14 



intensity of the sunlight increase more attention should be given 

 to the water supply and to air moisture. The air moisture should 

 be considerably more during the day, particularly on bright days, 

 than in the night. If syringing the foliage is necessary, it should 

 be done in the morning, when the bright sunshine will dry the 

 foliage quickly, and never at night, as moisture remaining on the 

 foliage at night favors the development of mildew. 



TIMBER ROT 



(Sclerotinia Libertiana, Fckl.) 



The fungus causing what is termed "timber-rot" is occasion- 

 ally found on tomatoes, and the effects are similar to those pro- 

 duced by the stem-rot of cucumbers. Tomatoes, however, are 

 not as susceptible to timber-rot as cucumbers, although when 



Fig. 2, showing timber rot on the stem 

 of tomato. The blackened areas on 

 the stem represent masses of sclerotia. 



affected, the crop is greatly injured. We have repeatedly grown 

 crops of tomatoes in soil badly infected with the timber-rot 

 fungus, but as a rule only a few plants become diseased, and 

 from this it would appear that tomatoes are generally immune 

 to attacks from Sclerotinia. 



Sclerotinia is a sterile soil fungus, and gains entrance to the 

 plant near the surface of the soil. When the plant becomes 

 infected the fungus traverses the stem and breaks out some dis- 

 tance above the ground, the part of the stem affected becoming 

 whitish in appearance. Small, hard, black masses called sclerotia, 

 about 1/33 or more of an inch in diameter, make their appear- 

 ance on the surface of the stem. These sclerotia are capable 



