HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: ceci@lysator.liu.se (Ceci Henningsson)
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
Subject: Re: How do I remove a root?
Date: 26 Jul 92 15:01:19 GMT
Organization: Lysator Academic Computer Club, Linkoping University, Sweden

vsummers@polaris.cv.nrao.edu (Vince Summers) writes:

>Question:  Would round-up do the trick if applied to the wound?

No, Round-up needs foliage to do the job. It says on my bottle that
before you apply Round-up, you should allow the weed to get leaves. It
also says that it works even better if there are flowers. I suppose
the people who write the instruction know what they are talking about.

There was a paragraph about Round-up in one of the recent issues of
Scientific American. It wasn't long, but it explained why Round-up is
supposed to be harmless to animals.

--Ceci


--
=====ceci@lysator.liu.se===========================================
"Where is the mythic archetype who will save us from ecological
catastrophe or credit card debt?" 
Ian McDonald in King of Morning, Queen of Day
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
From: vinod@fullwave.watson.ibm.com ()
Subject: Montgomery Ward Garden Tractor - recommendations sought
Date: Wed, 22 Jul 92 21:49:32 GMT
Reply-To: vinod@vnet.ibm.com
Organization: IBM 
Followup-To: rec.gardens

(I originally posted this in misc.consumers.house, but thought I might
get a better response here)


Having moved into a house with almost two acres of moderately
hilly lawn, I need to buy a lawn/garden tractor. I have been
looking for a used one, with no luck. Most sales people
turn me towards the 14-18hp range tractors. Montgomery ward
seems to have an 18hp tractor for around $1300. Here are my
questions:
1. Do I really need that much power or would a smaller model
   (say around 11-12hp) do? How much does the power matter?
2. How are Montgomery Ward garden tractors?
3. Am I better off going to a name brand like John Deere, for
   a 12hp tractor than going to Wards or Sears and buying a
   bigger tractor?

I may get a snow-blade for my tractor, but other than that,
I don't think I will use it for much besides mowing.

As usual, thanks in advance for all net.wisdom!

--vinod
vinod@vnet.ibm.com
From: frosty@med.unc.edu (Steve Loechel)
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
Subject: Re: Japanese Beetles everywhere
Date: 24 Jul 92 16:01:58 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: UNC-CH School of Medicine

--Frosty the Beetle-Slayer
From: catharine.vinson@cccbbs.UUCP (Catharine Vinson) 
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
Subject: Cactus mail order dealer?
Date: 30 Jul 92 12:49:00 GMT
Distribution: world
Organization: Cincinnati Computer Connection BBS - Cincinnati, OH - 513-752-8248
Reply-To: catharine.vinson@cccbbs.UUCP (Catharine Vinson) 

To: rec.gardens
From: cvinson@world.com
Keywords: Cactus, mail order


   johnanes@newton.ce.nd.edu (Johanes Suhardjo) asks:

JS>>Can somebody give me the address of a cactus mail order dealer?

      Here are some to get you started.  Source: _Garden by Mail, A
      Source Book_ by Barbara Barton:


   Cactus by Dodie                       Cactus and succulents
   934 E. Mettler Road
   Lodi, CA  95242
   (209) 368-3692

   Cactus by Mueller                     Collectors' list
   10411 Rosedale Highway
   Bakersfield, CA  93312
   (805) 589-2674

   Cactus Gem Nursery                    Cactus and succulents
   5485 White Drive
   Battesville, AR  72501

   The Cactus Patch                      Offers winter-hardy cactus
   RR 2, Box 159
   Radium, KS 67550-9111 (316)
   982-4670

   Hope these help,
   Catharine Vinson - cvinson@world.com
From: ramirez@julia.math.ucla.edu (Alice Ramirez)
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
Subject: Arnold's pet squirrels
Date: 27 Jul 92 02:45:41 GMT
Organization: UCLA Mathematics Department

Concerning Arnold's run-in with the squirrel, the grainmoths, the chipmonk.
I know it was written in a vein of tragedy, but honestly, it had me laughing.
Forgive my heartless lack of sympathy but as a fruitgardener battling
bird-pecked figs  and stolen mulberries, my sympathies are definitely
with the squirrels.  

