TOMATO DISEASES 



1981 



There is more hope in combating this 

 disease by the development of resistant 

 strains or races. While this is a slow 

 process, it has proven satisfactory where 

 similar diseases have occurred in other 

 plants. (See Western Tomato BUgJit for 

 method to employ.) 



Wilt, ^'Sleejping Disease'* 



Fusarium tycopersici Sacc. 

 The symptoms of this wilt are rather 

 characteristic. It may attack plailts 

 either vigorous or of slow development. 

 Commonly the first symptom noticed is 

 the yellowing and drying up of the lower 

 leaves. Soon dark areas appear in the 

 stem and also in the fruits. At all stages 

 cross sections show darkening of vessels. 

 The roots become darkened and watery in 

 the region of the vessels. Eventually the 

 top of the plant wilts and the leaves die 

 both above and below, while the fruit has 

 become worthless. This is a soil-infesting 

 disease that should be controlled by 

 thorough soil sterilization. 



A. D. Selby, 

 Ohio Bulletin 214. 



Winter Blight of Tomato 



Winter blight occurs on the winter ship- 

 ping crop or in early spring plants. The 

 leaves and stems are blackened and killed 

 and spots appear on the fruit causing it 

 to soon decay. Bordeaux mixture 5-5-50 

 formula, sprayed on the plants following 

 a rain holds the disease in check. The 

 late blight of the potato is also caused 

 by this disease. 



Tomato Diseases — ^Bibliography 

 Western Tomato Blight 



None. 



Wilt 



1906. California Experiment Station 

 Bulletin 175. 



1912. Tennessee Experiment Station 

 Bulletin 95. 



Blight 



1906. California Experiment Station 

 Bulletin 175, 



1911. Virginia Experiment Station 

 Bulletin Polytechnic Institute 192. 



(Also see Late BUgM of Potato,) 



Leaf Mold 



1898. Florida Experiment Station Bul- 

 letin 47. 



Point Eot 



1907. Massachusetts Experiment Sta- 

 tion Technical Bulletin 3. 



1911. Georgia Experiment Station Bul- 

 letin 96. 



TOMATO PESTS 



Blister Beetles 



Epicauta sp. 



These insects, also known as "Spanish 

 flies," or * 'old-fashioned potato bugs," 

 sometimes become sufficiently numerous 

 to strip the leaves from quite an area 

 of their favorite foods, such as tomato, 

 potato, beet and tobacco. The adults 

 move in large companies, which can strip 

 a number of plants in a few hours. It is 

 only the adult beetles that injure vege- 

 tation. The young feed either on the 

 honey and eggs of wild bees, or on the 

 eggs of grasshoppers, in which latter 

 event they do much good. In view of this 

 fact, it is probably as well to make no 

 very strenuous attempt to destroy them 

 unless they occur in such excessive hordes 

 as to threaten serious damage. 



The best remedy is probably lead ar- 

 senate, or zinc arsenite. The spraying 

 should be done very thoroughly, so as to 

 cover every portion of the plants in order 

 to discourage feeding. The beetles take 

 fright readily, and an old remedy is to 

 drive them from a small patch by means 

 of leafy branches, brooms or switches. 



J. R. Watson, 

 Florida Bulletin 112. 



Boll Worm. See Tomato Fruit Worm, 

 this section. 



Bugs 



In common with many other plants, the 

 tomato suffers from the attacks of a num- 

 ber of bugs which suck the juices of the 

 plant. Among them are the green soldier 

 bug, or pumpkin bug (Nezara Mlaris), 

 the stink bug (EuscMstus variolarius) , 

 and the leaf -footed plant bug {Lepto- 

 gJossus phyllopus) . 



Kerosene emulsion, or tobacco decoc- 

 tion, will prove effective against the young 

 nymphs, and it is at this stage that they 



