72 FACTS .IXD FIGURES OR THE 



and if > ou will be careful to pack nothing but smooth, choice 

 fruit, this grade should bring nearly as much as the fancy. 

 Al\va>s mark on the crates the number of tomatoes they 

 contain. I would not advise shipping culls unless tomatoes 

 are unusually scarce and bringing very high prices. 



PICKING AND PACKING. 



If you are shipping the fruit any distance, it should be 

 picked before it is fully ripe. During the cold weather leave 

 it on the vines until you notice a faint tint of red on it, but 

 in warm weather pick the fruit as soon as it turns white, 

 "^'ou will have to handle the fruit very carefully ; if any are 

 bruised, throw them out. Wrap the tomatoes in paper and 

 pack in four-quart baskets, which in turn are packed in six- 

 basket carriers. 



INSECTS AND DISEASES. 



The principal disease that affects the tomato in Florida 

 is the blight. I do not believe there is any remedy for this 

 after it takes hold of a plant, but if you will spray the 

 plants with Bordeaux mixture from the time they are about 

 four inches high until they begin to form their fruit, after 

 it is formed use ammoniacal copper carbonate, as Bordeaux 

 mixture may stain the fruit, you should not have any trou- 

 ble. Smutty or black face is another fungous disease you 

 have to contend with in this section, but it is not nearly so 

 common as the other, and the same remedy will help it. 

 Some truckers recommend using as a source of potash fer- 

 tilizer, muriate of potash, claiming it prevents all kinds of 

 fungous diseases. Do not under any conditions plant toma- 

 toes on land that has had a diseased crop on it. The tomato 

 worm is very troublesome some seasons, but if you will 

 keep the plants sprayed with a mixture of arsenate of lead 

 and \vater, as directed for spraying cabbage, you can keep 

 them from doing an^' harm. 



