THE TOMATO INDUSTRY OF THE ARKANSAS VALLEY. I 7 
of various kinds, although somewhat resembling the Grant type. It 
may be said that these variations were due simply to mixing of the 
seeds during a number of years by careless handling, but there is 
reason to suppose such is not the case. The Grant has a peculiar 
small, slightly curled, light colored foliage and a well marked up¬ 
ward habit of growth of the young shoots. These characters appear¬ 
ed constantly in all the samples. The foliage, being less variable 
than the fruit and not an object of selection by the horticulturist, had 
remained constant, while the fruit had lost its character.” 
“Canada Victor was grown from ten seedsmen. There were none 
which could be recognized as true Canada Victor, but they were all 
small, variable, irregular and practically worthless. Yet in all the 
samples, the peculiar, slightly curled foliage of the Canada Victor 
was apparent.” 
“Ignotum was obtained from fifteen dealers. This variety was 
first offered by seedsmen in 1890. Of the fifteen samples, eight gave 
small and poor fruits, which were not worth growing and could not 
be recognized as Ignotum by any character. The other samples 
were fairly uniform and represented a medium type of Ignotum. 
“Ignotum grown from one of our own savings gave a number of 
plants which bore inferior fruits, although clearly Ignotum. It is 
difficult to suppose that in one season a variety could so far have 
lost its characters that one-half the seedsmen should offer inferior 
stock of it. The variety is well fixed, for in one of our large planta¬ 
tions of it, it was remarkably uniform and equally as good if not 
even better than two years ago.” 
DISTANCE TO PLANT. 
The vines should be sufficiently close to shade the 
ground during a portion of July and August. The heat 
and reflection of the sun from our light colored soils often 
have an injurious effect upon the tomato plant. On well 
fertilized land I would recommend that the plants be set 
about 4 feet each way. That it is none too close we have 
good evidence in the field of Mr. Harlow, previously 
noted. His plants were even closer than this and yet he 
got more fruit on one acre than many secured on four 
acres. 
The sun and heat evidently cause physiological trou¬ 
bles, which growers often include under name of blight. 
A familiar trouble of this kind is a blackened condition of 
the plant, or portion of it, late in the season. This is 
quite prevalent on light, sandy soils where the plants are 
small and exposed. 
The trouble first manifests itself on the south-west 
side of the plant. I have never seen it when the plants 
were large and covered the ground. The plants have 
been examined for fungi and bactria by competent per¬ 
sons but none have been found present. It seems to be 
physiological trouble caused by excessive heat. Blister¬ 
ing of the fruit is quite a common occurrence when it is 
exposed and is often a source of considerable loss. It 
