St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1914-01-31
ST. Tanlmany Farmer
January 81. 1914
More About Toma-
toes.

toes.
In the columns OF this paper last
week appeared an article on toma-
toes, tomato culture, ETC., signed by
Wildwood" and l want to make use
OF the opportunity that presents
itself just now to thank whoever
Wildwood" is for helping me out
In the fight as he has. You certain
y have the right spirit, Wildwood, J"
and / want you to let us hear from
you again once in a while. But
really, Wildwood" l want to have
. heart to heart talk with you right
now, while we are in the notion 70
talk. want to talk to you heart to
heart about the diseases of the to-
mato plant and the best thing known
to combat them. There are many,
many others whose hearts have been
saddened, whose hopes just had to
w1ther away and bear the bitter
pangs OF disappointment as far as
making big, red tomatoes were con-
cerned. They would take sick and
die in q nights time, almost like
man with heart trouble; look green
and pretty, in the evening and be-
hold, gee whiz! lot of them be with
cred away next morning. That is
awfully aggrivating to one who dear
~ loves tomatoes-and everybody
does-isn't it? Well, let's see, now.
First, we take leaf-spot and leaf
mold. These are two different dis
eases, but of the same nature, being
caused by fungus. We first notice
the disease by small irregular spots
on the leaves, causing them to curl
and finally die and drop of. Soon
all the leaves are on the ground and
the plant is dead. These diseases
can be eradicated by spraying with
bordeaux mixture. Spray once be-
fore taking plants from seed bed and
once every fifteen days during the
growing season. This leaf disease is
very bad. and so be sure and watch
your tomatoes closely, and the mo-
ment you see that they are not look
ing we'll start spraying; it does not
cost but very little but saves lots.
Next on docket is fruit rot, and we
have two kinds-black and brown.
This rot can partly be controlled by
the fertilizer used and soil upon
which the tomatoes are to be grown.
For instance, II you fertilize tomatoes
with q lot Of strong barnyard manure
the vines grow too rank and do it
ut the expense of the tomatoes. They
are too tender, also, and by being
sappy they are more apt to take dis
ease. Same thing with the fruit; II
It d not firm and smooth it is more
apt to take rot of some kind. Brown
rot generally shows up on the bloom
end Of the tomato or on the side,
while black rot almost invariably
shows up first on the stem end. Do
not use any strong lot manure for
tho tomatoes, but use good grade
Of home mixed commercial fertilizer
properly balanced-acid phosphate,
cotton seed meal, German KANT,
one sack Of each on land that a man
has any business trying to grow to-
matoes on. Then spraying with ybor-
dsaux mixture with arsenate of lead
mixed with it will do lots towards
checking the disease. The object in
mixing the two sprays is to kill two
birds with one stone; you get the
germ Of the disease which causes the |
tomato to rot and you get any in
sects that might be around ready to
help spread he trouble from one vine
to another. Gather all rotten to-
matoes and take out Of field, as the
spray does not penetrate the tomato
and after 1t L. smashed up and scat
tered all over the ground it only
nerves to make things worse. Gath
Or the rotten ones, every one, and
give them to the pigs.
Now then we come to the great
malady that has caused you and
many others to shed tears over to-
MI that they did not get-south-
ern wilt. This Is one of the most
diseases that ever in
vaded the farm. 1t causes thousands
Of dollars worth Of. crops to go to
the bad every year. And will say
right here, wildwood" there is no
quick cure for It. The seat of the
disease 10 90 located that we cannot
get ~ It with sprays so We have to
hight this disease more with our
brains than with poisons. Do not
plant any CROP that belongs to the
tomato family on the same land
more than once in four years. They
Ill have the same disease and the
object is TO starve the parasite out
II the soil instead of feeding it from