3o6 



QUESTIONS ASKED AND ANSWERED. 



on for winter flooding. The vines should be entirely 

 covered with water, because otherwise they might be 

 frozen in with surface ice and pulled out of the soil by 

 a sudden rise of water. May i the water is drawn off, 

 but is turned back again the latter part of the month, 

 that it may kill the worms in the soil. For vines which 

 do not seem vigorous fish compost or a similar material 

 applied after the spring flooding proves beneficial. 

 Growers are much troubled with a disease of the cran- 

 berry called rot, or scald. It first appears in small 

 specks on the berries, but gradually spreading turns 

 them white, and they soon become soft and worthless. 

 All infected specimens must be carefully sorted out. — 

 W. F. Bassett, A'Vcc' Jersey. 



2715. Best Yellow Gladiolus.— The most satisfactory 

 yellow ones are Golden Scepter, Isaac Buchanan and 

 Martha Washington, ^H. C. T. 



2717. Remedy for Grape Diseases.— There are many 

 vineyards in the inquirer's vicinity, and we know that 

 some of their owners have tried almost everything adver- 

 tised or recommended as "sure remedies" for mildew 

 and rot. The only one they have found reliable as a 

 preventive is copper in its various forms and mixtures. 

 For the first application only, and this as a wash rather 

 than a spray, a saturated solution of sulphate of iron 

 (green copperas) is used. Bordeaux mixture is next ap- 

 plied, followed later by the ammoniacal solution of cop- 

 per carbonate. This treatment is one which we know to 

 be reasonably successful, and on this alone we can rely. 



2733. Training Dewberries. — Drive stakes into the 

 ground 10 or 12 feet apart and 8 to 10 inches high. 

 Across the top nail a strip of board about a foot long. 

 On these cross-bars stretch tightly four wires, one at each 

 end, the other two at equal distances between. W. M 

 Kellogg, Illinois. 



2738. Ventilated Barrel. — This is manufactured by 

 Marshall & Greenler, Defiance, Ohio. — Wm. Carter. 



2746. Peanut-Culture. — Among the essential condi- 

 tions of success is, first of all, good locality. There is 

 little prospect of growing peanuts profitably far north of 

 Virginia. The states of Virginia, North Carolina and 

 Tennessee produce the bulk of the peanuts grown in the 

 United States. The Amei-ican Agriculturist gives the 

 following account of peanut-culture : "All the nuts re- 

 tained for planting must be kept perfectly dry through 

 the winter, as dampness and fermentation would destroy 

 their germinating power. Every shell must be opened 

 and the seeds extracted. The planting was formerly 

 done by hand, but it is now performed by means of a 

 machine, with which one man can plant 6 to 8 acres per 

 day. Though the shelled peanut is nearly the same in 

 size and form as the bean, the same implement cannot 

 be used in planting both. The slightest cracking of the 

 pink skin would spoil the peanut for seed purposes. Five 

 pecks, or 20 pounds of shelled seed are required for an 

 acre. Planting time is from the middle of May to the 

 middle of June. The most critical time comes immedi- 

 ately after planting. If the weather is too wet, the seed 

 rots in the ground ; if too dry, it withers and perishes. 



Then the newly-planted seed is subject to the depreda- 

 tions of nearly every kind of bird and small animal which 

 inhabits the region. In nearly all cases more or less re- 

 planting is necessary. The culture consists in going fre- 

 quently between the rows with a small plow of peculiar 

 shape. If grass or weeds appear in the rows they are 

 cut out with hoes. But after the plants have fallen over 

 they cover the earth so thickly as to smother the weeds. 

 It is the aim of the peanut-grower to have the crop ma- 

 ture before frost. The pods must be lifted from their 

 earthy beds to keep them free from stains. A plow is 

 run under each row, cutting off the main roots and throw- 

 ing out the pods which adhere to the branches. After 

 they have lain on the ground until partly dried, they 

 are stacked in the field. Stout stakes are cut in the forest, 

 the large ends sharpened, short strips nailed across them 

 near the sharpened end, and they are then driven into the 

 ground in rows at convenient intervals through the field. 

 The gathered plants are stacked around these stakes, the 

 cross-strips being designed to keep them from contact 

 with the ground. Each stack is seven to eight feet high 

 and three to five feet in diameter. The stacks are some- 

 times hauled to the barn for the purpose of picking the 

 pods, but it is generally done in the field during the au- 

 tumn and winter. The vines, after being stripped of the 

 nuts, make forage nearly equal to clover-hay, and stock 

 of all kinds eat it greedily." 



2754. Shrubs for Kentucky.— .-/rawarr/a imbricata 

 is by no means a shrub, but a large tree when fully de- 

 veloped. It may possibly survive in Kentucky, but will 

 hardly prove satisfactory. The Oonshiu orange will not 

 stand unhurt, fully exposed, a temperature lower than 18°. 

 Ours came through the winter of i8go-i entirely unhurt 

 in a very exposed place, but last winter the freeze of 

 January 26 stripped them of leaves, and the same freeze 

 made them leafless in Florida. Mine are still alive, 

 and in a sheltered place here would doubtless be unhurt, 

 for my gardenias, sheltered under the college walls, did 

 not lose a leaf, and I feel sure they would have been 

 killed had they stood where the oranges are. Figs hav- 

 ing the same exposure as the oranges are killed to the 

 ground, while figs in sheltered places are unhurt. I do 

 not think there is any chance for this orange to survive 

 in Kentucky. Citrus Irifoliata will live and thrive there 

 without any trouble, and also Elceagnus longipes. Any 

 variety of fig must have good winter protection in Ken- 

 tucky. The best varieties for the inquirer will probably 

 be Brown Turkey, Brunswick and White Marseilles. 

 The only way to grow figs successfully in his latitude 

 will be to branch them from the ground, and when the 

 leaves are cut off by frost ( for the fig is naturally ever- 

 green in frostless countries) bend the branches to the 

 ground, and cover with earth. They will then be per- 

 fectly secure until frost has gone, when they may be al- 

 lowed to rise. An abundance of figs for family use can 

 be grown in this way in Kentucky and much further 

 north. Here we find that sticking long evergreen boughs 

 along the rows to break off the wind is sufficient. — W. 

 F. Massey, C. 



