i9o8.] 



A New Tomato Disease. 



i 1 1 



produced. Careful records were kept, which showed an average 

 of about 79 per cent, of fertile eggs hatched. 



The Hopper-fed birds were slightly higher in average fertility 

 but the percentage hatching of fertile eggs was practically the 

 same under both systems of feeding. Consequently either 

 method can be depended upon to give satisfactory hatching 

 results. 



Conclusions. — So far as these experiments have gone, it is 

 evident that feeding upon soft food and grain in litter is the 

 cheaper method, and that birds in runs can be fed at a cost 

 not exceeding 4s. lod. per annum, or slightly over id. per week. 

 Thus where fowls have free range on good land, they should not 

 cost more than 4s. per annum, in which case at an average of 

 id. per egg, less than 50 eggs would pay the food bill for an 

 entire year. One danger of hopper feeding is the encourage- 

 ment of rats. 



The influence of the two methods of feeding upon egg 

 production as shown in Table VI is practically the same, so 

 that, taking into account the question of labour, if the . cost 

 of hopper feeding could be brought to the level of the other 

 system, in many cases it would offer great advantages. 

 Whether that can be done is still to be ascertained. 



A NEW TOMATO DISEASE. 

 H. T. Gussow. 

 Tomatoes have recently been found to be attacked by a 

 disease which had not previously been known to exist in this 

 country. The disease in question was first reported from 

 South x\merica, the native country of the tomato. As far 

 back as 1884 it was described by a well-known mycologist, 

 Spegazzini, as attacking tomatoes grown in the Argentine. 

 Since then it has appeared in Australia. ; and shortly after 

 the introduction of tomatoes into Europe it was recorded 

 in Italy, France, Germany and other Continental countries. 

 From its sudden appearance in this country there can 

 be little doubt that the fungus has been introduced from 

 abroad with imported tomatoes. The damage which the 

 fungus is capable of doing is very serious. A crop of outdoor 

 tomatoes in Gloucestershire was entirely destroyed by it 



