QUESTIONS ASKED AND ANSWERED. 



243 



2659. Cranberry- Growing. — My next-door neighbor 

 has a cranberry patch of about 10 square rods, from 

 which he annually gathers over a bushel of cranberries. 

 They occupy an undrained wet hole that is flooded in 

 winter and gets partially dry in summer. All he did was 

 to get the plants and set them out. — L. J. Farmer. 



2726. Manure for Hotbeds. — As substitutes for horse- 

 manure, leaves or waste hay may be used. Peruvian 

 guano or horn-shavings, strewn among the coarse ma- 

 terials as the bed is made up, will cause it to give off a 

 rapid heat ; indeed some caution is necessary in the use 

 of these materials or too great heat may be produced. 

 Potash, unleached wood-ashes, or almost any of the best 

 grades of commercial fertilizer, used in same manner but 

 in larger quantities, will produce heat. If the materials 

 to be used are dry, a moderate application of boiling 

 water will hasten the heating process. Use a thermome- 

 ter, and if the heat gets too strong it may be reduced by 

 making holes with a stick through the soil covering and 

 into the heating-material. — Wm. F. B. 



2744. Remedy for Flea-Beetle. — Dust the plants with 

 wood-ashes when slightly moist with dew or rain. This 

 does not prevent their feeding on the under side of the 

 leaves, though it appears to disgust them and they seek 

 other quarters.— W. P. H. 



2747. Remedy for Scale or Bark-Lice. — Wash the 

 trees with a lye made from wood-ashes or commercial 

 potash. The solution should be quite strong, and be 

 well rubbed on with a brush or swab. If the first ap- 

 plication does not remove them, a repetition a few days 

 later will.— W. P. H, 



2755. Climbers for Veranda and Lawn. — We have 

 never known cows to eat the Virginia creeper, Ampelop- 

 sis quuiqitcfoh'a, or A. J't-iU /u'i. Both are vigorous, 

 hardy climbers, but for the lawn perhaps the Clcmalis 

 coccinca would be preferable, it being more showy and 

 easily trained to a trellis. — W. P. H. 



2763. Nursery Stock from Different Sections. — Our 



experience of a half century with stock from various 

 sections has been that stock from home nurseries gives 

 the most satisfaction. One and two-year-old trees re- 

 cover from long transportation much more readily than 

 older ones. — P. W. 



2764. Running Water in Fruit-House. — It would 

 perhaps equalize the temperature somewhat and not be 

 very injurious to apples, which keep better where there 

 is sufficient moisture, but most fruits decay more quickly 

 where much moisture is present. — H. P. 



2772. Cement for Holes in Trees. — A mixture of freth 

 cow-manure one part and clay two parts, is a good cement 

 to fill the holes in apple trees after the rotted particles 

 have been removed. A small percentage of lime may be 

 added.— W. P. H, 



2749. Essentials of Peanut-Culture — These are light 

 soil, plenty of well-decomposed vegetable matter, phos- 

 phate and potash ; well broken up land and clean cul- 

 ture. — Julius Schnadelbach, Alabama. 



2714. Flowers for Shady Places. — For two summers 



past I have placed a few pots of Cheonostenna htspida 

 in a corner where the sun never shines, and they have 

 grown well and bloomed continually. Fuchsias also do 

 well in moderate shade. In growing plants in shade, re- 

 member that it makes quite a difference whether the shade 

 is produced by houses and fences or by growing trees; 

 and it often happens that those trees which have their 

 roots near the surface not only shade but appropriate 

 nearly all the plant-food and moisture in the soil, so that 

 few plants will succeed in such a situation, while there 

 are many which do quite well in the shade of buildings 

 and fences. — Wm. F. Bassett. 



2747. Remedy for Scale-Lice. — The surest remedy I 

 have found is to dislodge all the scales with a stitf brush, 

 and then syringe the plants thoroughly with strong soap- 

 suds. Add a very little kerosene. Each scale is the 

 covering or house for a countless number of minute in- 

 sects, each of which upon being liberated sets up a 

 house of its own. Hence the need of thorough syringing. 

 I have had plants subject to these pests in my green- 

 house, which seemingly could not be freed from them^ 

 that were not troubled after being moved to a cooler at- 

 mosphere. Plants kept in a healthy, growing condition 

 better withstand the ravages of insects. — E. L. P., 

 Craivford Co., Pa. 



2725. Genii Plum. — I have grown both the Genii and 

 Lombard. With me the two are not to be compared. 

 In my new orchard I shall plant at least three-fourths 

 Lombard, and not one tree of the Genii. The latter 

 ripens about one week before the first Lombard, but 

 for quality the Lombard is way ahead ; besides, one 

 Genii tree will furnish you with more black-knots than 

 50 Lombard. Why plant an inferior variety when there 

 are so many good ones, even if it has a high-sounding 

 name? — A. A. H., Vermont. 



2775. English Walnuts.— The required information 

 can be obtained by writing to Felix Gillette, Nevada 

 City, California, for northern parts, and to George W. 

 Ford, Santa Anna, California, for southern parts of the 

 state. Both are extensive walnut-cultivators. Mr. Gil- 

 lette has all the fine foreign varieties, and is perhaps the 

 largest importer on the coast. He is also the originator 

 of the "second generation" of prajparturian walnuts. — 

 Henry E. Dosch, Oregon Board of Horticulture. 



2708. Bags for Bagging Grapes.— I use the ordinary 

 2-pound manila-paper bag for bagging grapes. Such 

 can be purchased from most grocers at about $1 per 

 1,000. I then buy a spool of small iron wire and cut it 

 into lengths of five or six inches. I borrow a pair of 

 tinner's shears to do this. I then run the wire once or 

 twice through the bag near its mouth, through the side 

 where it laps or is pasted together. This makes a con- 

 venient fastening, and a good hand can bag severaj 

 thousand clusters a day. Be sure and use the iron wire, 

 as the steel wire is more brittle and does not bend 

 readily ; copper wire will do, but it is much more expen- 

 sive. — John H. Mason, Ky. 



