128 



TOMATO CULTURE 



will desert them and enter cultivated plants. Rag- 

 weed and burdock are the principal foods of this in- 

 sect, and special attention should be given to erad- 

 icate them where tomatoes are planted. Crop rota- 

 tion is advisable where this can be conveniently prac- 

 ticed, and such plants as cabbage, radish and the like, 

 onions, beets, asparagus and celery are suggested as 



FIG. 40 — CHARACTERISTIC WORK OF THE TOMATO FRUIT WORM 



{HcUothis obsolcta) 

 (Redrawn by Johnson from C. V. Riley) 



alternates. When the plants are sprayed with arsen- 

 icals for other insects this will operate to a certain 

 extent against the stalk-borer. 



The tomato fruit worm (Fig. 40) known as the 

 bollworm of cotton and the ear worm of corn, is fre- 

 quently the cause of serious trouble to tomato growers, 

 especially in the southern states, due to its pernicious 

 habit of eating into and destroying the green and 

 ripening fruit. For its control it is advisable not to 



