183 



STUDIES IN BACTERIOSIS. IV.— ''STRIPE" 

 DISEASE OF TOMATO. 



By SYDNEY G. PAINE 



{Lecturer in ihe Department of Plant Phy.siolofjy and Pathologij of the 

 Imperial (College of Science and Technoloyij, London) 



AND 



W. F. BEWLEY 



{Mycologist at the Experimental and Research Station, Cheshunt, Herts.) 



(With 5 Text-figures and Plates VIII and IX.) 



INTRODUCTION. 



The disease of tomatoes known to the nurseryman as "Stripe" is 

 characterised by brown longitudinal markings or stripes on the stem, 

 by shrivelling of the leaves, and by sunken irregularly shaped pits 

 usually of a brown colour on the fruit. It is a specific communicable 

 disease due to a bacillus which has previously been described as the cause 

 of a very similar disease of the sweet pea. 



So far little is know]i concerning the geographical distribution of the 

 disease. It is very common on tomatoes grown under glass in this 

 country and in the Channel Islands. There is no doubt that it occurs 

 also in parts of Canada and the United States. Howitt and Stone (2) 

 have given a description of a tomato disease occurring in Ontario and 

 Pennsylvania, which agrees exactly with that here described. These 

 workers, however, failed to obtain any causal organism and believe their 

 disease to be due to some chemical or physical deficiency in the soil. 

 Bailey (1) in 1892 and Selby(7) in 1897 both seem to have had this dis- 

 ease before them. 



In many cases the disease is not of a very serious nature, by most 

 nurserymen it is regarded rather as a nuisance than as a disastrous pest 

 for, with care, a moderate crop of fruit can be obtained from plants 

 which have been attacked. At times, however, the disease may be so 

 prevalent as to ruin the whole crop. 



