340 



THE GARDENER'S ASSISTANT. 



the roof; but these have to be cut and ripened 

 in stronger heat before the house is set widely 

 open, so as to give the Vines their needed rest. 

 If the pot and other late - cropping plants 

 trained up roofs are kept in a temperature 

 ranging from 55° by night to 60° to 65° in 

 the day, they will not only give a long suc- 

 cession of well-ripened fruit, but they will push 

 out side-shoots freely, which, if duly thinned, 

 will each give a cluster of fruit in the spring 

 before it is possible to have any from plants 

 raised in January. 



Tomatoes in Pits and Frames. — Success with 

 Tomatoes in pits or frames is not frequent. 

 More often than not the plants become badly 

 diseased before a profitable crop can be had 

 from them, owing to imperfect ventilation; or 

 if they escape disease they yet fail to set and 

 produce good crops. Those in frames are apt 

 to grow too rank, and the same thing happens 

 in pits unless the roots are confined to either 

 pots, boxes, or narrow ridges of soil. Various 

 contrivances have also to be adopted in order 

 to keep the haulm raised clear of the soil. 

 Instead of attempting to grow Tomatoes under 

 such disadvantageous conditions, it would be 

 far better, where possible, to devote a house 

 to their culture during the summer, and to 

 relegate the ordinary occupants of these struc- 

 tures largely to the pits and frames. 



Frame culture will answer if care be taken 

 not to grow the plants too strongly, nor to 

 unduly crowd the leading growths, and to 

 ventilate freely on all favourable occasions. 

 Tomatoes may be planted in pits and frames 

 in succession to early Potatoes, with a view to 

 giving them a good start prior to removing the 

 lights and exposing the plants to all weathers. 

 Two rows of plants may be disposed from the 

 front to the back of each light in close succes- 

 sion to the Potatoes. They should be kept 

 rather close and warm till growing strongly, 

 and directly they require tall stakes, wholly 

 remove the light and place a 4-foot stake to 

 each plant. Plants thus started should be well 

 ahead of those in the open air, and in most 

 seasons would produce a heavy crop of ripe 

 fruit before much disease was in the air. 



Diseases. — The well-known Potato disease 

 (Phytophthora infestans) affects Tomatoes also, 

 open-air plants with their crops succumbing 

 to it in a wholesale manner whenever Potatoes 

 are badly affected. During a hot, dry summer 

 very little is seen of this disease. In a wet 

 season, if the plants cannot be kept dry by a 

 temporary protection, the only other remedy 



is either occasional sprayings with Bordeaux 

 mixture, as recommended for Potatoes, or 

 frequently dusting with "Anti-Blight" powder, 

 a mixture of newly-slaked lime and sulphate 

 of copper. Both remedies are apt to seriously 

 check the growth of the plants. 



Yellow Spot (Cladosporium fulvum) occurs 

 principally on plants grown under glass, and in 

 some seasons is most destructive. At the out- 

 set a few leaves only may be affected, but if 

 neglected the disease spreads rapidly from one 

 house to another. The under side of the leaves 

 is attacked, patches of brown mildew-like fungus 

 destroying the cuticle and tissues of the leaves, 

 causing yellow spots to show on the upper side. 

 A warm, moist, stagnant atmosphere, such as 

 Cucumbers revel in, favours the spread of this 

 disease; and the soft leaves of overfed plants are 

 the first to succumb, soon being left without a 

 healthy leaf on them, the fruit also being spoilt. 

 Close planting, that is, crowding the plants 

 together, favours the spread of the disease. 



The best preventive measures should include 

 an effort to grow sturdy plants, by maintaining 

 a warm, dry, airy atmosphere. Fire-heat is 

 essential to success, as without this it is im- 

 possible to prevent stagnation in the atmosphere 

 in dull, damp weather. Plenty of fire-heat, 

 coupled with careful ventilation, opening the 

 houses in the morning and not closing them till 

 the evening, and not then if it will give rise to 

 a high temperature. During the summer a little 

 top air may be left on all night. A close look- 

 out should also be kept for any symptoms of 

 disease, carefully removing and burning any 

 diseased parts. 



Bordeaux mixture is considered a good 

 remedy, though applications of this have the 

 effect of checking the plants in growth, and 

 unless precautions are taken it also necessitates 

 wiping every fruit before it can be used or 

 packed, as the case may be. The following 

 method of preparing and applying the Bordeaux 

 mixture is from the Journal of Horticulture : — 

 Sulphate of copper, 4 ozs., powdered, dis- 

 solving in a vessel by itself in 3J gallons of 

 water; then slake 4 ozs. of quicklime (quite 

 fresh) in another vessel, and form into a thin 

 lime-wash with water, and pour it through a 

 hair sieve slowly into the vessel containing the 

 copper solution, adding enough water to make 

 7 J gallons altogether. To make sure this will 

 not injure the plants, drop a few drops of ferro- 

 cyanide of potassium into the Bordeaux mix- 

 ture after it has been well stirred ; and if it turns 

 brown it will injure the plants, but if it remains 



