

TOMATOES 17 



established the air must circulate freely night and day. This free 

 circulation of air is a potent factor in maintaining healthy 

 conditions. It is so for animals, it is more so for plants. To- 

 shut a house close down after a hot day is to impregnate the 

 atmosphere with warm moisture, and there is no known con- 

 dition more calculated to spread fungoid diseases. We have 

 passed through houses apparently free from disease in the 

 evening, which the following morning were not only infested, 

 but badly so, and this we know to be a thing of common 

 occurrence, even though to the least observant the inference is 

 so palpable. 



We included the use of preventives as consistent with hygienic 

 principles. We might almost say that " preventives " are at 

 the foundation of hygiene, for is not the science one of the 

 prevention of diseases ? Our deliberate opinion is that we 

 horticulturists do not give it that attention which it merits, 

 and we fail to keep before us as a guiding principle the close 

 analogy between the animal and vegetable worlds. Many of 

 us are acquainted with the startling results of the investigations 

 and experiments of Prof. Bhose, and without passing judgment 

 on an incomplete work, we have learnt several facts quite new 

 to science which adds to . our knowledge of plant life. This 

 knowledge is useless to us unless we apply it, or at the very least 

 permit our conduct to be influenced by such facts as have 

 already been established. 



Though preventives are not generally resorted to, our own 

 experience has amply demonstrated their value. For fungoid 

 diseases we use two concurrently, viz., slaked lime and flowers 

 of sulphur. The former we scatter frequently about the houses, 

 that is, on the beds and paths. Incidentally this is often of 

 help to the plants. The flowers of sulphur call for more elaborate 

 and careful handling. Taking a small quantity, say about a 

 thimbleful at a time, we put it on a sheet of paper, then, passing 

 through the houses, we blow this gently into space, not aiming 

 at the plants, but permitting it to settle where it will. A house 

 100 feet long by about 16 feet would require a dozen thimblefuls. 

 The film of sulphur thus created is so thin as to be almost 

 invisible, and in addition to this we place small lots on the 



