100 Habits of the Tomato Moth 



(v) General Precautions. 



In dealing with this, as with most other pests, it is of great im- 

 portance that the nurseries should be kept orderly. Weeds should not 

 be allowed to grow either inside or in the neighbourhood of the houses. 

 One reason for this is that the caterpillar can mature so much more 

 quickly upon some of these than on tomatoes. Also, when a man is 

 spraying the plants he is very liable to miss the weeds. Those below the 

 shelves in the propagating houses and stray seedlings should be especially 

 looked for and removed. The border of weeds often allowed to grow 

 around the bases of the walls outside should be constantly hoed up. 

 Caterpillars can easily feed up on those and pass into the houses to 

 pupate. 



Fallen broken fruit should never be allowed to lie about in the 

 houses. The moths cannot feed on unbroken fruit but do so eagerly 

 when the skin is ruptured and they can get at the juice. Under experi- 

 mental conditions moths fed on this diet lived twice as long and laid 

 three times as many eggs as those which were given no food. 



6. APPARATUS AND MATERIALS REQUIRED FOR CONTROL. 



A spraying machine, knapsack or other type. 



A small open'boiler for dipping baskets and sacks (a galvanised iron 

 sanitary bin will do well). 



Outfit for hot water drenching. 

 For each acre of tomatoes : 



Sixty jars for moth trapping. 



Arsenate of lead paste, 20 lbs. 



Saponin, 6 ounces. 



Thick treacle, 30 lbs. 



Ale, 48 pints, to be purchased as required. 



Sodium fluoride, 1 lb. 



SUMMARY. 



H. oleracea is not a normal pest of tomatoes grown under glass, and 

 where it has become established as such it is still in some respects ill 

 adapted to a greenhouse life on a tomato diet. The larvae eat the fruit 

 because many of them are unable to survive on the foliage alone. In 

 spite of this weakness, it has become a serious pest because the species 

 is a prolific one and, once having entered a greenhouse, it usually be- 



