130 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
L' August II, 1330. 
needed so soon, but it may depend on whether the plants are 
enabled to root in the subsoil below them. Care should be taken 
that such subsoil is of a hard nature, because if loose the prospect 
of fruit may be jeopardised, as the plants will have a tendency to 
produce long roots and large sappy stems and foliage. 
The Tomato is not without enemies, and those, too, of a serious 
nature. Disease often works serious mischief and devastates 
plants wholesale when once it gains a foothold. A fungoid disease 
attacks the foliage and stems, and is known by the name of Cladi- 
sporium. As I had some experience of the ravages of this fungus a 
year or two back it may be interesting to give a sketch of its 
progress through a house of plants. My plants were attacked in 
the month of June, the first symptom being a small light coloured 
spot, which soon became a dark brown colour, and spread rapidly 
over the leaves, and eventually the stems. The fruit was not 
affected by it, but when the disease had attained a firm hold of the 
plants no further progress in setting fruit was possible, as the 
fungus absorbed all the sap. It spread its invisible mycelium in 
the tissues of the leaves, from which it developed slender erect 
filaments bearing on the tip of each the fully developed and seed¬ 
bearing spores, which when ripe and massed together presented to 
the unassisted eye the appearance of dark masses of brown dust, 
the least disturbance of air being sufficient to distribute millions. 
The leaves soon shrivelled and became useless until all had to 
be cut away, leaving only bare stems with the fruit in various 
stages. The first and worst attack of the disease was in 1887, 
followed by a less virulent one the next year, and less still in 1889. 
This year I have not observed it, but my treatment of the plants 
has been difT jrent. The disease is said to be due to atmospheric 
influences, and there can be no doubt that the rapid spread of the 
fungus may be arrested by a dry and warm atmosphere. The 
fungus in my case was no doubt invited by a damp and cold 
atmosphere during the early period of growth, when the plants 
were soft and no fire heat was afforded. It is at this stage and 
under these conditions that the fungus was able to obtain a foot¬ 
hold, its spread being afterwards easy, especially when the con¬ 
ditions it delights in continue. The probability is that had fire 
heat not been discontinued so soon in the season the plants would 
have grown sturdier and have had firmer and stronger foliage 
better able to resist the attacks of the fungus. I am strengthened 
in this idea because this year, having provided a little fire heat, 
particularly at night, until the beginning of July, I have not been 
troubled with any sign of disease, and the plants are growing well 
and setting fruit abundantly. 
There is only one insect pest that is troublesome to the Tomato, 
and that is the white fly. Fumigation will destroy it, but I am 
trying to keep it down by the aid of the syringe, and have suc¬ 
ceeded to a great extent. This necessitates syringing the plants, a 
practice which some recommend and others object to. I find the 
plants are not injured by syringing when it is done early enough in 
the day to allow of the foliage becoming dry, or nearly so, before 
night. Syringing should be performed either early in the morning 
or in the afternoon, moderately cloudy and breezy weather being 
the best for the purpose, because then evaporation takes place more 
quickly than it does in dull “ muggy ” weather. Soapy water may 
be used sometimes, but not when the sun has any power on the 
plants. Plenty of ventilation is at all times needed by Tomatoes; 
and a moderate amount should be left on the house at night. A 
moist, warm, insufficiently ventilated house tends to cause the fruit 
to crack, and certainly provides the necessary conditions for an 
attack of the fungoid disease. 
There are numerous varieties of Tomatoes now, all claiming to 
be good. One of the best among the red fruited, smooth, Apple¬ 
shaped sorts is Hathaway’s Excelsior. It is a free setter, and pro¬ 
duces good bunches of fruit, which ripen to a deep red colour. 
