20 MARKET NURSERY WORK 



house has been white in the morning as with tiny snowflakes 

 and we had to sweep them out and yet as many remained 

 active. For several nights in succession the same application 

 gave off effective fumes and killed many flies, but such fumes 

 cannot be retained too long or the health of the plants would be 

 affected. We have cyanided night after night till the plants 

 have suffered and the flowers have fallen, and we have had to 

 seriously ask ourselves whether we can afford to ruin our crop 

 in order to kill the flies. We have had the same experience 

 with ordinary fumigants and vaporisers, and nothing we have 

 tried can be said to be entirely satisfactory. 



Palpably, the thing is to never allow this pest to get a strong 

 foothold ; to try every known deterrent without awaiting its 

 actual appearance, and if it still comes, to wage relentless and 

 unceasing war upon it from the moment it is first seen. We 

 must never be lulled into a false security, but err, if we err at all, 

 on the side of safety, and as a final measure, when the crop is 

 finished and while the plants are still standing, burn enough 

 brimstone in the house to kill every living thing in it, after 

 which burn the plants. 



We have given so much space to the tomato because, as we 

 said at the outset, it has become to many the most important 

 crop of all. Though so much has been said, there remains 

 much more that should be said, but which we regretfully have 

 to leave unsaid. 



The question of marketing is one we have not now to deal 

 with, though in importance it is a close second to cultivation. 

 We have to content ourselves by advising every grower to keep 

 himself au courant with market news and opinions, for by doing 

 -so much may be learned that it is essential to know. This 

 particular question will, however, be treated at length in volume 

 ^, which deals with fruit generally. 



