340 
THE GARDENER’S ASSISTANT. 
the roof; but these have to be cut and ripened 
in stronger heat before the house is set widely 
open, so as to give the Vines their needed rest. 
If the pot and other late - cropping plants 
trained up roofs are kept in a temperature 
ranging from 55° by night to 60° to 65° in 
the day, they will not only give a long suc¬ 
cession of well-ripened fruit, but they will push 
out side-shoots freely, which, if duly thinned, 
will each give a cluster of fruit in the spring 
before it is possible to have any from plants 
raised in January. 
Tomatoes in Pits and Frames .—Success with 
Tomatoes in pits or frames is not frequent. 
More often than not the plants become badly 
diseased before a profitable crop can be had 
from them, owing to imperfect ventilation; or 
if they escape disease they yet fail to set and 
produce good crops. Those in frames are apt 
to grow too rank, and the same thing happens 
in pits unless the roots are confined to either 
pots, boxes, or narrow ridges of soil. Various 
contrivances have also to be adopted in order 
to keep the haulm raised clear of the soil. 
Instead of attempting to grow Tomatoes under 
such disadvantageous conditions, it would be 
far better, where possible, to devote a house 
to their culture during the summer, and to 
relegate the ordinary occupants of these struc¬ 
tures largely to the pits and frames. 
Frame culture will answer if care be taken 
not to grow the plants too strongly, nor to 
unduly crowd the leading growths, and to 
ventilate freely on all favourable occasions. 
Tomatoes may be planted in pits and frames 
in succession to early Potatoes, with a view to 
giving them a good start prior to removing the 
lights and exposing the plants to all weathers. 
Two rows of plants may be disposed from the 
front to the back of each light in close succes¬ 
sion to the Potatoes. They should be kept 
rather close and warm till growing strongly, 
and directly they require tall stakes, wholly 
remove the light and place a 4-foot stake to 
each plant. Plants thus started should be well 
ahead of those in the open air, and in most 
seasons would produce a heavy crop of ripe 
fruit before much disease was in the air. 
Diseases .—The well-known Potato disease 
(Phytophthora ivfestans) affects Tomatoes also, 
open-air plants with their crops succumbing 
to it in a wholesale manner whenever Potatoes 
are badly affected. During a hot, dry summer 
very little is seen of this disease. In a wet 
season, if the plants cannot be kept dry by a 
temporary protection, the only other remedy 
is either occasional sprayings with Bordeaux 
mixture, as recommended for Potatoes, or 
frequently dusting with “Anti-Blight” powder, 
a mixture of newly-slaked lime and sulphate 
of copper. Both remedies are apt to seriously 
check the growth of the plants. 
Yellow Spot (Cladosporium fulvum) occurs 
principally on plants grown under glass, and in 
some seasons is most destructive. At the out¬ 
set a few leaves only may be affected, but if 
neglected the disease spreads rapidly from one 
house to another. The under side of the leaves 
is attacked, patches of brown mildew-like fungus 
destroying the cuticle and tissues of the leaves, 
causing yellow spots to show on the upper side. 
A warm, moist, stagnant atmosphere, such as 
Cucumbers revel in, favours the spread of this 
disease; and the soft leaves of overfed plants are 
the first to succumb, soon being left without a 
healthy leaf on them, the fruit also being spoilt. 
Close planting, that is, crowding the plants 
together, favours the spread of the disease. 
The best preventive measures should include 
an effort to grow sturdy plants, by maintaining 
a warm, dry, airy atmosphere. Fire-heat is 
essential to success, as without this it is im¬ 
possible to prevent stagnation in the atmosphei’e 
in dull, damp weather. Plenty of fire-heat, 
coupled with careful ventilation, opening the 
houses in the morning and not closing them till 
the evening, and not then if it will give rise to 
a high temperature. During the summer a little 
top air may be left on all night. A close look¬ 
out should also be kept for any symptoms of 
disease, carefully removing and burning any 
diseased parts. 
Bordeaux mixture is considered a good 
remedy, though applications of this have the 
effect of checking the plants in growth, and 
unless precautions are taken it also necessitates 
wiping every fruit before it can be used or 
packed, as the case may be. The following 
method of preparing and applying the Bordeaux 
mixture is from the Journal of Horticulture : — 
Sulphate of copper, 4 ozs., powdered, dis¬ 
solving in a vessel by itself in 3J gallons of 
water; then slake 4 ozs. of quicklime (quite 
fresh) in another vessel, and form into a thin 
lime-wash with water, and pour it through a 
hair sieve slowly into the vessel containing the 
copper solution, adding enough water to make 
7 b gallons altogether. To make sure this will 
not injure the plants, drop a few drops of ferro- 
cyanide of potassium into the Bordeaux mix¬ 
ture after it has been well stirred; and if it turns 
brown it will injure the plants, but if it remains 
