QUESTIONS ASKED AMD ANSWERED. 



307 



2774. Grass for Shady Places. —We do not believe that 

 any grass suitable for a lawn will succeed in shade better 

 than the hardy, tenacious Kentucky blue-grass ( Paa 

 ■pratcnsis] and red-top [Agrostis vulgaris). When 

 the shade of trees is too dense for the kinds named above 

 to succeed, it is too dense for comfort and health, and it 

 is better to let in air and sunshine by removing some of 

 the trees. 



2777 . Packing Mushrooms for Market.— ' ' Most mar- 

 ket-growers around New York city," says Wm. Falconer 

 in " How to Grow Mushrooms," " sell and deliver their 

 mushrooms to hotels, restaurants and fancy fruit-dealers. 

 Those who live at a considerable distance from the city, 

 sell through commission merchants in New York. They 

 in turn sell in quantities to suit customers. Mushrooms 

 are sold by the pound, and come into market in boxes 

 made of strong, undressed paper. Some growers have 

 light wooden boxes made that hold from one to four 

 pounds each. These make convenient and strong pack- 

 ages for shipping by express. They may be sent singly, 

 or several can be packed together in crates or boxes. In 

 sending directly to hotels cheap baskets holding from one 

 to twelve pounds are often used, but in sending to com- 

 mission merchants, who have to deal them out in quan- 

 tities to suit customers, mushrooms should always be 

 packed in one, two, three or four-pound boxes or baskets 

 — preferably one-pound. Mushrooms are not like pota- 

 toes or apples, that can be handled, remeasured and re- 

 packed without damage. Each handling will certainly 

 discolor and perhaps break a good many of them, ren- 

 dering them unsalable if not worthless. The utmost 

 care in gathering and packing for shipment is of primary 

 importance." 



2786. Plums for Western Ohio. — We do not think 

 the Green Gage profitable. The German prune would 

 probably succeed much better, but we prefer Lombard 

 to any other variety. — H. W. T., IVestern Ohio. 



2787. The Excelsior Peach. — Trees of this variety 

 may be obtained of the Farmers' Nursery Co., Tadmor, 

 Ohio; also of J. H. Hale, South Glastonbury, Conn — 

 W. W. T. 



2791. Best Street Trees. — Elms, maples and lindens 

 all are useful for highway planting. The American elm 

 is the ideal street tree, for the reason that its top as a rule 

 is V-shaped and dees not require so much trimming as 

 "round-headed " maples and lindens. But if the inquir- 

 er's place is laid off in broad avenues and walks, where 

 low-branching, flat-topped trees would be no objection, 

 we can recommend maples, lindens, horse-chestnuts and 

 oaks. All these would be fine, especially if planted 35 

 feet or more apart. We suggest that the trees be grouped 

 according to variety, the varieties mingling only where 

 the groups meet. 



2792, Carl Holt Fuchsia Coming Double.— There i? 

 a tendency in this variety to depart from the normal sin- 

 gle form, but we have never seen this sporting procliv- 

 ity sufficiently marked really to entitle the flowers to be 

 called double. Should yours be unusually so, it might 



be well to propagate the branch thus inclined, with a 

 view to securing the quality in a fixed form. Many su- 

 perior varieties of flowers have originated through the 

 sporting tendencies of their parent plants. 



2793. Trimming Norway Spruce Hedges.— Begin to 

 prune when the hedge is not more than three feet high, and 

 plan to have it advance not more than two or three inches 

 annually. The best time for pruning is in spring. If 

 the chief purpose is to govern shape, then the cutting had 

 better be done just before the growth of the season be- 

 gins ; but if we wish to secure dwarf habit and dense- 

 ness then it is better to trim the young shoots when about 

 half -grown. 



2809. Wintering Paulo'wnia imperialis.— We have 

 had no difficulty in wintering this tree in the latitude of 

 Niagara Falls. We grow it in a well-drained spot, and 

 cover with marsh hay or manure. 



2827. Best Late Pears. — The best and most reliable 

 winter pear, all things considered, is the Anjou. For 

 late fall and early winter the Duchess is also indispens- 

 able. This we would grow as dwarf, the former as 

 standard. 



2841, Forcing Cucumbers.— The English forcing va- 

 rieties and some of our ordinary sorts for outdoor culture 

 will set and perfect fruit even without pollination. In 

 growing the latter sorts, however, it will always be safer, 

 and often necessary, to fertilize the fruit-blossoms by 

 hand. Gather some pollen from the male flowers by 

 means of a camel's-hair brush, and touch with it the 

 pistils of female blossoms when first opening. 



2862. Draining in Yellow Clay. — If you have an out- 

 let several feet lower than the lowest spot of the surface 

 I can see nothing in the way of draining the land. Lay 

 out the drains so that the water from adjoining land or 

 springs will be cut off, and your forty-acre plat will soon 

 be dry enough. 



2865. Forcing Parsley. — You can start plants in open 

 ground and transplant to permanent location, or sow seed 

 where the plants are to grow. I think there is no need 

 for keeping plants in flats. The good loam ground 

 under the bench will answer every purpose. Parsley is 

 so easily grown, outdoors, in the greenhouse, or even in 

 a light cellar, that no further directions are necessary. 



2871. Evergreen Blackberry for Profit. — There is no 

 evergreen blackberry known to horticulturists that is 

 worth growing for profit, and probably none worth grow- 

 ing for pleasure. 



2872. Strawberries for Indiana. — Try Wilson and 

 Haverland. Try to get plants of Wilson from a locality 

 where it is known to succeed, or from growers like J. M. 

 Smith, of Wisconsin, who grows it in all its original per- 

 fection. 



2875. Amaryllis vittata Not Blooming. — Keep the 

 roots confined in a smaller pot than you use for other 

 amaryllis if you wish to be sure of flowers. 



2876. Ornithogalum Arabicum. — As a rule no bulbous 

 plants that are taken in and forced in winter are fit 

 for forcing next season. 



