The Canadian Horticulturist 69 



A BUDGET OF QUESTIONS. 



The following are some replies kindly made by Mr. John Craig, of the 

 Central Experimental Farm. Ottawa, to a budget of questions sent in for consid- 

 eration at Orillia, but not taken up for want of time : 



Query. (\) What kinds of tomatoes are most liable to rot 1 

 (2) What is the best preventive ? 



Answer (i) As a rule, wrinkled tomatoes crack and rot more than the 

 smooth, round kinds : rarely do the small egg and plum tomatoes show any dis- 

 position to rot. Yet this matter of rotting is less a characteristic of varieties 

 than it is systems of training. That is to say, the same variety may not show 

 the same amount of rot every year. Prof Bailey cites an instance of the same 

 variety from different sources, showing marked differences in amount of rot. and 

 the differences seem more accidental than varietal. 



(2) Tomato rot is due to a fungus ( Macrosporium tomato). This fungus 

 can be prevented by spraying the plants with Bordeaux mixture on its first 

 appearance. Careful watch over the plants should be maintained so that an 

 early application can be made. One or two later sprayings may be necessary. 

 Methods of training the plants undoubtedly influence the development of the 

 disease to a considerable extent. In our experiments we have found that vines 

 which are staked, or even hilled up, have less rotten fruit, and ripen their fruit 

 earlier than plants which are not so treated ; but it is yet an open question 

 whether or not the operation pays. 



(3) Irrigation'* 



(3) I had nothing new to offer on this line ; but in suggesting the subject 

 it was done with the object of hearing it discussed by the members present, and 

 possibly by some who have tried it during the past ver)' dry season. 



There is no doubt that almost any system of irrigation would have richly 

 repaid many fruit growers in the Niagara district during the past season, even to 

 the extent of spending a considerable amount of money in hauling water upon 

 their orchards. I had the opportunity of seeing the injury sustained, principally 

 by the dwarf pear orchards, in that vicinity, and this damage is not easily 

 estimated, and certainly is not measured by the loss of fruit this year. A strik- 

 ing object lesson of the benefits of irrigation, even after the most primitive 

 methods, came under my notice while noting the results of spraying experiments 

 being carried on at Grimsby. Two orchards of dwarf Duchess pear, lying almost 

 alongside and on somewhat similar soils, about the ist August showed unmis- 

 takable signs of injury from lack of moisture. The owner of one decided to tr\- 

 the benefit of applying a few pailfuls of water to the ground about the base of 

 each tree. The water was hauled by horse power, with a barrel on a stoneboat. 

 Four or five pails of water were given to each tree, covering about half of the 



