No injury whatever to vine or fruit results from the use of Bordeaux mixture, even in the tenderest stages of growth. This year I sprayed the embryo fruit before the flowers were open, after they were open, while the pollen was yet in the blossom, and when the berry was the size of a pin's head. In no case could I detect any deleterious results. Lastly mentioned, but the greatest in importance, are the first steps in fighting the fungi of the vine, viz, close pruning, the thorough cleansing of the vineyard after pruning, and the thorough spraying of the vines and stakes with Bordeaux mixture before the buds start in the spring. I would extend this first treatment to stumps, wooden fences, the trellises, if of wood, and to the bodies of trees, if there are any in the vineyard. With this disinfection of the vineyard thoroughly done, I am confident that two or three more timely applications of Bordeaux mixture, to the canes and foliage only, will be all that is necessary to save the crop of grapes. The spray unavoidably reaches much of the fruit if justice is done to the canes and foliage, but I do not regard it as necessary that the berries shall be purposely sprayed if the foregoing conditions are diligently complied with.

The most effective work in prevention of fungi is done in the beginning of the season while the parasites are dormant and inactive.

EXPERIMENTS IN THE TREATMENT OF TOMATO-ROT.

Pursuant to instructions I made some experiments during the present season (1889) in the treatment of the fungous diseases of tomatoes, and herewith present my report of the same.

Tomato-rot has for many years been the source of much annoyance and disappointment to the owner of the kitchen garden and the cause of serious loss to market gardeners near cities and towns in this section. of the country. It is rare, however, that the trouble becomes so serious as to prevent the production of an abundant supply of tomatoes for home consumption, sooner or later in the season, where pains are taken to train the plants upon the trellis or otherwise, so as to keep them from 1 to 3 feet above the ground. The first fruits of the tomato plant are generally more seriously affected with rot, or black rot as it is sometimes called, than those ripening later. Market gardeners suffer the greater loss, therefore, at the time of year when the demand for tomatoes is greater and prices more remunerative. It seldom occurs that the loss from rot exceeds 50 per cent. of the crop. More generally it is from 20 to 40 per cent. in bad seasons. While the first crop may rot seriously during the prevalence of wet weather in May and June, the later fruitage of the same plants may result in an excellent crop of sound fruit, and thus a plenteous supply of tomatoes may be and generally is raised, owing to the long continuance of the bearing, growing, and ripening season.

As with grapes, some varieties of tomatoes contract disease more

readily than others; but all are subject to damaging invasions of rot during seasons of excessive moisture. The Acme, for instance, is a variety that succumbs to the attacks of the fungus more easily than any other choice variety, while the small, round native and volunteer shoots, which are of poor quality for table use, are rarely known to rot at all.

The season of bearing and ripening with the tomato crop here begins in early summer and continues until frost, and it is almost invariably the case that the plants contain a considerable quantity of unripe fruit at the time of the first biting frost. This residue of green fruit is made into choice articles of green tomato ketchup and green tomato pickles, for domestic use.

The period of growth and development of the fungus of tomato-rot is coeval with that of the tomato itself, continuing or ceasing with the coming and going of the seasons of wet weather. The dews of night are very often equal to light showers of rain, and I believe that where the fungus has already gained a foothold upon the plants, these dews, although dissipated daily by a few hours' sunshine, serve to facilitate the growth of the fungus to the extent of causing serious loss from rot. The first attack of rot in my experimental plat of tomatoes this year was preceded by the appearance of pale yellow spots on the leaves of the plants. These spots were not very numerous, but were to be seen during the whole season on untreated plants. They resembled the spots on the upper surface of the foliage of grape-vines caused by the Peronospora, but were much smaller in size. Whether or not they were caused attacked the fruit I am not pre

by the same fungus that afterwards

pared to say, but I am inclined to the belief that they were.

Little or nothing is known among growers here of the essential cause of tomato-rot, as no mycological study or explanation of it is current in our horticultural literature, and no efforts have been made, so far as I can learn, to prevent the malady. The experiments here reported probably constitute, therefore, the first systematic endeavor in this part of the country to combat rot in tomatoes. It has become the custom with some growers to train the plants high and to thin out the brauches by pruning, so as to afford freer access of air and sunlight. This as a prophylactic measure unquestionably lessens the effects of fungus attacks to some extent, but as a means of saving the crop in bad years is insuf ficient.

THE EXPERIMENTS.

The experiments which form the subject of this report were performed in a plat of three rows of thirty plants each. Two of the rows were of the Optimus variety and the third of Livingston's Favorite. The rows were 5 feet apart, running parallel with each other, and the plants 4 feet apart in the rows.

When the plants were about 15 inches high a stake was driven firmly into the ground at the root of each plant. To these stakes the plants

were trained in upright posture by being tied to them loosely with strips of cheap cotton cloth. As the plants grew taller they were tied again and again until they reached the tops of the stakes, or a height of from 4 to 5 feet. From three to four ties were sufficient to hold them in position.

All the lower branches or lateral stems were pruned away, leaving only the main stem of each plant and allowing no side limbs to remain within a foot of the ground. I found afterwards that higher pruning would have been better, as the fruit on the lowest branches left weighted them to the ground and made it impossible to spray such fruit in a satisfactory manner. Such pruning prevents density of growth as above suggested.

The plat was divided into three sections by lines running crosswise the rows, thus apportioning one-third, or ten plants of each row to each of the three sections. The three sections were therefore alike in all essential particulars, and the plants were very nearly uniform in size and final development and fruitage.

