THE TOMATO. 



341 



a clear celestial blue it is perfectly safe. It should 

 be used as soon as it is made, not letting it 

 stand for several hours. Cut any fruits that are 

 ripening, and then spray the plants in every 

 part, repeating in the course of a week or ten 

 days. The mixture may be kept from the fruit 

 by wrapping it in oil-skin before spraying, re- 

 moving it afterwards. 



A simpler and more perfect remedy consists 

 of turning or concentrating the fire-heat on to 

 the affected area, to the extent of making the 

 hot-water pipes unbearably hot, running up the 

 temperature to 110° or 120°, repeating this every 

 second day for a week, with the result that all 

 the disease germs will be destroyed. It should 

 be done in the daytime. Those who have not 

 tried this remedy may be encouraged to do so 

 by having their attention drawn to the fact that 

 this "yellow spot" disease is rarely troublesome 

 in the well-heated houses in which Tomatoes are 

 grown for an early crop. 



Black Stripe ( Macrosporium Lycopersici) is 

 another fungus disease of a most destructive 

 nature to which Tomatoes are subject. A good 

 start may be made with the plants, and a crop 

 of fruit set on them, before the disease mani- 

 fests itself. Suddenly a shrinkage and dis- 

 coloration of parts of the stems, in the form of 

 black stripes, are to be seen, and if the stems 

 are soft the upper portion of the plants collapses 

 entirely, while if they are moderately hard a 

 partial recovery may take place, a poor crop 

 of malformed fruit being obtained from them. 

 The trouble commences at the roots, and once 

 started, nothing seems capable of checking the 

 progress of the disease short of carefully re- 

 moving and destroying affected plants and soil, 

 and disinfecting the sites with quicklime prior 

 to adding more soil and replanting. 



Preventive measures are most imperative. 

 The very seeds are liable to carry contagion with 

 them, and ought to be disinfected before sowing. 

 This may be done by coating them with flowers 

 of sulphur, or by soaking them in a weak solu- 

 tion of Condy's Fluid. The soil used in the 

 seed-pans should also be treated by the addition 

 of enough newly-slaked lime to whiten it, or by 

 subjecting it to strong heat, red-hot bricks placed 

 in the centre of a small heap of soil destroying 

 disease germs. Soil to be used in pots or for 

 ridges should be treated in the same way. 

 Where the plants are put out in borders, market- 

 growers' fashion, these should also be limed. 

 Lime obtained from chalk and newly slaked 

 should be applied at the rate of 1 lb. per square 

 yard, and forked in, well mixing it with the top 



spit. If in spite of these precautions a few plants 

 early show signs of disease, these ought to be 

 quickly drawn and burnt, and lime applied to 

 the soil they came out of, to prevent the spread 

 of disease to adjoining plants. 



Sleeping Disease (Fusarium Lycc/persici). Plants 

 affected by this much-to-be-dreaded disease 

 may apparently be in good health and in a fair 

 way to produce extra heavy crops on one day, 

 and during the next flag badly, never again to 

 recover. This disease also attacks the roots, and 

 may be prevented by taking the precautions 

 advised for Black Stripe. 



Slime Fungus also attacks Tomato plants with 

 deadly effect at times. It should be combated 

 in the same way as recommended for the other 

 diseases in preceding paragraphs. 



Black Eot (Macrosporium Tomato), another 

 fungus disease, attacks the fruit at the eye very 

 soon after it has set, the decay spreading slowly 

 but surely, causing black circular patches; fruit 

 injured in this way colour prematurely, but are 

 quite worthless. Scalded fruits are frequently 

 thought to be affected by this disease, but the 

 cause and effect both differ. In the case of 

 scalded fruits there is a rapid shrinkage of 

 tissues or pulp, the injured parts being quite 

 soft and green for a day or two, afterwards 

 becoming black. The remedy, however, is the 

 same in both cases. Sufficient fire-heat must be 

 turned on to prevent the temperature becoming 

 low during cold nights preceding or following 

 clear days, and also be admitted quite early in 

 the morning to prevent any sudden rise in the 

 temperature. When the fruit becomes very 

 cold at night, and there is also a delay in ven- 

 tilating, not opening the house or houses till 

 long after the sun strikes on them, the heated 

 air condenses on the cold fruit, and the rapid 

 evaporation of this moisture, consequent upon a 

 sudden late opening of the top ventilators, results 

 in the disruption of the tissues or " sun scald " 

 — hence the necessity to avoid a low tempera- 

 ture, and for early ventilation, followed accord- 

 ing as the sun gains in power, by the admission 

 of all the air possible. Keep the fruit dry, and 

 neither Black Eot nor Scalding will be much 

 in evidence. 



Insect Pests that affect the Tomato are not 

 particularly numerous. Remedies for Green- 

 fly, Red Spider, and Snowy Fly will be found 

 in the chapter devoted to Insect Pests, but the 

 Root -gall or Eel -worm must not be thus 

 summarily dismissed, as it is one of the worst 

 enemies to the Tomato, and the most difficult to 

 deal with. Plants with their roots badly affected 



