640 



QUESTIONS ASKED AND ANSWERED. 



emptied as wanted. Experiments will show a crispness and 

 freshness in apples kept in this way that is very appre- 

 ciable. I have seen the inside of barrels bristling with 

 needles of ice, and the fruit unfrozen. Apples are thus 

 kept until April, May, or even June. — D J. Waller. 



3077. Downy Mildew of Grapes.— The disease ap- 

 pears to be the downy mildew. It may be first noticed 

 as small frost-like patches on the lower surface of the 

 leaves, and later in yellowish discolorationsof the upper 

 surface, also in a dry rot of the berries. Wash the vines 

 in early spring, while yet dormant, with strong copper 

 or iron-sulphate solutions, and spray frequently until 

 late in July with some of the approved fungicides. 



3078. Trellis for Grapes. — Both upper and lower wire 

 may be adjusted in the manner shown on page 426. 



3079. Dwarf Plum Trees. — Trim your trees in the 

 ordinary way. Cutting back was certainly not the cause 

 of death of the two trees. Your trees are standards, and 

 you can grow them as such. 



3080. New York Fruit-Growers' Association. —The 

 only N. Y. state association of this kind is the Western 

 New York Horticultural Society, which meets in Roches- 

 ter annually in January. Its president is W. C. Barry, 

 Rochester, N. Y. 



3081. Blackberries and Raspberries from Root-Cut- 

 tings. — You can make these cuttings from now on until 

 the ground freezes. Prof. Bailey, in "The Nursery 

 Book, " published by The Rural Publishing Company , New 

 York, says; "Roots from one-fourth to three-eighths 

 in diameter are selected for the purpose. The roots are 

 dug in the fall, cut into pieces an inch or two long, and 

 stored until early spring. They may be buried in boxes 

 of sand, after the manner of stratified seeds, or stored in 

 a cool cellar ; callusing proceeds most rapidly in a cellar. 

 The pieces are planted horizontally an inch or two deep, 

 in loose, rich soil. It is best to put them into a frame 

 and give them slight bottom-heat, although they will grow 

 if planted in the open ground in April or May, but the 

 plants will make much less growth the first season. When 

 the variety is scarce, shorter and slenderer pieces of root 

 may be used, but these demand bottom-heat. The heat 

 in the frames is usually supplied by manure, or the heat 

 of the sun under glass may be sufficient. In these frames 

 the cuttings can be started in the north late in March, or 

 some six ar eight weeks before the plants can be set out- 

 doors without protection. When the weather has be- 

 come somewhat settled, the plants may be set out, and 

 by fall they will be two or three feet high." 



3083. Fertilizers for Raspberries. — You have good 

 material in "an abundance of half-rotted sawdust, 

 leached wood-ashes and barnyard-manure." The leached 

 wood-ashes, in themselves, are a most excellent manure 

 for all sorts of small fruits, and, under average circum- 

 stances, are complete in themselvss for the purpose. 

 Your cold, stiff clay soil may be benefited by loosening 

 up with organic manures and vegetable matter. The 

 half-rotted sawdust will be just the thing. Compost it 



with the wood-ashes, and then apply it liberally. The 

 ashes contain lime, hence the dressing of air -slaked lime 

 may be omitted. Barnyard-manure also is a good thing 

 to apply, but if you have plenty of the other ingredients 

 named, you can save this for other crops. 



3084. Soil for Lettuce-Forcing. You should use new 



soil every year. Why ? To prevent the attacks and 

 spread of that formidable enemy of lettuce under glass, 

 the mildew. The growers of forced vegetables cannot 

 be too careful in protecting their crops against fungous 

 diseases. The principle of strict rotation applies as for- 

 cibly so crops under glass as to those outdoors, and 

 where we cannot change the crops we must change the 

 soil. 



3085. Onions Blighting. — Onion-blight or rust, which 

 is due to a fungus (peronospera), has often seriouly af- 

 fected our onion crop, or parts of it. Our crop this year 

 is probably reduced one-half on this account. We have 

 tried various fungicides, but thus far without avail. By 

 the time the bulbs are half grown, or less, the leaves be- 

 gin to turn yellow, and die from the top downward, put- 

 ting a stop to the further growth of the bulb. The only 

 thing we could suggest is strict rotation, and we shall 

 follow it more closely hereafter. If you see the least 

 sign of rust in a field this year, abandon it for onion- 

 growing for a few years. To be safe, always select for 

 onion-growing an uninfected piece of ground at some 

 distance from where onions were grown the season be- 

 fore. 



3086. Cellar for Vegetables. — A cemented cellar, if 

 frost-proof and not too dry, is a good place for keeping 

 vegetables, provided it is not under the dwelling-house. 

 On sanitary grounds we do not recommend storing large 

 quantities of fruits and vegetables under the living- 

 rooms, but would prefer barn cellars or pits for such 

 purposes. 



3088. Remedy for Striped Cucumber-Beetle.— We 



know of no absolute protection from the attacks of this 

 insect. Usually the plants can be saved from destruc- 

 tion or serious injury by applications of land-plaster, 

 bone-dust, or almost any other dust-like material. When, 

 as is sometimes the case, the beetles appear in large num- 

 bers, they may destroy the young plants in spite of such 

 applications. Paris green is a promising remedy, and if 

 a little lime is added to the Paris-green water, the foliage 

 will not be injured. Apply it in a fine spray, taking care to 

 reach the lower side of the leaves. There are spraying- 

 nozzles now made for that particular purpose. Our favor- 

 ite method of keeping off the beetles and killing the mag- 

 gots, if there are any at the roots, is to cover the ground 

 around the plants on each hill with an inch or more of 

 tobacco-dust. Soaking the ground near the roots with a 

 solution of saltpeter, lime-water or tobacco-tea is also 

 likely to give relief from the maggots. They have seldom 

 given us serious trouble, however. The great enemy to 

 melon-vines, in our experience, is the melon-leaf blight, 

 and it is possible that this may cause much of the mis- 

 chief which you attribute to the maggots. 



