206 Procvvdhuis o/ hulidnd AauJony of Science. 



Buckeye rot due to Phi/tophthora tcrrestria was noted in three K^'een- 

 houses near Indianapolis. Only the lower fruits were infected and it is 

 evident that infection was the result of splashing from the soil underneath. 

 ■In one case the rotting fruits were picked off and thrown on the ground thus 

 affording the fungus every oiiportunity to develop and spread to (itli(>r 

 fruits. Strict sanitation should of course bo practiced in attempting to con- 

 trol this disease. 



■ Blossom-end rot was vei'y destructive in hotli the greenhouse and fiel<l 

 crops on the early set of fruit and in the Lafayette region where the soil 

 dries out very (luickly the disease continued to be prevalent well into the 

 season. In lields near Lafayette. H. T>. Brown reports a loss of three tons 

 per acre of green fruit actually removeil iK'eause of this disease. This 

 loss is appalling when one considers that the tinal yield was but eighi tons 

 per acre. 



In the canning crop growth cracks probably occasion move loss ii! the 

 aggregate than all the parasitic diseases combined and this trouble is 

 about equal to blossom-end rot as a source of loss. Not only are growth 

 cracks an objectionable blemish in themselves but most of the fruit rot 

 late in the season in the canning crop both in the field and in the crates 

 is due to the infection of these growth cracks by rot-producing organisms. 

 Growth cracks cause heavier losses to the canner than to '>:he grower since 

 much of the fruit rot occurs after picking, whereas tlie loss due to blossom- 

 end rot falls largely upon the grower. 



Sunscald was very common owing to the foliage destruction by Septoria 

 leaf-spot and consequent exposui-e of the fruit. Catface was very prevalent 

 in the canning crop and is an objectionable blemish from the canner's stand- 

 point. According to Dr. B. J. Howard of the Federal Bureau of Chemistry, 

 the catface scars are prone to crack and permit rot infection. 



A peculiar type of non-parasitic wilting of the plants occui-red in the 

 Paoli region and at Lafayette. Affected plants showed the hollow stem 

 condition, the pith having dried out and collapsed even in the very young 

 shoots. At Lafayette the affected plants were near a row of trees along 

 the edge of the field and a similar relation was reported from I'aoli so it is 

 possible that this hollow stem wilt was due to soil drouth produced liy the 

 tree roots. 



A small, circular, conspicuously white, raised spot with a darker center 

 occurred rather commonly on tomatoes about Lafayette and lndianai)oli--. 

 This has been called "white spot" or "bird's-eye spot"' and is often associ- 

 ated with bacterial spot. Trobably it is due to an insect injury. 



A Sclerotinia stem rot was found on a few greenhouse plants following 

 wounds and wilt infection. Wind scalding of the leaves was noted at 

 Hammond July I'T. ILiil injury was conspicuous on fruits and stems in the 

 Indianapolis region July 17. 



From the standpoint of disease introduction the importation of tomato 

 plants grown in the south for the Indiana canning crop is distinctly 

 dangerous. Evidence of the introduction of Fusarium wilt into fields with 

 southern plants Wiis secured. Wholesale nematode infestation of the 

 roots (if the seedlings was found in shipments from several points in the 

 south. Infested plants lived throughout the season when set out in Indiana 

 fields but were stunted and below normal in yield. The galls on the old 



