July  4,  1901. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER . 
5 
Diseased  Tomatoes. 
The  plants  are  infested  by  the  sleeping  disease  fungus,  Fusarium 
Iyaopersioi,  and  first  indicated  by  the  dull  colour  of  the  leaves,  whioh 
commence  to  droop,  and  is  followed  by  a  collapse  of  the  stem.  If  the 
plants  are  not  attacked  until  the  fruit  is  present  this  frequently  ripens, 
and  may  not  bear  any  traces  of  the  disease,  even  when  examined 
microscopically,  though  in  some  instances  the  fruit  is  diseased  and 
ripens  irregularly ;  this  irregularity  of  ripening  is  probably  not  due  to 
the  fungus,  but  to  a  deficiency  of  potash,  at  least  a  supply  of  sulphate 
of  potash  applied  some  time  in  advance,  or  early  in  the  stages  of  growth, 
causes  the  fruit  to  ripen  more  satisfactorily  and  evenly.  The  root  is 
invariably  attacked  first,  though  your  plant  root-stem  is  free  from  the 
fungus,  the  root-stem  being  attacked 
at  the  point  just  level  with  the  soil 
or  lower  portion  of  the  stem.  Its 
presence  is  indicated  to  the  naked 
eye  by  a  brown  discolouration  of  the 
vascular  bundles  when  the  stem  is 
cut  through,  and  then  the  plant 
droops,  or  “  sleeps.”  On  the  stems 
just  above  the  ground  appears  a  very 
delicate  white  mould,  consisting  of 
conidiophores  bearing  conidia  or 
spores  at  the  tips  of  their  whorled 
branches.  This  is  the  first  or  Dip- 
locladium  stage,  whioh  is  quickly 
followed  by  the  second,  or  Fusarium 
condition,  and  is  borne  from  the 
same  mycelium  as  that  producing  the 
Diplocladium,  its  spindle  shaped 
curved  spores  being  produced  in 
great  numbers. 
Neither  by  Diplocladium  nor 
Fusarium  spores  is  inoculation  of 
Tomato  plants  effected,  but  both 
produce  a  mycelium  in  the  ground, 
and  this  is  the  mode  of  infection,  the 
mycelium  in  the  ground  producing  a 
third  form  of  fruit,  known  as  resting 
sporeB.  These  remain  dormant  for  a 
season,  and  then  germinate,  forming 
a  mycelium  capable  of  attacking  the 
roots  of  Tomatoes.  By  this  means 
the  disease  is  communicated  to  a  new 
crop  of  Tomatoes  the  following  season. 
Thus  the  fungus  commences  life,  or 
its  continuation,  as  a  saprophyte,  and 
afterwards  becomes  parasitic.  It  is 
clear,  then,  that  prevention  must  be 
directed  to  the  destruction  of  the 
saprophytic  existence  by  timely 
applications* of  lime  or  basic  cinder 
phosphate,  half  free  lime,  about  1  lb. 
of  lime  or  2  lbs.  of  basic  cinder 
phosphates  being  applied  per  square 
yard,  and  dug  in  or  mixed  with  soil 
placed  about  1  foot  deep,  and  after 
digging  in,  taking  small  spits  to 
insure  even  mixing  of  the  lime  or 
basic  cinder  phosphate  with  the  soil, 
sprinkle  on  the  surface  half  a  pound 
of  kainit  per  square  yard,  and  leave 
there.  This  should  be  done  in  the 
autumn  or  early  winter,  and  in 
spring,  or  shortly  before  planting 
with  Tomato  plants,  dig  over  or  mix, 
as  the  case  may  be.  The  intention 
is  to  destroy  the  mycelium  of  the 
fungus  in  the  soil,  and  supply  nutri¬ 
ment  to  the  Tomatoes.  Affected 
plants  should  be  removed  upon  the 
first  appeara  noe  of  the  disease,  and  the  soil  mixed  with  quicklime. 
The  drench/ng  of  the  house,  walls,  &c.,  after  the  diseased  crops  are 
cleared,  with  a  solution  of  iron  sulphate,  is  also  good  practice.  The 
iron  sulphate  solution  may  be  made  as  follows  : — Water  50  gallons, 
sulphuric  acid  1  pint,  iron  sulphate  25  lbs. ;  pour  the  sulphuric  acid 
upon  the  iron  sulphate  in  a  barrel,  a  metal  vessel  must  not  be  used,  and 
then  add  the  water  by  degrees.  This  is  intended  to  destroy  the  spores 
and  prevent  the  saprophytic  existence  of  the  fungus.  Seed  only  from 
clean  plants  should  be  used,  for  it  is  well  known  that  seed  obtained 
from  diseased  plants  produces  diseased  seedlings. — G. 