Arnold, face the fact:  You have some new pets.  From the rodent family./
Cute, with bushy tails and with healthy appetites.  You can battle nature,
but you cannot win.  May I suggest my own solution.  Buy a big bag of unsalted
peanuts in the shell and just learn to enjoy the little bandits.  You can teach
squirrels to sit up and beg like puppies.  They'll learn to recognize and
run to you if you feed them.  And if you feed them what they prefer they'll
probably leave your bird feeder alone.  Poor little things are just hungry.
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
From: macheske@aero.org (Richard M. Macheske)
Subject: Re: Circular Dark Patches on the bottom of my tomatoes !
Organization: The Aerospace Corporation, El Segundo, CA
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1992 19:22:50 GMT

In article <1992Jul30.152537.7359@athena.mit.edu> chasman@athena.mit.edu (David Chasman) writes:
>My tomatoes have once again started to get these ugly brownish circular
>rot on the bottom.  Last year I was advised to get this spray that you
>apply directly to the plant (apparently, once this starts you have to 
>bypass the root system and go in through the leaves).  My question is:
>what exactly is in this stuff and if I have a chemistry stock-room 
>available is it easy to make.  E-mail responses are encouraged, since I
>don't spend the whole day reading news - but I am usually near a workstation.
>
Please tell me too.  It sounds like my plants.  I was always told this
was called blossom rot and the only way to get rid of it was to water
more often.  It would be great if I could spray something to fix the
problem.
Rick
From: karen@athena.cs.uga.edu (Karen Snetselaar)
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
Subject: Re: GREENISH SOIL ?????????
Date: 31 Jul 92 19:08:01 GMT
Organization: University of Georgia, Athens

In article <1992Jul31.124851.13218@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu> crussel@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Carol A Russell) writes:
>In article <92213.075054KJB6@psuvm.psu.edu> KJB6@psuvm.psu.edu writes:
>>
>>We have had a lot of rain here, and I have noticed that the soil  in my
>>veggie garden, and that around the roses has a greenish tint to it. Is this
>>some sort of fungus growing on the ground because of all the rain fall we have
>>had? What can be done about it? and will it cause any damage to any of my
>>plants???
>>
>Hi Ken.  I have had similar problems, as we're having one of the wettest Julys 
>on record!  This is mold, I believe, that has been showing up in the gardens, 
>due to all the wetness.  I have solved it by tilling and hoeing the soil as 
>much as possible.  This has eliminated 90% of the mold, and my plants are doing
>fine.  As to your roses, I don't know.....

Oh, it's probably algae, not fungi.  Fungi are hardly ever green, at least not
grass-green like algae, because it's chloroplasts that make plants green, and
fungi haven't got chloroplasts.  Algae are primitive plants, and they have
chloroplasts.  Actually, what you're probably seeing aren't true algae at
all, rather blue-green algae, that are even more primitive, and are more
closely related to bacteria than to plants.  The chloroplasts that are in plants
and true algae are descendents of blue-green algal relatives that got
"captured" by other cells.  Chloroplasts (and blue-green algae) of course are
what keep life going on the planet because they can convert sunlight to
energy.  Fantastic, eh, all this complexity happening in our veggie gardens.

Sorry for going on, I'm in love with life today.  I'll bet you just wanted
to know whether the stuff would hurt your plants; it won't.  Sometimes algae
(both kinds) and moss can mislead you into thinking your soil is wetter than
it really is, but that's about the extent of it.  You probably are seeing lots
more algae because, as you say, it's been rainy, and maybe you've been
fertilizing a lot; the algae love fertilizer.

