450 
VEGETABLE GARDENING 
are in storage, including black-rot (Sphacronema fiinbria- 
timi), stem rot, foot rot, scurf, and leaf spot. Rotation 
and the planting of healthy tubers, clean seed beds, 
and seed disinfection, are the most important means 
of control. Farmers’ Bulletin 1059 gives complete 
descriptions, with illustrations, of the most important 
diseases. 
THYME ( Thymus vulgaris) 
641. Culture. — Thyme (Figure 105) is a popular herb 
used for seasoning. It may he propagated by means of 
seeds, root divisions and layers. The plants should 
stand about 6 inches apart in the row, the distance be- 
tween rows depending upon the method of cultivation. 
It thrives in any good soil. The leaves are picked and 
sold at once or dried and preserved for winter sales. 
TOMATO (Lycopersicum esculentum) 
642. History. — The tomato is native to South Amer- 
ica. It was grown by the aborigines. There is abundant 
evidence that the varieties first cultivated in European 
countries originated in America. Although students 
generally agree as to the place of origin of cultivated 
forms, there is no definite record or history concerning 
them. Deductions from the studies of Sturtevant lead to 
the conclusion that large, smooth specimens were grown 
at least 200 years ago. Tracy (“Tomato Culture,” p. 15) 
states: “In the transactions of the London Horticultural 
Society for 1820, John Wilmot is reported to have culti- 
vated under glass in 1818 some 600 plants, and gathered 
from his entire plantings under glass and in borders some 
130 bushels of ripe fruit. It is stated that the growth 
that year exceeded the demand, and that the fruit ob- 
tained was of extraordinary size, some exceeding 12 
inches in circumference and weighing 12 ounces each.” 
