1 Dec., 1897.] QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. 431 
In three or four weeks these layers will have set new roots, and they will 
bear again abundantly during April and May. They will still be loaded with 
fruits when the first frosts appear. If they are protected at night, or if fruits 
are gathered green and spread on shelves, or, again, if the whole plant is 
uprooted with its fruit on and hung in a shed, the tomatoes will ripen gradually 
for a couple of months longer, well into the winter. 
By following that plan, you can defy the severest droughts, and secure 
for each plant a crop which is positively stupendous. The returns in weight 
per acre run into such figures that the writer hesitates to formulate them here 
forfear . . . the printer might be accused of having, by mistake, added a 
nought to them. It vill suffice to say that he knows of only the banana and 
sweet potato which have any chance of surpassing it. 
The results show conclusively that such a method of training the tomato 
is congenial to its nature. 
We must not forget that the tomato is in its native state a plant with 
rampant habits, as is confirmed by the adventitious roots which—as in the 
pumpkin—strike at every joint which comes into contact with the ground. 
Picking is a rather important operation, which must be performed every 
day as soon as the plants are in full bearing The picker must be provided 
with two buckets or baskets. In one he puts all diseased or otherwise injured 
fruits, which ought never, on any consideration, to be left lying on the ground ; 
in the other he gently places all sound fruits, taking care not to shake the 
plant too much. For home consumption, for a near market, or for the jam 
factory the fruit should be gathered thoroughly ripe; for sending any distance 
away, they are best gathered when they just begin to change colour. 
They should then be carried gently into a cool shed, where the grading 
and packing take place. They should never be poured from one vessel into 
another, but taken gently one by one with the hand, and graded thus :— 
(1) Large ripes, (2) medium ripes), (3) small ripes, (4) large greens, (5) 
medium greens, (6) small greens, and (7) culls, which should never leave the 
farm except under the form of eggs or bacon. 3 
Never pack tomatoes—and this applies to other fruits, too—whilst they 
ave warm from the sun’s rays. Let them first get cool in a draughty place, 
under a. covered shed. 
What Varieties to Gyow.—The varieties are now so numerous that one 
has only, so to say, the trouble of choice. We can lay down as a rule that it 
is not worth while growing sorts with asperities and creases on their surface, 
as they are, more than others, hable to harbour pests. We would rather give 
the preference to all fleshy, firm, and smooth varieties. 
The Ignotum, the Acme, the Trophy, the Golden Queen, the Dedham 
Favourite, and Optimus can hardly be excelled for dessert or general purposes. 
The Duke of York is rapidly becoming a favourite, too. The King Humbert, 
though smaller, is both early and late, very hardy, and prolific, so is also the 
Rival. The little hardy and ornamental Dwarf Champion should have a little 
corner in every garden. Ponderosa and Crimson Cushion are very showy. 
The little Golden Pears and Golden Drops, by their pretty shape and golour, 
do well to relieve others by contrast in the dessert dish, ete. 
Diseases and Pest—When planted on well-drained and easily permeable 
soil, the tomato is a most hardy plant, requiring in fact very little water for 
the production of perfect fruits, but on badly drained and cold soils it is— 
especially in wet seasons—subject to many fungoid diseases. The principal 
are the Leaf Blight (Gladosporum fulvum), which destroys rapidly the whole 
plant; the Tomato Black Rot (Macrosporwm tomato), which attacks the fruit 
before it is ripe round the blossom end; and another fungoid disease, which 
Dr. Cobb, the eminent Pathologist of New South Wales, calls the Pimple Rot. 
It resembles much the former disease, except that it attacks also the sides of 
tho fruit. One or two sprayings of Bordeaux mixture given before the plant 
starts flowering are said to be a good preventive. The writer, however, puts 
greater faith in good drainage, thorough tillage, the removal and burning of 
