1014. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
173 
WILT-RESISTANT TOMATOES. 
In many parts of tho country, a 
disease of the tomato known as the to¬ 
mato wilt is doing considerable damage. 
This is a disease of the roots and stems, 
and it is caused by a fungus which lives 
over in the soil from season to season. 
The disease can readily be told in the 
field by cutting a suspected plant near 
the surface of the ground and examining 
the cut surface. If the stem is black on 
the inside, or has black streaks running 
up through it, the evidence is strong that 
the wilt disease is present. The disease 
kills the roots of the plants and plugs 
up the ducts in the stems in which the 
water is carried to the leaves from the 
roots, with the result mat the plants 
wilt and finally die. The trouble gen¬ 
erally is most conspicuous at about the 
time the first fruits are maturing. 
As the fungus which causes the disease 
lives in the soil and within the tissues 
of the host plant, none of the ordinary 
.methods of disease control, such as spray¬ 
ing, can be used to check it. Rotation 
of crops will help, as the fungus will 
gradually die out if tomatoe* are kept 
out of an infected field for several years, 
but the results obtained by this method 
are often discouraging. The method of 
control that has given the best results is 
the growing of wilt-resistant varieties. 
In a recent bulletin of the Louisiana Ex¬ 
periment Station, the results with one 
such resident variety are given. That 
variety of plants can be selected that 
are resistant to wilt diseases has been 
known for some time. It is by the use 
of such varieties that the cotton industry 
has been saved in some of the sandy 
regions of the Southern States. Resistant 
varieties of tomatoes are perhaps more 
recent than are those of cotton, yet in¬ 
vestigators at more than one experiment 
station have shown that such varieties 
can be selected. 
To obtain a wilt-resistant strain of a 
tomato, it is necessary to grow the de¬ 
sired variety on a very badly infected 
piece of ground. If the plants are ex¬ 
amined carefully during the season, it 
will be seen that the individual plants 
show a wide variation in regard to their 
susceptibility to the disease. Some will 
die very early, others succumb more 
slowly, and perhaps a few may be seen 
which remain healthy and show no signs 
of the disease. If seed is saved separate¬ 
ly from several of these healthy plants 
and planted the following year on badly 
infected ground, it will be noticed that 
the progeny of some of these plants show 
a high degree of resistance to the disease, 
while the progeny of others wilt perhaps 
as badly as did the plants the previous 
year. If seed is again saved from the 
healthiest and best plants from the plots 
which show the greatest resistance, a 
higher degree of resistance will be seen 
in the third year from some of the plants. 
In a few years by this method of selec¬ 
tion, a fairly resistant strain can be 
obtained. 
Occasionally, also, tne progeny of a 
single plant will show almost perfect 
resistance the first year. Such a plant 
as this was present in the tomato 
wilt plots on the Louisiana Experiment 
Station grounds in the season of 1V)10. 
In a plot that hud grown tomatoes for 
several years and which was very badly 
infected with the wilt disease, a single 
plant out of several hundred was noticed 
that did not take the disease. Seed from 
this plant was saved and planted the 
following year on the same piece of 
ground with the result that only about 
10 per cent, or less of the plants died 
with the disease, while check rows 
planted with seed of the same variety 
but not selected all died. Selections have 
been made each year from this strain, 
and at the present time, it shows almost 
perfect resistance. This strain is in¬ 
ferior in some ways, as it is from 10 
days to two weeks later than ordinary 
plants of the same variety, and perhaps 
is not quite so prolific, but in localities 
where earliness is not essential and the 
wilt disease is very severe it should be 
satisfactory. c. w. edgerto.w 
Louisiana Experiment Station. 
“My life is made a burden by bill col¬ 
lectors.” “I’ve discovered a way of get- 
ing rid of ’em that never fails.” “For 
heaven’s sake, put me wise.” “I pay ’em, 
my boy.”—Boston Transcript. 
Draining a Swamp Road. 
On tho farm where I live, there is a 
private road leading from the main road 
to a tenant house. This road crosses a 
wet piece of ground, and for several rods 
is always muddy except perhaps for a 
short time in the middle of the Summer. 
It is a loamy soil, and dirt has been 
drawn on the road, but it soon settles 
down as bad as ever. What treatment is 
necessary to make this strip of road a 
good hard highway? E. Gardner. 
The road needs draining, but as it is 
a private road with perhaps only a lim¬ 
ited amount of travel, simply draining 
the land of the field through which the 
a 
road passes might be all that is required. 
Possibly only one drain placed in the 
depression where the road is wet, and 
carried to the first available pc'nt of 
outlet would be effective in securing a 
good driveway. Where a road has any 
considerable amount of travel, so as to 
compact and puddle the surface it should 
be graded. Crowning in the center, with 
a storm-water ditch maintained on each 
side, and a tile drain three feet deep, un¬ 
der each side of driveway, as per dia¬ 
gram, will insure a roadbed free from soft 
springy places. A large part of the 
breaks which occur every Spring in our 
macadam and brick roads are due to a 
lack of drainage, for no wearing surface 
can be made to support heavy traffic on 
a soft springy foundation. The tile drains 
should be covered at least six inches with 
either gravel or crushed stone, as fine as 
can be used without passing into the 
joints. J. F. VAN SCIIOONXIOYEN. 
Preparing for Grass. 
I have several acres I want to turn 
into grass land ; last Summer, part grew 
corn and potatoes, and part lay idle with 
plenty of weeds. I have just had it 
plowed and want to sow clover and 
Timothy in the Spring after harrowing, 
and then roll it down well. It is very 
fertile land. Can I do this with a good 
prospect of success, or what is the best 
method to pursue? \v. w. T. 
New Jersey. 
This can be done, but in Northern 
New Jersey Spring is not the best time 
for seeding to grass. Fall is a better 
time, and if this land was very weedy 
it would be better to cultivate it fully 
before seeding. We should grow a crop 
of early potatoes or a crop of oats and 
peas for hay or fodder, then fit the soil 
well and seed. 
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246 MalnSL,Harrro<I»bqrg,iry. > 
Marl in Place of Lime. 
Whnt is the process employed in con¬ 
verting marl into lime, also the expense 
of such a plant? We have such marl, 
and years ago it made lime for most of 
tho purposes for which lime was used. 
Sardinia, N. Y. b. b. 
A good shell marl is nearly as rich in 
carbonate of lime as a good limestone. 
We regard the marl as practically equi¬ 
valent to finely pulverized limestone in 
the correction of soil acidity. It could 
be burned as limestone is burned, but we 
have never seen this done, and so have 
no practical information. 
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