448 



QUESTIONS ASKED AND ANSWERED. 



2982. Snails on Mushrooms. — Try sifting fine lime 

 or unleached wood-ashes over the beds. This will prob- 

 ably give relief. 



29S3. Making Kerosene Emulsion. — We always 

 use the ordinary refined kerosene, which here is so cheap 

 that there is no inducement to use the crude article. 

 We know no reason, however, why crude petroleum 

 should not answer. 



2984. Leached and Unleached Ashes. — Unleached 

 ashes do not improve by being left outdoors. Even con- 

 tact with the bare, moist ground, without rains, will 

 draw out some of the potash. If exposed to heavy rains 

 ashes will part with a good share of their potash, and in 

 the end be nothing better than leached ashes. All de- 

 pends on time of exposure and amount of rainfall. The 

 prevailing method of gathering Canada ashes, namely, 

 "from farm to farm, just as rags are gathered," accounts 

 much for the great variation found in the strength of 

 those ashes, and for the undeniable fact that some of 

 them have a low percentage of potash. In other words, 

 Canada ' ' unleached " ashes frequently are partly leached. 



2986. Culture of Bush Lima Beans. — The Hender- 

 son is grown almost as easily as any ordinary bush-bean. 

 Use the richest and warmest soil you have available for 

 the purpose, and plant in rows three feet apart, after- 

 wards thinning the plants to stand 6 or 8 inches apart in 

 the row. Give clean and frequent cultivation. This 

 bean is much earlier than Burpee Bush Lima. The 

 latter must be planted as soon as the ground becomes 

 warm, or, better, started in pots or on inverted sods 

 under glass or in the house, and planted out when the 

 ground is warm enough. The ground should be I'cry 

 rich ; otherwise don't look for much success with the 

 Burpee Bush Lima or the Kumerle or Dreer either. 

 Burpee Lima makes a stout but top-heavy bush, and is 

 subject to breakage by heavy winds. Our practice is to 

 set a small stake to each plant. Hoe frequently. 



2987. Growing Onion-Sets. — Seed should be sown 

 early, in fairly rich but clean sandy sail. Use plenty of 

 seed, say one ounce to each 50 feet of row. Cultivate 

 and weed as you would ordinary onions. Take up when 

 ripe, and clean from dirt, etc., by sifting. Use Round 

 Red for red, Silverskin for white, and Yellow Dutch for 

 yellow. 



2989. The New Onion-Culture. — We give some ad- 

 ditional information in our Notes from the Editors' 

 Grounds. As new points develop, they will be reported. 



2990. Deep and Shallow Planting of Asparagus.— 



We like to have our plants reasonably deep. The ten- 

 dency of the crown is to come nearer the surface of the 

 soil from year to year, and we want it deep enough to 

 be safe from injury by hoe and cultivator. Personally 

 we prefer bleached "grass," if grown as it should be. 

 Some buyers also prefer it, and are willing to pay an 

 extra price for it. Others condemn the bleached grass 

 and claim that the stalks above ground are tenderest. 

 There is, however, little mystery about this. Every 

 stalk is tough for 2 or 3 inches next to the crown. This 

 part is not fit for use, and should be left or thrown 

 away. The very choicest asparagus is the young, tender 

 head, when only a little above ground. 



2991. Asparagus Growing Crooked. — The buds or 

 shoots of asparagus-rootstocks, like those of some other 

 liliaceous plants, are often close together, and grow to- 

 gether — become grafted as it were, forming a double 

 stem. We do not know that this can be avoided. The 

 crooked stems are owing to obstructions which the shoots 

 meet in the soil. These obstructions are often — generally, 

 indeed — the old stems left from the previous season's cut- 

 ting. The remedy is to remove these stems by cultiva- 

 tion before the shoots begin their growth in the spring. — 

 E. S. Carman. 



2993. Weed -Seeds in Fermenting Manure. — The 



popular idea is that weed-seeds are killed by the heat. 

 You think that the heat merely causes the seeds to ger- 

 minate, as barley in malting, and thus are deprived of 

 their vitality; while the editor of the Weekly 7'hnes pro- 

 claims that seeds will not start to grow in the manure of 

 a hotbed because they need air. Probably you all are 

 wrong. Seeds in that part of the manure which is in 

 active fermentation (hot), are killed outright, and will 

 soon rot. It is not the heat that destroys their vitality, 

 but the ammonia. We have not yet found the small 

 seed that will stand exposure to as much ammonia as is 

 found in heating manure, and live, although we have 

 tried seeds of a number of cultivated crops, and also of 

 weeds. 



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

 ashes, used in moderate quantities, are a fine manure for 

 potatoes, especially if some superphosphate is added to 

 them. But why use lime ? The bulk of the ashes is noth- 

 ing else but lime, and we can see no necessity for adding 

 more of it. 