Karen Snetselaar
Dept. of Plant Pathology
UGA
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
From: johnj@welchgate.welch.jhu.edu (John A. Johnston)
Subject: Poision Ivy, Gophers
Organization: Johns Hopkins Univ. Welch Medical Library
Distribution: usa
Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1992 18:51:34 GMT


We have aquired a home with a rather overgrown back area.  It is
terraced (real old rr ties) four steps about 4' deep each.  This
terracing is overgrown with weeds, english ivy (? the kind that grows
up houses), and poision ivy (maybe other poision stuff).

This same area is also inhabited by two gophers.

The goal is to gain control part of this area:  Clearing for a large
garden (for a townhouse/apartment dweller); and wiping out the poision
itch/rash causing weeds.

We'd like to keep the gophers, they are kinda cute, and leave a good
portion of this area for regular growth of small trees, the ivy, bushes
and maybe a friendly weed or 10.

Is there a rec.gardens guide that would cover such topics?  If not we
would appreciate any recommendations/experiences others may have had
with thier gardens (to be!).

Many thanks!
-johnj
From: blamb@rodan.hri.com (Bill Lambert)
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
Subject: Circles of 'shrooms ?
Date: 28 Jul 92 19:38:51 GMT
Reply-To: blamb@rodan.hri.com (Bill Lambert)
Organization: Horizon Research


I am not much of a gardener, but some day I hope to do better as
I just moved into a house where someone spent a lot of care on the
grounds a few years ago, but the most recent owners evidently
neglected the garden for 3 or 4 years or so.

I have the strangest thing on my lawn, and I wonder if anyone
can tell me how or why it happened. There's an almost perfect
circle of wild mushrooms, around 15ft diameter in one area.
I say almost perfect, because the circle is only about 3/4
complete at this time. The mushroom growth is thick enough to
be almost contiguous around the circle, but else where there
are only a few mushrooms scattered about on the property.

I live in Concord Massachusetts, and the soil here tends to
clay, and there are also some mossy areas in the shaded portions
of my lawn.

Could someone tell me if this is a common occurance, or should I
try alt.talk.ufo ?

Thanks....

- Bill Lambert
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
From: jcp@islay.dco.dec.com (Jolly C. Pancakes)
Subject: Re: Essential herb oils
Organization: Electric Otter Eel Emporium
Date: Mon, 27 Jul 1992 14:55:27 GMT

In article <1992Jul26.162628.1618@drycas.club.cc.cmu.edu> kristen@telerama.pgh.pa.us (Kristen McQuillin) writes:
>I grow many medicinal herbs and wonder if anyone knows how to distill
>the essential oils from a plant. While most of the medicinal benefits
>of the plants I grow are available by making infusions, decoctions,
>tinctures and poultices, some of the compounds in the plants are only
>found in the plant oils.

	The safest and cleanest method of extraction is with an alembic
still. It's nice if you can buy one (try Edmund's Scientific) but you
can also put one together from pieces of lab equipment or even kitchen
pots. The idea is to simmer the organic matter in water so that the oils
are released in the steam, then trap the steam so that it condenses.
Typically this will yield a more dilute product than a pure essential
oil - what you will usually get are herbal "waters" such as rosewater,
lavender water, etc. The best quality oils are steam distilled but the
apparatus and technique may be beyond the home hobbyist.


-- 

------------
jcpatilla					jcp@islay.dco.dec.com
From: blamb@rodan.hri.com (Bill Lambert)
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
Subject: Re: Circles of 'shrooms ?
Date: 29 Jul 92 19:37:56 GMT
Reply-To: blamb@rodan.hri.com (Bill Lambert)
Organization: Horizon Research

In article <6829@bigbird.hri.com.hri.com>, blamb@rodan.hri.com 
(Bill Lambert) writes:
=> >
=> >I have the strangest thing on my lawn, and I wonder if anyone
=> >can tell me how or why it happened. There's an almost perfect
=> >circle of wild mushrooms, around 15ft diameter in one area.
=> >- Bill Lambert

In article <1992Jul29.143934.17080@news.cs.brandeis.edu>, 
reynold@binah.cc.brandeis.edu writes:
=> I'd say pixies and fairies live in your yard. Definitely! :-)
=> 
=> Susan

I'd like to thank all the people who answered my inquiry about
circles of wild mushrooms, both publically and privately.