Early  Peas. — Mr.  James  Baxter,  market  gardener,  Millerhill, 
Edinburgh,  sold  at  the  Waverley  Market  on  the  22nd  twenty-five 
hampers  of  extra  good,  well  filled,  early  Peas.  The  variety  was  Tillie 
and  Turner’s  Seleot  First  Early,  a  well-known  favourite  with  market 
growers  around  the  Scottish  oapital. 
Early  Potatoes. 
A  matter  of  considerable  importance  to  a  young  gardener  taking 
his  first  charge  is  the  selection  of  suitable  varieties  of  vegetables.  Not 
only  has  he  to  select  sorts  well  known  to  possess  good  qualities,  but 
they  must  also  be  suitable  for  the  soil  of  the  locality.  This  latter 
applies  with  especial  force  to  Potatoes,  many  sorts  that  thrive  well  on 
a  suitable  soil  refusing  to  crop  on  others.  With  regard  to  the  earlier 
crops,  the  borders  on  which  they  are  grown  are  usually  prepared 
specially  for  them,  but  even  then  there  is  no  real  alteration  in  the 
staple,  though  by  additions  heavy 
soils  are  made  to  work  better,  and 
light  ones  more  holding.  There  are 
plenty  of  varieties  to  select  from 
among  the  early  Potatoes  ;  too  many, 
in  fact,  for  those  who  do  not  know 
the  peculiarities  of  each.  For  flavour 
and  average  cropping  qualities  the 
Ashleaf  section,  in  my  opinion,  stands 
unrivalled.  Unfortunately  they  are 
not  sufficiently  early  for  the  first  crop, 
though  one  of  them,  the  Hammer¬ 
smith  Kidney,  is  not  far  behind  in 
this  respect.  On  a  heavy,  cold  soil, 
this  did  well  with  me,  and  though 
the  crop  was  not  a  heavy  one  it  more 
than  made  up  for  this  in  quality. 
Rivers’  Ashleaf  is  also  good,  but  not 
so  vigorous  as  Hammersmith,  and 
more  suitable  for  frame  culture  and 
lorcing  owing  to  its  small  top. 
The  newer  Ninety  fold  is  a  grand 
Potato  in  every  way,  an  immense 
cropper,  noti  liable  to  disease,  and  of 
as  good  quality  as  any  at  its  season. 
I  grew  Sharpe's  Victor  for  some  time 
after  this  was  sent  out,  but  eventu¬ 
ally  discarded  it  for  the  newcomer. 
There  are  so  many  spurious  stocks 
of  Sharpe’s  Victor  on  the  market 
that  it  is  often  difficult  to  obtain  the 
true  form  with  small  dark  haulm 
and  smooth  shapely  thin-skinned 
tubers,  but  this  is  the  only  one 
worth  growing.  Ringleader,  again, 
is  a  fine  early  sort,  bearing  tubers 
very  even  in  size  and  of  excellent 
quality.  Tnis,  too,  is  dwarf  and 
compact  in  habit,  vigorous  enough 
to  ward  off  disease  until  late  in  the 
season,  and,  taken  altogether,  very 
difficult  to  beat. 
Where  there  is  a  heavy  demand, 
and  the  ground  at  command  is 
limited,  it  is  sometimes  difficult  to 
keep  the  supply  going  after  the  first 
earlies  are  over.  Syon  House  and 
Duke  of  York  come  in  capitally 
here,  as  do  some  of  the  second  early 
varieties  lifted  before  they  are  really 
ready.  Early  Rose,  for  instance,  and 
Reliance  Kidney  are  good,  both  pro¬ 
ducing  heavy  crops,  but  naturally 
not  of  the  best  quality  when  lifted 
thus  early.  Still,  anything  is  better 
than  a  break  in  the  supply,  and  possibly  other  readers  may  assist  with 
the  names  of  those  that  do  well  with  them. — H.  Richards. 
United  States  Apples. — The  statement  that  the  value  of  the 
Apple  crop  of  the  United  States  is  greater  than  that  of  its  Wheat 
production  may  be  a  surprise  to  many.  Thus  it  is  stated  that  the  total 
yield  of  Apples  in  1900  was  215,000,000  barrels.  Supposing  that  an 
average  price  of  2  dols.  a  barrel  was  obtained,  the  aggregate  value  of 
the  crop  was  430,000,000  dols.  The  average  value  of  Wheat  is  but  a 
little  over  300,000,000  dols.  annually.  By  this  estimate  the  Apple  crop 
is  worth  about  50  per  cent,  more  than  the  Wheat.  The  export  of  Apples 
exceeds  4,000,000  barrels  a  year,  but  it  is  increasing.  The  price  abroad 
ranges  from  2  dols.  to  4  dols.  a  barrel,  the  most  of  the  fruit  bringing 
nearer  the  larger  price. 
Rosa  Polyantha  GRANDIFLORA.  (See  Page  10). 
