THE TOMATO. 45 



like vines than bushes, until they formed a tangled mass sev- 

 eral feet deep, to my astonishment and disgust. I do not 

 remember of gathering as much as a dozen bushels of fruit 

 from the whole acre, the plants bloomingly profusely, but 

 dropping them as fast as they formed. About the time the 

 few that did set began to ripen, the severest thunder storm 

 I ever witnessed passed over Galveston Island, several 

 houses near by being struck, and two persons killed a short 

 distance away, by the lightning. The whole air was filled for 

 a short time with a sulphurous smell, and after a tremendous 

 down-pour of an hour, a yellow deposit greatly resembling 

 sulphur appeared in many places on the ground. The 

 tomato patch was just in front of my house, and as soon as 

 the rain ceased, though the lightning was still vivid, I 

 opened the door and looked out. I was at once struck with 

 the peculiar and slightly ashy hue that the plants all had, and 

 walked over for a closer examination. To my amazement, 

 while I stood there looking intently at the leaves, I saw them 

 slowly turning to a dark gray, and gradually twist and curl 

 until the whole ground was visible, when before the storm, it 

 was totally hidden by the luxuriant mass of green. This 

 transformation occupied about a quarter of an hour, at the 

 end of which time it was complete. The next day the sun 

 came out hot, and by night every plant was dead, and the 

 stems brown. But the strangest thing was, that immediately 

 adjoining my patch, and just over a fence, my father-in-law 

 also had half an acre of tomatoes, the ground having been 

 fertilized the year before, but not at all that season. The 

 vines had made an ordinary, healthy growth, were loaded with 

 fruit, and showed not a sign of damage. 



Is it not probable that a great deal of the rust, blight 

 and fungoid disease that attack farm and field crops, as well 

 as fruits and vegetables, is due to intensified electrical con- 

 ditions? 



