the woody portion is seen to be of a dingy yellowish brown co- 

 lour, which becomes more marked if left open for half a day. 

 When the plant has been attacked about three weeks the lower 

 portion of the stem is usually covered with a delicate white bloom 

 of mildew. Eventually the stem is covered with patches of a dull 

 orange colour, and becomes very much decayed. The disease can 

 always be identified by a brownish ring just within the bark at 

 the base of the stem or thicker branches of the root. 



The disease is due to a fungus which flourishes in the soil and 

 enters the plant by the root. During its development it passes 

 through three stages, the first of which usually lasts about a week, 

 the stem at the end of that time being much decayed and covered 

 with a gelatinous mass. During the last stage the spores are 

 resting and preparing to attack the young plants another year, or 

 whenever a suitable opportunity presents itself. The plant can 

 only be attacked by the fungus in the last stage of its existence. 



1. It must be remembered in the first place that diseased plants 

 never recover, and therefore no attempt to save the plant is suc- 

 cessful. 



2. As the disease grows inside the plant, it is useless to spray 

 with a fungicide. 



3. As the resting spores of the fungus live and thrive in the 

 earth and attack the plant through the root the disease must be 

 attacked in that quarter. 



It is therefore recommended that : — 



Treatment. 



1. All diseased plants should be uprooted immediately the dis- 

 ease is noticed, and should be burned. 



2. The soil in which the plants grew should be removed and 

 sterilised by heat, or mixed with a liberal allowance of quicklime^ 



3. If it is not practicable to remove the soil, it should receive a 

 liberal dressing of gas-lime. This should be allowed to lie on the 

 surface for ten days, and should afterwards be thoroughly incor- 

 porated with the soil. After this the soil should remain for at 

 least ten weeks before anything is planted in it. It should be 

 soaked with water once a week. 



4. As much lime as the plants will allow should be mixed with 

 the soil in which tomatoes are grown, more especially if they are 

 grown in the same beds during successive seasons. 



5. The infected soil from a bed should not be thrown out at 

 random, but should be sterilised by admixture of quicklime, and 

 care should be taken not to bring it in contact with tomato beds. 



6. Only short-jointed sturdy plants should be used, and those 

 should be fairly hard and the foliage of a dark bronze appearance. 

 All spindly or drawn plants should be rejected. 



7. The plants should be allowed plenty of air, light, and room 

 for growth. 



