NOTES AND ABSTRACTS. 



into the fruit tissue. The affected tissue becomes black, hard, and leathery, 

 and the tomato much flattened. The disease thus characterized appears to 

 be the common ' black spot ' of tomatos, too well known in this country. It 

 has been ascribed to a variety of causes, principally to fungi or bacteria. The 

 author carried out a very large number of experiments with the object of ascer- 

 taining the exact cause of the trouble, and concludes that the disease is not 

 primarily due to bacteria or fungi. Plants are most susceptible when in a 

 condition of great activity, and either excessive watering or a sudden check in 

 the water supply may produce the disease. Ammonium sulphate, dried blood, 

 cottonseed meal, and heavy applications of horse stable manure all increased 

 the disease, while sodium nitrate and lime decreased it. Raising the soil tempera- 

 ture of greenhouse plants increased the disease. The author believes that the 

 increase in the disease from heavy watering is due to the development of harmful 

 humic and ammonium compounds and an accompanying decrease in nitrates. 

 Susceptible tissue has more starch and more oil than normal tissue, and its cell 

 sap has a higher osmotic value. — F. J. C. 



Tomato Seed, On the Presence of Hybernating Mycelium of Macrosporium 

 Solani in. By I. Massee (Kew Bull. p. 145, June 191 4 ; plate). — The 

 fungus Macrosporium Solani, to which the author attributes Tomato black 

 spot, is shown to penetrate the seed of diseased fruits. On germination either 

 the embryo is killed outright, or the mycelium grows along with the seedling 

 and produces black stripe in it. — F. /. C. 



Tomato Soils (Queensland Agr. Jour. p. 234; April 1914). — Although the 

 tomato can be grown on many different types of soil, the highest yields are secured 

 on sandy loam soils, well drained and comparatively rich in plant food. On 

 the heavier soils, the yields have not been so large as on the lighter types, although 

 the fruit is usually more firm and meaty, which makes them better for canning. 

 On lighter soils usually the fruits are more juicy and the flesh less solid. The 

 fruits of many varieties, especially the early ones, are smoother and more sym- 

 metrical when grown on sandy soils. Tomatos should not be grown in the 

 same ground for more than one year out of three. — C. H. H. 



Tools Preserved by Use of Linseed Oil (Jour. Dep. Agr. Vict. p. 425 ; July 

 1 914). — Raw linseed oil is the best for application to wood, enhancing its durability 

 and preventing decay, as well as making it wear smoothly to the hand. The oil 

 fills up all pores in the wood, congeals there, and prevents the entrance of moisture 

 and fungus spores. 



All farm and garden tools made of wood, or having wooden parts or handles, 

 when new, should be washed clean of all dirt, and then as much raw oil as they 

 will absorb should be applied by means of a flannel, rag, or a brush, choosing a 

 hot day for the purpose. They should be placed in the sun, and as the oil dries 

 more should be given until they are saturated. Rake, spade, pick, axe handles, 

 &c, treated in this manner will outlast even the steel parts, if the tools are kept 

 sheltered from the weather when not in use. Carpenter's and small wooden 

 tools should be dealt with in the same way. 



Farm vehicles, wheels, and wooden machines have their life much prolonged 

 by an annual application of raw oil. — C. H. H. 



Trees, Hygiene of. By Alphonse Dachy (Rev. Hort. Beige, March 31, 

 1914). — In selecting washes for cleansing trees it is well to remember that lime 

 enters into the composition of many of them, and such mixtures should be avoided 

 in dressing plants trained on wire supports or fastened with wire, for the action 

 of lime on the iron is most destructive. If lime is considered essential it should 

 at least be slaked lime. As it is present, however, chiefly used as a vehicle to 

 ensure the principal curative substance actually adhering to the branches, there 

 are other agents which may well take its place. 



A salt wash makes a most efficacious fungicide and may be made as follows 

 for cases in which the use of lime is inadvisable : Make a liquid just thin 

 enough to use through a sprayer, by mixing quite smoothly about 2 to 3 kilo- 

 grammes of clay in a hectolitre of water. Then add 10 kilogrammes of kitchen 

 salt. — M. L. H. 



Trichoeaulon pictum (Bot. Mag. tab. 8579). — Little Namaqualand. Nat. Ord. 

 Asclepiadaceae, tribe Stapelieae. Herb, stem subglobose, i£- 3 inches long, 

 1 £-2 inches thick, tubercled. Flowers fascicled with 2-4 together. Corolla 

 £ inch across, whitish, with purple dots and short streaks. — G. H. 



