QUESTIONS ASKED AND ANSWERED. 



445 



2982. Snails on Mushrooms.— Small snails destroy mv 

 mushrooms as soon as they appear above ground. How can I 

 exterminate the pest without injury to the crop? — P. G., Conn. 



2983. Making: Kerosene Emulsion.— Will crude petro- 

 leum answer for emulsion to kill scale-insects, etc.? — W. C. B., 

 New Zealand. 



2984. Leached and TJnleaehed Ashes.— Do you call 

 ashes which were dumped outdoors and left in the open air ex- 

 posed to rains, leached or unleached ? Canada ashes are gathered 

 from farm to farm, as rags are. — W. C. E. 



2985. Lime and Wood-Ashes for Potatoes.— Are they 

 good fertilizers for Irish potatoes ? — R. S. 



2986. Culture of Bush Lima Beans.— Please give direct- 

 ions. 



2987. Growing: Onion- Sets.— How is it done on a small 

 scale?— S. M. McG. 



2989. The NewOnion-Culture.— Give us more information 

 about it.— B. C. R., New York. 



2990. Deep or Shallow Planting: of Asparagus.— 

 What is gained by setting the roots so deep as is generally recom- 

 mended ? Is there any advantage except in the greater ease of 

 cultivation in spring ? Do the markets demand bleached asparagus? 

 — C. G. A., Maine. 



2991. Asparagus Growing Crooked.— What causes the 

 shoots of asparagus to be nearly double or very crooked, so much 

 so that a good share of it is not fit for bunching? The trouble is 

 worst on the side of a sandy hill facing east. The soil does not 

 bake, and has been well supplied with barnyard manure.— J. \'. L. 



2992. Wintering Cabbage in Quantity —How can I 

 store them for winter so that they can be taken out at anytime un_ 

 frozen?— A. P. M. 



2993. Weed-Seeds in Fermenting Manure.— Will they 

 germinate and then die, or will they retain their vitality ?—W.O.E. , 

 Ontario. 



2620. Raising Lily-Bulbs. — Increase the bulb by re- 

 moving the scales and plant them carefully. Take off 5 

 or 6 scales every time you lift a bulb. This will not in 

 any way injure the bulb. Also use the bulblets near 

 the stem, which can be taken up without lifting the bulb. 

 The Easter lily has very loose bulbs, and increases rapid- 

 ly. It is fine and surer to bloom than the Bermuda 

 lily. — Mrs. H. E. Spree, Texas. 



2765. Clianthus from Seed. — A. S. Fuller, in Propa- 

 gation of Plants, says : ^'Clianthus Dampicri or 

 glory-pea is a remarkably showy plant from Australia, 

 and thrives only in a high temperature. Seeds should be 

 sown singly in small pots, and the plants carefully 

 shifted into larger ones as they increase in growth, great 

 care being required in the operation to prevent disturb- 

 ing them or allowing the soil to fall away from their 

 roots. Plants set out in the garden late in spring will 

 usually bloom the same season." 



2860. Spinage-House. — Near Boston, and near other 

 large Eastern markets, houses are built for the special 

 purpose of wintering spinage. According to the Massa- 

 chusetts Ploughman the usual width of these build- 

 ings is 12 or 14 feet, with an alley 2 feet wide through 

 the middle, and shelves 5 or 6 feet wide at each side. 

 They are usually about 6 feet wide at the plates, and 8 or 

 10 feet at the ridge. The length can be suited to quan- 

 tity to be stored. The walls should be made tight by 

 placing sheathing-paper under the shingles or clapboards; 

 the inside is plastered or sheathed tightly. If the build- 

 ing is partly under ground, such parts should consist of 



stone walls. No windows are needed, as lanterns give 

 all the light required for storing or taking out the crop. 

 The shelves are 16 inches apart, and made of 6-inch 

 fencing-boards, laid loosely upon their supports, with 

 air-spaces of an inch or two between the boards. The 

 spinage is piled loosely upon the shelves ten inches deep, 

 beginning with the lowest shelf ; when this is full, place 

 the boards for the next shelf and fill it, and so on to the 

 top. The house should be provided with two ventilators 

 12 inches square, for every 30 feet in the length of the 

 house. These ventilators are built of pine boards, one 

 of them opening into the upper part of the house near 

 the ridge, the other being carried down nearly to the 

 floor ; they are provided with valves which can be 

 opened wide in cool weather or closed when it is warm, the 

 object being to keep an even temperature near 32° to 40°. 

 In a long period of warm weather the spinage is pretty 

 sure to spoil. It should not be put into the house for 

 storage till late in the fall, being left lOUt usually till 

 there is danger of freezing the ground, about Novem- 

 ber 10. 



2864 Drying Figs for Market. — Figs for drying 

 should be first dipped in strong lye, made from hickory 

 or oak ashes, to correct the acridity of the skins. Then 

 rinse them in clean water, and dry them in any of the 

 various evaporating machines. When dry pack them 

 tightly in boxes. We are satisfied that there is a great 

 field for profit in the south in preserving the figs in 

 syrup in the good old-fashioned way (after treatment 

 with lye as above), and putting them up in attractive 

 glass jars with neat labels. We are still enjoying al- 

 most daily the figs put up in this way last summer, when 

 they could be had here for 75 cents a bushel. If such 

 preserves were only known in the northern market, they 

 would sell well, and a rich source of income be opened 

 for southern ladies of taste, skill and pluck — Wm. F. 

 Massey, h'. C. 



2869. Hardy Roses. — Hardy roses, including hybrid 

 perpetual, June and yellow roses, do best in deep, cool, 

 rich soil, in beds exposed to light and air but not to 

 sweeping winds. The soil should be made fine and 

 mellow to a depth of 20 inches before planting them. 

 The rose-beds should be dressed annually with some 

 good compost — half decayed grass-sods and half well-de- 

 cayed fertilizers, or bone-meal with sods, is good. Au- 

 tumn is the best time for applying the compost. Hybrid 

 perpetual roses should be pruned every year, either in 

 autumn or spring. Remove weak and dead wood and 

 cut back last year's shoots to 3 or 4 eyes. Tobacco-stems 

 scattered under the plants is a good remedy for thrips, 

 and fir-tree oil is sometimes used. Mix one-fourth of a 

 pint of oil with ili gallons of water, stir it well and 

 syringe the plants with it. 



2875. Amaryllis vittata not Blooming — Plunge the 

 pot with the amaryllis in it outdoors in full sunshine 

 and let it take its chances until fall. Then place it in 

 the greenhouse under a bench, and keep it dry until it 

 pushes new growth. Then set it close to the glass, and 



