THE TOMATO. 
341 
a clear celestial blue it is perfectly safe. It should 
be used as soon as it is made, not letting it 
stand for several hours. Cut any fruits that are 
ripening, and then spray the plants in every 
part, repeating in the course of a week or ten 
days. The mixture may be kept from the fruit 
by wrapping it in oil-skin before spraying, re¬ 
moving it afterwards. 
A simpler and more perfect remedy consists 
of turning or concentrating the fire-heat on to 
the affected area, to the extent of making the 
hot-water pipes unbearably hot, running up the 
temperature to 110° of 120°, repeating this every 
second day for a week, with the result that all 
the disease germs will be destroyed. It should 
be done in the daytime. Those who have not 
tried this remedy may be encouraged to do so 
by having their attention drawn to the fact that 
this “yellow spot” disease is rarely troublesome 
in the well-heatecl houses in which Tomatoes are 
grown for an early crop. 
Black Stripe (Macrosporiurn Lycopersici) is 
another fungus disease of a most destructive 
nature to which Tomatoes are subject. A good 
start may be made with the plants, and a crop 
of fruit set on them, before the disease mani¬ 
fests itself. Suddenly a shrinkage and dis¬ 
coloration of parts of the stems, in the form of 
black stripes, are to be seen, and if the stems 
are soft the upper portion of the plants collapses 
entirely, while if they are moderately hard a 
partial recovery may take place, a poor crop 
of malformed fruit being obtained from them. 
The trouble commences at the roots, and once 
started, nothing seems capable of checking the 
progress of the disease short of carefully re¬ 
moving and destroying affected plants and soil, 
and disinfecting the sites with quicklime prior 
to adding more soil and replanting. 
Preventive measures are most imperative. 
The very seeds are liable to carry contagion with 
them, and ought to be disinfected before sowing. 
This may be done by coating them with flowers 
of sulphur, or by soaking them in a weak solu¬ 
tion of Condy’s Fluid. The soil used in the 
seed-pans should also be treated by the addition 
of enough newly-slaked lime to whiten it, or by 
subjecting it to strong heat, red-hot bricks placed 
in the centre of a small heap of soil destroying 
disease germs. Soil to be used in pots or for 
ridges should be treated in the same way. 
Where the plants are put out in borders, market- 
growers’ fashion, these should also be limed. 
Lime obtained from chalk and newly slaked 
should be applied at the rate of 1 lb. per square 
yard, and forked in, well mixing it with the top 
spit. If in spite of these precautions a few plants 
early show signs of disease, these ought to be 
quickly drawn and burnt, and lime applied to 
the soil they came out of, to prevent the spread 
of disease to adjoining plants. 
Sleeping Disease ( Fusarium Lycopersici). Plants 
affected by this much-to-be-dreaded disease 
may apparently be in good health and in a fair 
way to produce extra heavy crops on one day, 
and during the next flag badly, never again to 
recover. This disease also attacks the roots, and 
may be prevented by taking the precautions 
advised for Black Stripe. 
Slime Fungus also attacks Tomato plants with 
deadly effect at times. It should be combated 
in the same way as recommended for the other 
diseases in preceding paragraphs. 
Black Bot ( Macrosporiurn Tomato), another 
fungus disease, attacks the fruit at the eye very 
soon after it has set, the decay spreading slowly 
but surely, causing black circular patches; fruit 
injured in this way colour prematurely, but are 
quite worthless. Scalded fruits are frequently 
thought to be affected by this disease, but the 
cause and effect both differ. In the case of 
scalded fruits there is a rapid shrinkage of 
tissues or pulp, the injured parts being quite 
soft and green for a day or two, afterwards 
becoming black. The remedy, however, is the 
same in both cases. Sufficient fire-heat must be 
turned on to prevent the temperature becoming 
low during cold nights preceding or following 
clear days, and also be admitted quite early in 
the morning to prevent any sudden rise in the 
temperature. When the fruit becomes very 
cold at night, and there is also a delay in ven¬ 
tilating, not opening the house or houses till 
long after the sun strikes on them, the heated 
air condenses on the cold fruit, and the rapid 
evaporation of this moisture, consequent upon a 
sudden late opening of the top ventilators, results 
in the disruption of the tissues or “sun scald” 
—hence the necessity to avoid a low tempera¬ 
ture, and for early ventilation, followed accord¬ 
ing as the sun gains in power, by the admission 
of all the air possible. Keep the fruit dry, and 
neither Black Rot nor Scalding will be much 
in evidence. 
Insect Pests that affect the Tomato are not 
particularly numerous. Remedies for Green¬ 
fly, Red Spider, and Snowy Fly will be found 
in the chapter devoted to Insect Pests, but the 
Root-gall or Eel-worm must not be thus 
summarily dismissed, as it is one of the worst 
enemies to the Tomato, and the most difficult to 
deal with. Plants with their roots badly affected 