At first I got these bizarre scientific answers about giant wild
fungi growing under the ground, and pushing off new progeny as
the ring grows, but now at least I've begun to get more plausible
answers.... such as above. Last night I awoke to the tinkling of
bells and the sounds of high-pitched laughter. I roused quietly
from my bed and peered outside.... lo and behold! There were
fairies dancing with arms locked around the mushroomed circle,
making harmony with silken mirth in their voices. After their
dance was finished, they flew to the windows of my baby daughter's
room and checked her as she slept peacefully. Apparently happy
with the dreamy smile on her face, they tokk flight abruptly,
leaving a trail of iridescent golden dust in their wake.

When she is old enough to ask questions; if she asks 
what makes the rings of mushrooms, I know what to tell
her.

You don't think I'd tell her that giant fungi story, do
you? That's scary!

Thanks all.

Bill Lambert
From: Lawrence.London@bbs.oit.unc.edu (Lawrence London)
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
Subject: Re: Improving clay soil
Date: 28 Jul 92 02:50:04 GMT
Organization: Extended Bulletin Board Service

--
   The opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the University of
     North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Campus Office for Information
        Technology, or the Experimental Bulletin Board Service.
           internet:  bbs.oit.unc.edu or 152.2.22.80
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
From: dmiller@theory.lcs.mit.edu (Dick and Jill Miller)
Subject: Roundup efficacy
Organization: Laboratory for Computer Science, MIT
Distribution: na
Date: Tue, 28 Jul 1992 12:30:41 GMT

> vsummers@polaris.cv.nrao.edu (Vince Summers) writes:
> 
> >Question:  Would round-up do the trick if applied to the wound?
> 
> ceci@lysator.liu.se (Ceci Henningsson) replies:
> 
> No, Round-up needs foliage to do the job. It says on my bottle that
> before you apply Round-up, you should allow the weed to get leaves. It
> also says that it works even better if there are flowers. I suppose
> the people who write the instruction know what they are talking about.
> 
> There was a paragraph about Round-up in one of the recent issues of
> Scientific American. It wasn't long, but it explained why Round-up is
> supposed to be harmless to animals.

Hmmmmm.  I just finished reading Landscape Design, Renovation, and 
Maintenance by Cass Turnbull.  She applies Round-up to the combium edge of 
cut-off trees and shrubs IMMEDIATELY after cutting them to kill the roots.  
She does emphasize that minutes count.

--Jill

--
A. Richard & Jill A. Miller            | Miller Microcomputer Services |
InterNet: dmiller@im.lcs.mit.edu       | 61 Lake Shore Road            |
Voice: 508/653-6136, 9am-9pm EasternTZ | Natick, MA 01760-2099, USA    | 

Newsgroups: rec.gardens
From: dedek@meaddata.com (Mike Dedek)
Subject: Re: transplanting grass
Organization: Mead Data Central, Dayton OH
Date: Fri, 24 Jul 1992 16:12:17 GMT

In article <Bruy35.Fr9@well.sf.ca.us>, lp@well.sf.ca.us (Lily Pond) writes:
|> 
|> I'm moving into a house with great grass growing in the flowerbeds and none
|> growing in the lawn. Should I try to transplant it, or just get some sod (or
|> seeds?) and start over.

We've had success transplanting sod.  Try to dig at least 6" (15cm) deep when
you remove the sod.  We seemed to have more success _not_ pressing the sod 
into its new location, just laying it there.  We watered heavily at planting,
the next day, then every other day for about 2 weeks.  We also had better luck
putting some topsoil down before the sod.

Basically we tried two places.  One was where the previous owner had poured 
something, killing a 5x10ft oval of grass.  The sod was low quality, had some
moss in it.  We watered, pressed the sod down, watered as above.  This grass
is growing so-so now, considering the moss is dying because it's in a sunny
location now and there may still be residual poison there I guess it's pretty
good.