On the 14th of June I discovered the first rot on the fruit. I had not previously seriously regarded the leaf spots above mentioned as the work of a fungus, and the first attack of the same on the fruit was earlier than I had anticipated. The experimental plat being a late planted one, had led to the confusion, and it should have been treated earlier, but the results of the treatment which I now hastened to give were sufficient to prove all that was desired as to the efficacy of at least one of the preventives used-the Bordeaux mixture.

TREATMENT.

With the Eureka sprayer and improved Vermorel nozzle I began the treatment June 15. Obeying the instructions given me by the Chief of the Section, I used the liquids mentioned below and treated the plat as follows:

Section 1 was thoroughly sprayed with Bordeaux mixture made according to the prescribed formula (6–4–22).

Section 2 was left without treatment as a control experiment. Section 3 was treated with a mixture made in the following manner: Into an earthen jar I poured 1 quart of liquid ammonia (ordered to be 220 Baumé), and added to it, by piece-meal with the blade of a knife while stirring, 3 ounces of copper carbonate. Stirring rapidly for a short time the copper was almost completely dissolved and the liquid became clear (except that there was a greenish sediment in the bottom of the jar) and assumed a beautiful blue color. I then poured the contents of the jar into a tub and added water sufficient to make 22 gallons of the mixture.

At the time of the first application of the mixture the young tomato berries of the first fruitage were about three-quarters of an inch in di ameter, and, as above stated, some of them (very few) had already begun

.

to rot. I took the greatest pains, therefore, to reach every tomato on the plants, especially at the free end. The main crop of tomatoes had not yet been set, and the plants bore a profusion of blossoms.

The second treatment was given July 2, when the first fruits of the plants were nearly grown, being from 2 to 3 inches in greatest diameter. The third and last treatment was given July 15, after the first ripe tomatoes had been gathered and others had begun to color.

The fruit nearest the ground was troublesome to spray with the nec essarily horizontal work of the nozzle with which it was done. With the same nozzle so adjusted as to throw a spray at right angles with the brass tube to whose end it is attached, the fruit near the ground could have been more perfectly treated. Such a right-angled spray is necessary, owing to the pendent position of the fruit.

The two treated sections were 'sprayed during the same hour each time and with equal care.

Rainy weather for two weeks preceded the first treatment, and continued at intervals until some days after the second, alternating with occasional days of hot sunshine, when the ground was saturated and the weather oppressively sultry. Tomatoes rarely pass through a more unfavorable season than prevailed from May 29 to July 5, when the wet season ended.

THE RESULTS OF TREATMENT.

In section 1, treated with Bordeaux mixture, there was exceedingly little rot. It was plain from the time of the first treatment that Bordeaux mixture had a very salutary effect, only a few rotting tomatoes being found in this section between the first and second treatments, and noue, or next to none, after the second. The final result in this section was a loss of scarcely 4 per cent. of the crop, which was an abundant one.

In section 3, treated with the ammoniacal copper carbonate, the effect seemed at first to equal that of Bordeaux mixture. But it did not hold out. Later in the season, when the bulk of the crop was nearing maturity of growth, rot was far worse than in section 1. Whether or not the mixture had lost any of its valuable properties from standing in a tub covered with boards from the time of the first treatment to that of the second, I can not say. Such may have been the case if the ammonia itself plays any important part as a fungicidal agent per se, since ammonia is a volatile substance and liable to escape into the atmosphere. It is possible that the ingredients used in the mixture were not pure or of the desired strength, but this question I am not prepared to The result of the treatment of this section is encouraging, however, since the loss from rot did not exceed 20 per cent. of the crop. In section 2, which was not treated, the work of the fungus was bad from the beginning, and rot continued throughout the season. But few fine specimens of fruit reached perfection. The final result was a loss of fully 60 per cent. of the crop.

answer.

Late in the season it became very apparent that the fungus had a very devastating effect upon the foliage of the plant. During September, fully a month before frost, the plants of the untreated section assumed a spent and dying appearance, and bore very few bright green tomatoes in comparison with those of the other sections. A winter's blast could not have had a more blighting effect or made them look worse. In fact, they were almost dead, only the stems of the branches showing a green and yellowish color. In contrast with section 1, which was treated with Bordeaux mixture, the difference was very striking. The plants and foliage of this section were bright green, healthy and luxuriant, and the uppermost parts of them bore many fine specimens of fruit, most of which ripened before, and some even after, the first light frosts. In section 2 the effect of the treatment on the foliage was less favorable than that of section 1, but there was a strong contrast between it and the untreated section. Section 3 ripened a moderate crop of late fruit, while section 2 ripened none.

The rot always began at the free end of the tomato and the spot continued to grow in size either regularly in a circle or to one side. The decayed pulp of the fruits was generally black with a slight tinge of brownish gray in the older parts of the spot, and of a mushy consistency.

The results of the experiments weigh heavily in favor of Bordeaux mixture as a preventive of tomato-rot. The ammonia and copper prescription may prove as efficient if applied oftener, but with present lights and experience I shall rely upon Bordeaux mixture as the best, and a sure remedy.

REPORT OF HERMANN JAEGER, OF NEOSHO, MO.

SIR: I have the honor to submit herewith my report on the experiments made in 1889 in the treatment of grape diseases. I have endeavored to make the report as plain as possible to the common vine-grower, one of whom I have the honor to be.

Respectfully,

B. T. GALLOWAY,

HERMANN JAEGER,
Neosho, Mo.

Chief of the Section of Vegetable Pathology, Washington, D. C.

I am well aware that the best mycologists and horticulturists recommend the gathering and burning of all diseased grapes, wood, and foliage of vines, thus destroying quantities of germs or spores of the various fungi, or diminutive parasites, whose growth and development on various parts of the grape-vine we designate as rot, mildew, anthracnose, etc.

19669-No. 11--5