presence of such fungi as Fusarium and others is of purely sec- 

 ondary importance, according to our observations. 



The experiments which follow have been carried on for some 

 years, and it should be pointed out that the houses in which the 

 experiments were conducted were not the best arranged to pre- 

 vent the rot. Although well adapted to the growth of certain 

 crops, they were not well suited to that of others, and conditions 

 were hardly such as would be found in a good commercial house. 

 In short, our plants were under different light and atmospheric 

 moisture conditions than usually prevail in commercial estab- 

 lishments. The blossom end rot in greenhouses in this State 

 seldom exceeds fifteen or twenty per cent, and as a rule is not 

 a source of heavy loss to greenhouse growers, although in the 

 field this percentage of loss is often exceeded, and in some parts 

 of the United States tomato rot is a serious disease. 



Table Showing Result of Experiment with Blossom End 

 Rot of Tomatoes as Affected by Sub-irri- 

 gation and Top-watering. 



TABLE I. 



No. of Per cent of rot. 



Series. Sub-irrigated. Top-watered. 

 No. 1, 4.5% 23.5% 



No. 2, 4.7 44.5 



No. 3, 0.0 11.0 



Average, 3.0% 33.0% 



The experiments shown in the preceding table were conducted 

 as follows : 



In series No. 1 the plots were grown in a bed 20 feet long, 3 

 feet wide and 8 inches deep. This bed was divided into two equal 

 parts, one-half being sub-irrigated and the other half top-watered. 

 One-half of this bench, or the sub-irrigated part, was lined with 

 zinc and filled with bricks with the lower edges clipped to furnish 

 more space for water. The bricks were covered with soil and 

 the water was supplied to the bottom of the bench under the 

 brick. The other half of the bench w^as simply filled with soil 

 and the plants top-watered. 



In series No. 2 the plants were grown in boxes 14x14x14 

 inches, inside measurement. The boxes containing the irrigated 

 plants were placed in galvanized iron trays holding water, holes 

 "being bored in the bottom of the boxes to allow the water to 

 rise through the soil above, or in some instances, they were with- 

 out bottom. 



