546 NEW JERSEY AGEICULTUEAL COLLEGE 



Tomato Leaf Spot. 



Perhaps the most destructivs fungous that preys upon the tomato 

 is the leaf spot (Septoria Lycopcrsici Speg.), which is distinguished, 

 first, by the small, oval spots it produces upon leaf and stem, fol- 

 lowed by a dying of the foliage. A field of tomatoes badly affected 

 with the Septoria Arill result in bare stems and small, stunted fruits. 

 The leaf-spot fungus often attacks the plants before leaving the 

 propagating l^eds and goes with the seedlings to their places in the 

 field. ^ 



As precautionary measures it is well to use fresh soil for the seed 

 Ix^ds — that is, earth that has not been exposed to the germs — and 

 not set plants in ground where the disease prevailed the year l>efore. 

 '\Mien a field is badly affected all the dead and dying plants should 

 be pulled up and burned, thus destroying millions of the active 

 spores. The matter of spraying will Ix- considered near the close 

 of the paper. 



Tomato Fruit Rot. 



There are two leading fruit diseases of the tomato, namely, the 

 Black Mold, caused by the fungus Macrosporium Tomato Ck. and the 

 Tomato Anthracnose due to Colletotrichnm pliomoides Sacc. 



Blade Mold. — This trouble usually begins at the blossom end of 

 the fntit, this being the weak point in fruits generally. In the case 

 of the tomato this end is often brought against the earth, and this 

 facilitates the entrance of the germs of decay into this imperfectly 

 protected portion of the tomato. The remains of the flower may also 

 remain and add to the ease with which a rot may gain a foothold. It 

 is a fact that those varieties of tomatoes which are smooth-skinned 

 and have no well-filled out and perfect blossom end are less likely to 

 suffer from the Black Mold. It therefore follows that as a wise pre- 

 caution any rough-skinned varieties with decidedly imperfect blos- 

 som ends should be discarded so far as avoiding the fruit rot is con- 

 cerned. As a rule the smooth fruits are the ones that are preferred 

 for the market and the table. The habit of the plant may have 

 much to do with the amount of this fruit "decay. Thus the "Trophy," 

 with us, rots twice as badly as the "Dwarf Champion," and this is 

 probably due to the more upright growth of the plants of the latter 

 variety, thus tending to keep the fruits above the soil. The texture 



