174 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
is removed. The wound should then be painted with a very strong 
solution of copper sulphate. Much can be done to check the spread 
of the disease by correct defoliation and regulation of the humidity ; 
but in very bad cases it may be necessary to spray the lower parts of 
the plant with a 2 per cent, solution of calcium bisulphite, which 
is a specific for Botrytis. 
A soft rot of green tomato fruits caused by Botrytis frequently 
appears towards the end of the season. At this time there is a ten- 
dency on the part of the grower to reduce the boiler heat and give less 
ventilation, which leads to the persistence of a film of moisture on the 
plants until well into the day. Under these conditions the fungus 
readily gains entrance to the soft portions of the fruit and a soft rot 
rapidly appears. 
Other fruit rots caused by various species of Fusarium and Peni- 
cillium, as well as by Bacillus carotovorus and another undescribed 
bacillus, occur during the season. 
Several root-rotting fungi attack the tomato plants during the 
season and cause death to take place prematurely about the end of 
August. Among these may be mentioned several species of Fusarium 
and a new species of Sclerotium. In the past very little attention 
has been paid to these root diseases, but they are now under 
investigation. 
Blossom-end rot of tomato fruit is universally found in tomato- 
growing areas. A dark brown sunken patch appears near the style 
and increases rapidly in size, spreading deep into the tissues. The 
affected tissues harden and assume a dark brown or black colour. 
The outer tissues become leathery and the fruit flattens. The malady 
is not caused primarily by bacteria or fungi, but appears to be physio- 
logical in origin. Plants that are growing rapidly are most susceptible, 
and either continued excessive watering or a sudden check in the 
water supply may produce the disease. This latter appears to be the 
most common, cause of the disease, and careful attention to the con- 
servation of the correct amount of water in the soil has generally been 
successful in preventing the trouble. 
Mosaic disease of the tomato is rapidly becoming one of the most 
important diseases of this crop. The symptoms show themselves as 
a mottling of the leaves, in which yellow patches alternate with those 
of dark green. The yellow patches turn brown and dry up. Finally 
the lesions spread over the whole surface and the leaf dies. The 
disease is highly infectious, being carried from one plant to the other 
by the hands of the workers and by sucking insects. To spread the 
disease it is necessary only to transfer a little juice from a diseased 
plant to a healthy one. Merely crushing a diseased leaf between the 
fingers and then crushing a leaf on a healthy plant is sufficient to trans- 
mit the disease. Under normal conditions disease symptoms appear 
in eight to ten days after inoculation. Mosaic disease is at present 
but little understood, but its investigation is now being carried out. 
