lo June, 1911.] Tomatoes and Irish Blight. 379 



blighted indeed. It was originally intended to spray a few rows with the 

 copper-soda mixture, but it rained so heavily on the date of our visit that 

 it had to be abandoned. 



However, on 6th March, two rows were sprayed when the tops were 

 badly blighted but still partially green, mainly to see the effect of the 

 spray on the foliage. It rained heavily just before the spray was applied. 



About a month afterwards (4th April), the potatoes were ready for 

 digging, and the sprayed rows were conspicuous for the greenness of their 

 foliage, while the others were brown and withered. The spray was in 

 many instances still visible on the leaves, although a considerable amount 

 of rain had fallen since the time of application. On digging the potatoes, 

 the healthy and diseased were carefully weighed and the result was 

 that, while 92 per cent, of the unsprayed were blighted, there were only 55 

 per cent, of those that were sprayed. This was the best yield in the 

 district, notwithstanding that the " seed " was of such a nature that no 

 one would ever dream of planting it, except for experimental purposes, 

 and the neighbouring farmers who were present at the digging all went 

 away fully convinced of the virtue of spraying. 



3. It is not surprising, therefore, to find that the practice of spraying 

 is becoming more and more common as its advantages are realized, and 

 even in Ireland the latest o-fjicial report states :— 



Some idea of the recent pron;ress made in this matter of spraying may be gained 

 from the fact that, during the last three years, nearly 4,000 spraying machines have 

 been sold through the efforts of the Department in the congested districts of the 

 West of Ireland alone. 



TOxMATOES AND IRISH BLIGHT. 



D. Mc Alpine, Vegetable Pathologist. 



The tomato is so closely related to the potato-plant, as I have shown 

 in the Journal for April, 19 10, that potatoes and tomatoes may be pro- 

 duced on the same plant. A tomato shoot may be grafted on to a potato 

 haulm, and there will be tomatoes above ground and potatoes underground. 

 Conversely, if a potato stem is grafted on to a tomato shoot, there will 

 only be tubers borne in the axils of the leaves. It was to be expected, 

 therefore, that sooner or later, as in other parts of the world, the disea.se 

 of Irish T^light would be found attacking the tomato crop in Australia. 

 It has already been found in tomatoes imported into Victoria from New 

 South Wales, as recorded in this Journal for January, 19 10, also in 

 Queensland, as noted in the Annual Report, 1909-10, but I have just found 

 it (April) for the first time on plants grown in Victoria. 



A row of tomatoes, containing about 150 vines, was planted alongside 

 potatoes in the Yannathan district, the seed potatoes and the voung tomato 

 ['lants Ix-iiig i)lantcd at the same time — on 27th December, 191 o. About 

 iith March the potalc; tops began to show signs of disease, and in about 

 a week they all collap.sed with Irish Blight. A few days after the potato 

 plants had succumbed, the di.sease was noticed in the tomatoes when the 

 fruit was forming. When I examined the plot on 6th April not a single 

 plant had escaped, and only an occasional ripe and healthv tomato could 

 1;C found, and it was evident that the tomatoes had been infected from the 

 adjoining potatoes. The tomato plants were still green and flowering, 

 but the lower leaves were often brownish and withered. A careful 

 examination only revealed the presence of Earlv Blight on the leaves, so 

 that altlimigh tltc fimgiis of Irish Blight mav appear on the leaves and 

 st<'ms of tiie tomato pl.mt. just as in the case of the poi.ito, it onlv 