Vick’s Criterion is very useful, producing good bunches of egg- 
shaped fruits. Dedham Favourite produces large and handsome 
fruit. Sutton s Earliest of All is an excellent partly corrugated 
variety, a moderately dwarf grower, and gives beautiful light 
scarlet fruit, somewhat flat and round. Hack wood Park Prolific 
is capable of producing some very heavy bunches, is a strong 
grower, but is, according to a limited experience of it, not the best 
of setters. The Mikado is a very distinct variety, both in the 
foliage and the colour of the fruit, but after setting one good 
bunch of fruit I find it difficult to induce it to set many more. The 
colour of the fruit is brick red, and the flavour and quality are not 
first-class. It is by no means equal to the previously mentioned! 
varieties. Among the smaller fruited varieties, Nisbet’s Victoria is- 
one of the best. Almost every bloom appears to set well, and the- 
fruits grow to the size of a Victoria Plum in very prolific cluster?. 
The best of the yellow varieties I have grown is Carter’s Blen¬ 
heim Orange, an exceedingly good variety. Each well-ripened 
fruit is streaked with marks of rich red, which gives it a very 
attractive appearance. It is good in every respect. Next to the 
above is Green Gage, which produces light yellow fruit of medium 
size. The Perfection type of Tomatoes are among the best, and - 
there are some recently introduced sorts, such as Ham Green- 
Favourite and others, which are said to be very good, but which I 
have not yet tried.—E. D. S. 
WINTER SPINACH. 
This is a far more important crop than many gardeners seem 
to be aware of. There may be establishments where there is 
little or no demand for it, but as far as my experience goes it is 
almost impossible to grow too much. During the winter it ranks- 
as a choice vegetable, and does excellent service as such, and there 
can be no question about its wholesomeness or medicinal properties. 
Spinach Beet is sometimes grown as a substitute for it, though 
unfortunately this exceptionally hardy and easily grown vegetable- 
is by no means equal to the genuine article, and some cooks will’ 
not even try to do anything with it. Winter Spinach is not 
generally of easy culture ; in fact there are many more failures, 
than successes with it. Those with a somewhat limited area of 
ground have the greatest difficulty with it, simply because they are 
or fancy they are unable to devote a good space to the crop. Not 
only ought a comparatively large piece of ground be given up to- 
Winter Spinach, but this should be prepared at least two months 
in advance of sowing time. Our practice is to manure and roughly 
dig a breadth of rather high ground newly cleared of Broccoli, and 
a second turning is given during the summer. This has the effect 
of sweetening and well pulverising the soil, and what also is of 
great importance, gets rid of the greater portion of the natural 
enemy to the crop—viz., the grubs of the Spinach moth. Soot and 
lime freely stirred into the surface act as a deterrent of the grub, 
and also tend to promote a stronger growth. 
Early Potatoes are an excellent preparation for Spinach, these 
leaving the ground in a sweet porous condition, and it ought to be 
possible in most gardens to sow it in close succession to them. It 
is advisable to sow a considerable breadth of ground with this crop 
even if the demand is successive, for the simple reason that when 
there are only a few short rows these are kept far too closely 
gathered from, even if only drawn from once a week, as it must be 
remembered that growth is very slow in the colder months of the 
year. When to sow the seed is another consideration, more depend¬ 
ing upon this than is apparent to the careless observer. In our case 
if sown before August premature bolting usually results, while, on 
the other hand, if the sowing is deferred till late in August the 
plants do not attain a serviceable size before the following spring. 
It is the happy medium that best meets our case, and if the seed is 
sown during the second week in August failure rarely occurs, the 
plants continuing to yield good gatherings of leaves till the earliest 
spring sown is available. This answers our purpose far better than 
making two or three sowings, extending from the latter part of 
July till the early days of September. The ground being stirred 
to a good depth and finely divided, this sometimes necessitating 
the use of heavy hoes, shallow drills are drawn 15 inches apart, and 
if at all dry these are moistened prior to sowing the seed. It is- 
unwise to sow sound seed very thickly, but as there are slugs and 
grubs to contend , with many more seeds than of plants required 
are sown. If all goes on well the seedlings are early and lightly 
thinned out, soot and lime being frequently dusted over them if 
the weather favours the slugs in their depredations. Before the 
plants become crowded they are further reduced to about 3 inches 
apart, and in the course of a few days they are large enough for 
transplanting with a trowel in order to make good any blanks. In 
