The Savannah morning news., 1904-07-18
Trouble with Tomatoes.

Says market gardener: Tomato rot
or, as it is often termed, black rot,
first appears at the blossom end of the
fruit, as a small black spot, which
gradually increases to size until the
whole fruit is affected 1t rarely at
tacks any but the earliest fruit, dis
appearing altogether later in the sea-
son.
After careful experiment l am fully
convinced that this trouble is caused
entirely by the too liberal application
or stable manure, or of manure not
sufficiently rotted.
l nave grown tomatoes on the same
ground for three consecutive years
with no stable manure, and found no
signs of rot, and have grown them on
land where tomato crop was never
grown before, but where a heavy crop
of stable manure was plowed under in
the spring, and the tomatoes were very
badly troubled with black rot early in
the season.
The remedy is to use only manure
that has been thoroughly rotted. and
use more commercial manure, such as
nitrate of soda and hardwood ashes
Tomato blight first makes it appear
ance in the stalk just at the top of the
ground. The stems wither, the leaves
turn yellow and wilt and the plant dies
This is said by some to be the effect
of fungus known as Cladosporum
fulcrum.
l am fully convinced that the cause
of this disease is the same as that of
the black rot, too much green stable
manure, and the remedy to be applied
is commercial fertilizers.
Tomato worm, Phlegethontius celeus.
that large green worm so often found
on the tomato vine, comes from eggs
laid by a beautiful sphinx moth. This
worm seems always hungry, stripping
the leaves off the plants, and should
be hand picked and destroyed.
Cut worms, when full grown, are
to inches long and of a dull yellowish
/ brown color. They work by night and
rest by day. The parent moth appears
i'm June. July and August, and usually
lays from 200 to 500 eggs They are
also nocturnal in habit, resting during
| the day in some sheltered spot, but at
night they are readily attracted by
lights, often flying in at an open win
dow, where they may be caught.
The cut worm is very destructive to
tomato plants. cutting them off near
the top of the ground After this is
done, he enters the soil near the plant,
! where he may be found and destroyed.
The tomato bug is sometimes quite
| destructive to tomato plants when first
! set out, working on the stalks instead
! of the leaves. II they get too numer-
Gus. they can be killed by paris green
| the same as on the potato
! Often in wet seasons or i'm seasons
| of frequent showers tomatoes will
! crack badly. Dew falling on them at
| night will cause cracking, especially If
/ the fruit is very ripe
Cold or hot water poured on ripe to-
matoes will crack the skin so they can
be easily pared. II we pour hot water
on the fruit when II is cold, the skin
will crack, and If we put cold water
on the fruit when 1t is warm, the
same result will follow. Some varia-
ties are more easily affected than
others. owing to the skin of some
! varieties being tougher than others.
know no remedy for this trouble
! more than to keep the ripe fruit
picked. l have sometimes saved ex-
ira specimens that l wanted for some
special purpose by covering them dur
ing wet spells and at night.