QUESTIONS ASKED AND ANSWERED. 



3009, Pruning Currants. — Wait until the leaves have 

 fallen, then cut out the oldest wood, leaving enough of 

 the newer to make a well-shaped and reasonably com- 

 pact bush. If the new growth has been vigorous it may 

 have to be thinned, and perhaps cut slightly back. 



301 1. Huckleberry-plants from Seed. — Jackson Daw- 

 son, of the Arnold Arboretum, advised me to bury 

 the seeds in damp sand until the beginning of winter, 

 and then to plant them in thoroughly firmed soil in shal- 

 low boxes and place these boxes in a moderately heated 

 greenhouse. I followed this advice and found that the 

 seeds germinated freely. I was not able, however, to 

 grow any of the plants up to bearing size. I made the 

 experiment twice without success. I now think that I 

 kept the soil too moist, and believe that if I had applied 

 less water I might have succeeded. — E. S. Goff. 



3013. Gathering Blackcap Raspberries. — A few years 

 ago a fruit-grower of western New York exhibited before 

 the Western New York Horticultural Society a device for 

 the rapid gathering of blackcaps. It consisted of a 

 paddle and a large shallow box with a muslin bottom. 

 The box was to be held close to and under the bushes, 

 and the berries had to be knocked off and into the box 

 with the paddle. The berries were then to be screened 

 in a fanning-mill and evaporated. This new plan, how- 

 ever, has not found much favor with the general grower. 



3015. Preserving Unfermented Grape- Juice. — Extract 

 the juice of clean selected clusters by mashing and 

 squeezing in the ordinary way. Neither sugar nor water 

 is to be added. Just boil the juice until it makes a thick 

 syrup. Then bottle and cork tight. More information 

 on the subject of preserving the fresh juice, without boil- 

 ing down, will be given later. 



3019. Whole vs. Piece Roots for Trees.— See reply 

 to query 2972, on page 447, July number. 



3020. Russian Apricots. — We believe the newer 

 named Russian apricots were first propagated and dissem- 

 inated by Carpenter & Gage, of Nebraska. You can 

 get the trees from any leading nurseryman, for instance, 

 of Ellwanger & Barry, Rochester, N. Y. We have trees 

 of Gibb, Alexis, Alexander and other Russian sorts. 

 They were planted four years ago, and have made a good 

 growth. One or two of them made feeble efforts to 

 bloom this year and last, but we have had no fruit as yet, 

 and do not expect much in future. We have not much 

 hope for the apricot industry in the northern states, ex- 

 cept in especially favored localities. 



3021. Apple Tree Blight. — The disease affecting your 

 young trees and .finally killing them is probably the pow- 

 dery mildew. Spray the trees frequently with the am- 

 moniacal solution of copper carbonate. 



3022. Spreading Apple Trees. — The thriftiest and 

 most spreading grower we ever had on our place is 

 Tompkins King. Twenty Ounce is thrifty, but more 

 compact. 



3023. Peach Leaf-Curl. — The leaves become blistered 

 and crumpled early in the season, and usually drop. The 

 real cause of it we do not know. The "cold, unfavor- 

 able season " usually receives the blame. Neither can 



we point out a preventive or remedy. Nature always 

 tries to repair the injury, and new leaves are sent out the 

 same season. The trees should receive good cultivation 

 and judicious feeding, especially with mineral manures. 



3024. Arsenic Mixture for Grasshoppers. — The foi*- 

 mula given in the Rule-Book is used with great success in 

 California. — L. H. B. 



3025. Potash Salts. — The potash compounds which 

 are promising as destroyers of various insects and worms 

 in the soil are kainit and muriate (chloride) of potash. 

 They can be obtained of all the leading dealers in fertil- 

 izers. The kainit will cost from $8 to |io a ton, the 

 chloride about $40 a ton. 



3026. Wild Parsnips. —The "wild parsnips" found 

 so abundantly in fence-corners and around old gardens 

 are usually nothing but garden parsnips escaped from 

 cultivation. Parsnips produce seed freely, and plants are 

 liable to spring up wherever the wind blows the light 

 seed. Growing in hard ground, in sod and among weeds, 

 the wild-flavored, fleshy root becomes hard, astringent, 

 stringy and unwholesome. There is no reason to suppose 

 that roots thus recently derived from the cultivated pars- 

 nip, and while yet succulent, should be poisonous in 

 any degree, and none probably are virulently poisonous 

 at any time. 



3027. Marketing Vegetables.— You will find useful 

 suggestions about the preparation and packing of vegeta- 

 bles on page 480 of this issue. 



3028. Cucumber Pickles for Market. — Gather the 

 cucumbers when from three to six inches long. The 

 first size is usually preferred. Make a brine strong 

 enough to float an egg, and keep the cucumbers covered 

 by weighting them. They can be taken out any time, 

 and put on the market. Or they may be further pre- 

 pared by freshening and sealing up in hot vinegar in jars. 



3029. Marketing Spanish Onions. — It will be advis- 

 able to move slowly in this matter. The markets are al- 

 ways prejudiced against any new thing, although it may 

 be of good quality. The ' 'domestic Spanish" (a good name) 

 onions must make a name for themselves before retailers 

 will take kindly enough to them to pay for the trouble 

 and expense of crating them. The size of crates in which 

 the imported Spanish onions are marketed is as follows : 

 End and middle pieces are 19,'^ by 7 inches. The sides 

 may be made of split stuff, 19^2 inches long. Cut a 

 little piece off each corner of the end and middle pieces. 

 Such aerate holds a scant bushel, especially if the speci- 

 mens are very large. Our commission-merchant just now 

 advises us to ship in crates. 



3030. Packing Mushrooms. — Archdeacon & Co., of 

 85 Barclay street, New York, who handle mushrooms 

 largely, say that the best package for shipping mush- 

 rooms is a 5-pound common flat splint-basket with a 

 handle. A canvas cover is sewed over the mushrooms. 

 The card-board boxes do not keep the mushrooms in as 

 good shape as the larger packages. Some shippers use 

 the common quart strawberry-box, which is better than 

 the paper one, but not so good as the 5-pound basket. 



