TOjMATO 



po:u'bes. and forwarded by "ventilated fast froi.i;lit." 

 Til is meets the early spriiii;- deniaud. but tho trait 

 ripens unevenly and" is fre(.[uently unsalable at tlic 

 t'xpeeted fancy tigures on aecount of its appearaii<;<.'. 



A growing tendency has been lately numifrstud to 

 ship as the fruit is eoloriiii:. after careful and systr- 

 niatie grading, in "four-basket earrirrs " Uv refrii,Trati>r 



surplus luoisturr. T 

 should bo rpdured am 

 soil. Possibly ;l lighl 

 1 line of iMiltivation w. 

 lUaek rot, or 



TOMATO 



tr,.,li 



1817 



jioWt-r of the rn.ilS 



<-va)'o)'ati(iii sliiii\ilatcd frnm the 

 ;i|)plir:ilioii of suimti iho-phat.- at 

 lid also pr.ivo lH-ticIi<dal. 

 I end rot. a wid(.-sproad airectiou 



■ausiug great loss of fruit, and quite i'amiliai- To all. 



-oi.-ins to have l.iug ln^cu erroneously ascrilird sohly 1(, 

 one of the l<irnis of Mar-rospuriii m — the fa- 

 miliar early bli-ht of the pofato-and Bor- 

 deaux tuixtui-i_' is eouseqiientlv suu'gcsted as 

 a remedy. Kcceiit iuvrstigatiou.s" iiy Earto 

 seem to iu.liratf that the real caus."- of the 

 nu\lady is no t'uugus but a bacillus, iueapable, 

 unaided, of jtenetrating the outside tissues of 

 the fruit, but rapidly developing on abraded 

 surfaces or in insect wounds of any kind. 



cars. Despite The extra co-t of icing and the later shi 

 nu'Ut. quality and prict-s are thereby more satisfactorily 

 maintained and the lun'thern puldic will soon insist 

 tOL^ether on this more rational method being put into 

 practice universally. The sorting and grading cannot 

 be carried too far. since the culls and second-class fruits 

 are equally as good for the cannery as first grades and 

 hence the standard of excellence may always be main- 

 tained without material loss. 



Finir/oiis: Z>/s' '/,v. \y — *">f ihe fuuii-oiis altectious of the 

 Tomato, dampin-'-otf in the >eed-lM(l is the tirst t 

 noted, and is familiar to all. Provoked l.-y excess t.if 

 moisture, warmth and contiueil air. it may be coutrolled 

 by withholding water from t)ie young plants except at 

 midday, stirring the soil to break rip and destroy the 

 mycelium of the fungus, and otherwise thor<iughly 

 ventilating. 



^Mihlew, Chidos/'Or/ fnii fulruitt , is a common mal- 

 ady in the Soiith duriu:^: wet sc^isous. and may be easi 

 recognized by the continuous and suece-sive death < 

 the foliage from below upward along tin- main stem. 

 and the great effort of the plant to set new leaves and 

 branches above, thereby maint.-iining its life at the ex- 

 pense of production. Steady spraying with Bordeaux 

 mixture is the remedy. 



Florida blight, an un<letermined species of .s',/t>'n- 

 tiioii, is less common, though sometimes quite seriijus. 

 It produces a wilted appearance in the plant somewhat 

 resembling that caused by the "bacterial blio^ht." and 

 like it generally causes death. The p)eculiarity of this 

 fungus consists in the fact that the greater portion of 

 its life is passed under ground aiid it is hence unatTected 

 by fungicides applied to the foliai^re. Even when ap- 

 plied to the surface of the ground beneatb the jdaut 

 Bordeaux: mixture is of little value, si nee tlie preeipitare 

 formed by the co]ipier salt in suspension is niijre or less 

 arrested or strained out l">y the soil as the liquid filters 

 through. The ammoniacal solution of copper carbonate, 

 and eau celeste, are not liable to this objection, and may 

 be used as remedies "with fairly satisfactory results. 



Leaf curl, a-dema, is also well known and while it 

 seldom, if ever, completely destroys the idant. yet it 

 .irreatly reduces its productiveness and is all tlie more 

 insidious from the fact that it frequently escapes notice 

 until it reaches an advanced stage. It is a form of vege- 

 table dropsy due to too much soil moisture, nnhalanced 

 food fonnulas or excessive pruning— (")ue or all. Cessa- 

 tion of pruning followed by deep cultivation will arrest 

 the malady, to a great extent, as the jdants will tVius he 

 given an opportunity to set foliage, thereby affording 

 breathing surface sufficient to transpire or jiass off the 



2523. Foliage of the two cultivated species of Tomato. Ly- 

 copersicum pimpinellifolium— Currant Tomato — above; 

 L. esculentum — common Tomato— below. (, x ^o.) 



The boll worm appears to be an 

 its distribution, \\iiile tbrijis and oih 

 seets largely assist in sju'eadiuL;- or i 

 liacilli. Hence fungicides y-ouM pro\'< 



Active agent in 



r wandering in- 



minating the 



f little avail iu 



ISs 



mtrolling the bacterial a--oiieb-s. which seem to work 

 ill conjunetion with Tln' fununs hiaa-tofore regarded as 

 alone res)ionsilp|e for this malady. We must therefore 

 look for its i'<:imj'lrte sub-iu,i;alii.m only to those preven- 

 tive measures which have been found efficacious in 

 other forms of bacterial disease in plants. These are 

 detailed in the next paragraph, whii-h covers the worst 

 malady known to the trucker. 



Bacterial blight, BavilJns solanarea ru)ii , is by far the 

 most difiicult to control of all the affections of' tin- To- 

 mato. Wbeu this peculiar form of wilt puts in an ap- 

 pearance the grower is always thrown into more or less 

 of a ]>anie. The malady progresses rapidly. The foliage 

 siion \"ello\\ s and shrivels, the stems parch antl contract, 

 and death follows swiftly. As with most bacteria! dis- 

 eases, an effective remedy is yet to be found. At best, 

 pre^•l-ntiye measures onh' can l.>e ado]>teil. Since it has 

 bi;en f<iuml that certain insects — anuuiLT tln-m the Colo- 

 rado beetle- assist in disseminating the bacilli causing 

 the trouble it is evident that all leaf-devouring insect 