The second location was under a swingset where there was a depression from the
kids' feet.  It was about the same size as the other.  We put some fill dirt,
then topsoil, then planted good sod (no moss), didn't press down, then watered
as above.  This worked really good and the grass here is thick and well  
established.

We've also planted seed.  IMO, It's easier and better to reuse the sod if you
can, as much as you can.

-Mike Dedek

Newsgroups: rec.gardens
From: drosera@hal.gnu.ai.mit.edu (Donald Burden)
Subject: Re: special interest plant societies
Organization: /etc/organization
Date: Tue, 28 Jul 1992 02:04:32 GMT

> In reference to ramirez@julia.math.ucla.edu (Alice Ramirez) request for
> name/address of any carnivorous plant societies:
>
>      The International Carnivorous Plant Society
>      Leo Song, Co-Editor
>      c/o Fullerton Aboretum, California State University
>      Fullerton, California  92634

There are four volumes per year (sometimes two volumes are put together in
one in order to catch up).  Cost is $15 per year for US subscribers, $20
for foreign.  
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
From: markm@wri.com
Subject: I have a cool plant but don't know anything about it
Reply-To: markm@wri.com
Organization: Wolfram Research, Inc.
Date: Fri, 17 Jul 1992 12:34:32 GMT



Like the subject line says, I just received as a gift a Dracula Plant  
(Sarracenia Purpurea according to the tag).  It's the kind of plant with little  
pitcher-like leaves that unlucky insects fall into and "drown in the pools of  
death" (really, it says that right on the info card!)  Unfortunately, that's  
about all it says on the info card.

The plant is only about 3 inches tall, but I'd like to see it get much bigger.   
What I don't know is the water, light, food requirements of a plant like this.  

If anybody has any knowledge on this, I'd be most grateful.  Please respond by  
email as I don't regularly read this group.  I'll gladly summarize (not just  
repost) the responses I receive.

Thanks,
--Mark Moline
markm@wri.com
From: karen@athena.cs.uga.edu (Karen Snetselaar)
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
Subject: Re: FUNGUS
Date: 31 Jul 92 19:24:08 GMT
Distribution: rec.gardens
Organization: University of Georgia, Athens

In article <VSUMMERS.92Jul31090207@polaris.cv.nrao.edu> vsummers@polaris.cv.nrao.edu (Vince Summers) writes:
>
>     I realize that the following question is just a little strange for rec
>fardens, but frankly, where else?  Can anyone tell me about the fungus
>being used to attack the Gypsy Moth, namely Entomophaga maimaiga, which
>killed off most of mine?
>     Thanks for working on a tough one.
>
We love fungus questions!  Well, I do anyway.  And until someone starts
rec.mushrooms, I guess this is the place.

What exactly do you want to know about this fungus?  The info I have, which
is a couple years old, indicates that the fungus probably came in to the US
from Japan in 1910-11. It was never seen again until the outbreak in the
northeast US in 1989, but it's probably been here at low levels.  This fungus
significantly affects gypsy moth populations in Japan.  Some research suggests
that the fungus became epidemic in the US in '89 because of record high rain.

So did you inoculate with _Entomophaga_, or were your gypsy moth larvae
killed by a natural infection?  Did you have lots of rain this year?

Karen Snetselaar
Dept. of Plant Pathology
UGA
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
From: shan@niwot.scd.ucar.edu (Val Shanahan)
Subject: Re: Rabbit!
Organization: Scientific Computing Divison/NCAR Boulder, CO
Distribution: usa
Date: Fri, 24 Jul 1992 19:47:13 GMT


I can't offer any help on trapping rabbits, but I have heard of another way
to keep them out of a garden.  Supposedly, if you plant marigolds around
your garden, the rabbits will stop to eat the marigolds and not get any
further than that.  I don't know if it really works, but it sounds good.

