702 0UES7I0NS ASKED 



3133- Boot-Grafting: Fruit Trees.— Can cleft-grafting be 

 used as suL-cessfully as whip-grafting in working on piece or 

 whole roots? Should the whole roots be stored in the fall and 

 grafted during the winter? Can cherries and plums be root- 

 grafted as well as apples ?— T. C. F., Indiana. 



3134. Pruning: Pear Trees.— When is the best time to do 

 this ? Is it safe to prune in fall ?— Mrs. E. L., N. J. 



3135- Juneberry for Local Market.— What kind is best? 



3136. Huckleberry-Plants.— Where can I obtain nursery- 

 grown plants?— J. A. S., Pa. 



3137- Ladies' Pine Strawberry.— Where can plants be ob- 

 tained ?— J. C. W., N. Y. 



313^- Composting- Stable Manure.— I wish to use earth 

 or muck as an absorbent in my stables. Should the compost be 

 kept under shelter?— C. L. M. 



5139. Tarrag-on Culture.— Will the plant winter outdoors 

 in the latitude of New York, or must it be housed?— C. J. C, Conn. 



3140. Vermin in Mushroom Cellars.— How can we dis- 

 pose of mice, rats, snails, wood-lice, flies, etc., in our mushroom- 

 cellars? 



3141. Preserving- Mushrooms.— Do you know of a simple 

 method to keep mushrooms in good order for weeks or months ? — 

 W. W. M., Long Island. 



3142. Grasses for Permanent Pasture.— What kinds, 

 what proportion of each, and how much of the whole per acre, 

 should be sown with rye in spring to make a permanent pasture ? 



3143. Crops in Shade.— What plants, fiovvers, and more es- 

 pecially vegetables, will do well in the shade? My garden has 

 many fruit-trees ?—K. L. S., TV. Y. 



3144. Canning- Sweet-Corn.— How can we successfully put 

 up sweet-corn in ordinary glass fruit-jars? — C. R. M., Ont. 



3145. Wintering- Sweet - Potatoes.— Please give best 

 method.— G. W. V., Kansas. 



2879. Leached Ashes as a Fertilizer.— I once knew a 

 garden filled up 6 or 8 feet deep with leached ashes, and 

 without other soil or fertilizers plants seemed perfectly 

 at home there — C. L. Mann. 



2965. The Carman Grape. — This originated with me 

 in 1883, and first fruited in 1885. It is a seedling of 

 one of the best wild post-oak grapes Vitis Liticecnmii, 

 found by me in Grayson county, Texas, and hybridized 

 with either Herbemont or Triomphe pollen, both having 

 been used on the flowers. Vines of Carman tested in 

 Missouri have endured a temperature of 27° below zero 

 without injury, when Concord winter-killed badly in the 

 bud. It ripens here directly after Concord, and four- 

 year-old vines averaged this year over 21 pounds of fine 

 fruit, without a speck of fungus or disease of any kind. — 

 T. V. MuNSON, Te.xas. 



2975. Management of Marianna-PIum Cuttings.— 

 Here in North Carolina I cut them in lo-inch lengths not 

 later than February, but preferably a month or two 

 earlier. I bury them in sandy soil, where they will keep 

 slightly moist till early in spring. Then I set them in 

 good, moist soil 10 inches to a foot apart in the row, leav- 

 ing only one bud above ground. Firm the soil well 

 about the cuttings, and during dry weather keep them 

 sufficiently moist for good growth. — Chas. C. Lindley. 



2991. Asparagus Growing Crooked. — Careless hand- 

 ling of the knife causes more crooked asparagus with us 

 than anything else. If the knife slips enough to injure a 

 shoot just coming through the soil, the flow of sap on that 

 side will be checked and the other side of the shoot will 

 grow much faster. Sometimes small grubs in the soil 



AND ANSWERED. 



eat a shoot on one side, and the effect is the same. I 

 have also observed that if we have very warm weather, 

 followed suddenly by a fall of temperature, the shoots 

 will all bend in the direction from which the cold wind 

 came. This, I think, shows clearly that if the sap is 

 checked on one side more than on the other, the plant 

 will grow crooked. Obstructions in the soil, such as old 

 stems, stones or any other rubbish, may cause shoots to 

 grow in a slanting position, but hardly ever to crook 

 them — C. AuscHicKs, ///. 



3041. Bulbs After Flowering. — When it is necessary 

 to use ground on which tulips or other Dutch bulbs have 

 flowered, they may be taken up and heeled in in a partially 

 shaded place, either immediately after blooming, or later, 

 when the bulbs show signs of ripening, which is indi- 

 cated by the leaves turning yellow. If they are lifted 

 immediately after flowering, they should be handled 

 carefully, so as not to injure the leaves, heeled in, and 

 left until the foliage becomes quite dry, after which they 

 should be lifted again and dried a few hours in the sun. 

 When dry, clean and store them in paper bags in a cool 

 dry place, until it is time to plant them again. 



3042. Is it a Sport ? — Bulbs formed entirely above 

 ground are called bulblets, and are common among 

 some varieties of bulbous plants (notably in Lilium 

 tigrinum), where they form in the axils of the leaves. 

 A bulblet will not produce a new variety, but will repro- 

 duce the same variety on which it grew ; hence it is not 

 a sport. Plant bulblets in flats or in a bed by them- 

 selves in the open ground. Thoroughly prepare the bed 

 and keep it well cultivated. In winter cover it with 

 coarse manure, leaves or straw. The tiny bulbs will 

 grow fast and bloom in from one to three years, according 

 to circumstances. 



3052. Red-Flowering Dogwood. — Red-flowering dog- 

 wood is a reality, and is known as Cornus var. fl. rubra. 

 The flowers are a rich rose-color. 



3056. Cutting Asparagus-Tops. — Do not cut the tops 

 oft your asparagus until they have withered in the fall 

 (except of those on which the seed-pods or berries have 

 turned red ; cut these to prevent them from seeding the 

 ground). It is necessary that the tops be allowed to 

 grow as long as possible, that the roots may gain 

 strength for the next season's growth. 



3068. Seeds of Hardy Orange may be bought of H. 

 H. Berger & Co., Box 1501, San Francisco, Cal. — T. J, 



3076. Storing Apples for Winter. — Cold-storage is 

 probably superior to any other way, but in no way have we 

 been able to preserve the original flavor and crispness of 

 the fruit more perfectly than by burying it outdoors. 

 Select a well-drained spot and make a depression, a few 

 inches in depth, 3 feet wide, and as long as required for 

 the quantity of apples to be stored. Pile up a pyramid 

 of the fruit, using the utmost care to prevent bruising it, 

 then cover it with a good thick layer of clean straw and 

 four inches of soil well firmed down. Apples should not 

 be buried as deep as potatoes. Finally, put on a roof of 

 boards to keep the rain out. Stuff the ends of the shed 

 with straw. 



