, with a two-horse corn-planter, one- 

 horse drill, or hand-drill, or mark off furrows with tli? 

 plow and drop seed by hand. I plant fourorfive inches 



AND ANSWERED. 



deep, even deeper in light soil. The rows are abou 

 three feet nine inches apart, and hills 14 inches apart. I 

 drop two beans to the hill. Cultivate, clean often, and 

 level not more than two inches deep until blooming ; then 

 stir ground only between the rows if necessary. Never 

 touch the ground when there is dew or rain on the leaves. 

 Beans make their growth mostly during the dry season. 

 So level culture is best. Harvest when ripe and dry. I 

 have a variety that drops all leaves when it is lipe ; but 

 if leaves still adhere to plants, be sure they are dry 

 enough. I gather by driving a two-horse wagon with 

 high side-boards, astraddle one row, and with three 

 hands, one to each side row and one to the center row, 

 we pull the plants up place them in the wagon. 

 When loaded, I drive direct to a shed or yard and 

 spread out in the sun. Some gather and pile three rows 

 together and leave in field to dry ; but I want my beans 

 where I can have them safe from rains. A little work 

 when rain is threatening will get the beans in the shed. 

 They can be handled like hay, and with six-tine forks can 

 be carried in and stacked up in the shed, and spread 

 thinly to dry. When dry, in about one week if they get 

 plenty of sunshine, I begin threshing with the flail. The 

 beans are then cleared in a fanning-mill, and if clean, 

 are then ready for market ; but if not, it pays to hand- 

 pick them. Try the home market for sales. I can sell 

 all I raise for $2.50 per bushel here in our own small 

 town. In planting in orchard do not plant in the tree- 

 H)ws, but on each side ; so as to work between bean row 

 and tree-row, without injuring either tree or plant.— 

 Clyde Curlee, Perry Co., Illc. 



2175. The Best Yellow Gladioluses. — Some kinds 

 (not many) arefound in the catalogues; but yellow varie- 

 ties whose flower and spike are equal to the best ganda- 

 vensis varieties of other colors do not exist. Nearly every 

 kind is more or less marked with dull purple ; an un- 

 pleasing combination in good years and in wet summers 

 positively ugly. Ophir is an old sort, which fifteen years 

 ago was much praised in the catalogues. Eldorado is 

 another, which formerly held a conspicuous place. I 

 think neither variety worth growing, nor were they ever 

 so, except for the scarcity of sorts with yellow grounds. 

 Isaac Buchanan, an American seedling, was sent out as 

 " the best yellow." I grew it three or fouryears ; it was 

 much purple-stained at first, and grew worse year by 

 year, and I discarded it. Yet, at Millis, barely ten miles 

 away, where J. W. Clarke grows those fine seedlings 

 which delight us annually at the shows of the Massachu- 

 setts Horticultural Society, I saw it, a thing of beauty 

 indeed. Mr. Clarke uses it much as a parent of his new 

 kinds, and its influence is perceptible in the fine yellow 

 tint which many of his have. Yet even in his soil there 

 is too much purple with the gold. The best undoubted 

 gandavensis yellow I have found is Citrinus, which gives 

 a fine large flower with less stain than any other sort 

 has, but it is of a weak constitution, makes butfew offsets 

 and is hard to keep. There is one sold as a true species, 

 G. sulphureus, which is of a soft, pure unmarked yellow, 

 and this I regard as the best of its color, since it is al- 

 ways pure in hue. I am not sure of its status in the 

 genus ; its flowers are identical in shape with those of 

 the gandavensis hybrids, and I do not find it as a species 

 in Baker's revision of the genus ; on the other hand, it 