Val

Newsgroups: rec.gardens
From: yen@stsci.edu (Felix Yen)
Subject: Re:  Improving clay soil
Organization: Space Telescope Science Institute
Distribution: na
Date: Mon, 27 Jul 1992 17:03:45 GMT


Brian Batke (bab@icd.ab.com) writes:
>  I'm looking for advice on how to improve our clay soil to make
>  it suitable for annual/perennial/shrub beds and a vegetable garden.
>
>  I've read in this newsgroup that ground fir bark is ideal.
>  Unfortunately, none of the garden or landscape suppliers in
>  the area (greater Cleveland) have even heard of it.
>  [...]

>  So what can we do?

I have the same problem: clay soil and no ground fir bark.

We started by cautiously adding random amounts of lime and gypsum.
Since the goal is to add organic matter, our solution is to grow
a series of green manure crops.  My wife started things off by
planting some supermarket lentils which did very well.  When these
started to flower, we turned them under and I planted some white
Dutch clover.  This is not doing very well, perhaps because the
young plants are having trouble with the clay.  This Fall, I plan
to weed the clover and then plant a mixture of legumes: fava beans,
crown vetch, and moth beans.  Next Spring, we will move our worm
pits to this part of the yard.

Other details: we're in Baltimore, very close to the bay and we
are tenant gardeners.  If we owned this property, we might spend
more money on our soil (and I might not plant crown vetch).


Felix
yen@stsci.edu
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
From: dmiller@theory.lcs.mit.edu (Dick and Jill Miller)
Subject: Re: Squash plants don't produce Squash
Organization: Laboratory for Computer Science, MIT
Distribution: na
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1992 15:16:24 GMT

> seifert@yesac.ColumbiaSC.NCR.COM (Rick.Seifert)'s Squash plants don't 
> produce Squash
> 
> I have two big plants(grown from seed) and while they are blooming like 
> mad, I get no squash!  I see bees inside the flowers, so I don't think 
> pollenation is a problem and I have been using miracle grow about every two 
> weeks(according to the instructions) and the plants look healthy.
> 
> Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
> 

As has been pointed out by several previous posts to this group, you don't 
get squash until the plant starts producing female flowers.  You can tell 
the female flowers because they have a baby squash on the stem right behind 
to flower.  Most squash start with a bunch of male flowers at the beginning 
and just when you start thinking there will never be any female flowers 
there they are.  If your plants are producing female flowers that are 
falling off...  Any help from the ag-school people out there??

-Jill
--
A. Richard & Jill A. Miller            | Miller Microcomputer Services |
InterNet: dmiller@im.lcs.mit.edu       | 61 Lake Shore Road            |
Voice: 508/653-6136, 9am-9pm EasternTZ | Natick, MA 01760-2099, USA    |
From: amz@iguana.cis.ohio-state.edu (Arnold M Zwicky)
Newsgroups: rec.gardens
Subject: Re: Arnold's pet squirrels
Summary: of course it's funny
Date: 27 Jul 92 15:00:51 GMT
Followup-To: rec.gardens
Organization: osu, lsa, stanford, outil,...

look, alice, *we* think it's pretty funny...now...and i
certainly didn't mean it to sound tragic.

it has been pointed out to me by several people that metal
trash cans are the next step.

i realize that we do in fact have vast numbers of pet squirrels.
the birds are very messy about getting the sunflower seeds out
of the feeder and drop buckets of them onto the ground
below it, where most of the squirrels (and mourning doves)
happily chomp them up.  it's the occasional berserker squirrel
that creates the problem, and i don't think those guys are
going to be mollified with peanuts or ears of corn or
whatever; they want it all, all of it, for themselves.

i think jacques will rather take to the idea of training
the squirrels to do tricks.  has anyone succeeded in getting
them to do anything beyond sitting up and begging?  can
you get two or more squirrels coordinated?  i'm reasonably
familiar with dog training and horse training (and with
being trained by a cat), but rodents are new territory.

arnold