— 79 — 



3. Early and late setting. Trials last year showed that early- 

 sowing in the North results in increased profitable productiveness. 

 In extension of these facts, some investigations were made this 

 year in reference to the comparative values of earl)- and late 

 setting out of doors. It is commonly taught — or at least it has 

 been by the writers — that tomato plants should not be put out of 

 doors until all chilly weather is over, that any check to the 

 young plants is never outgrown. This appears to be sometimes 

 true, but the following tests indicate that we must not be dog- 

 matic upon this point : 



A batch of Ignotum plants was separated into two lots. Half 

 of them were set out of doors May 9th in a rich sandy loam. 

 The plants were very stocky, and were about a foot high. They 

 were set during a very cold rain, and cold and dark weather fol- 

 lowed for several days. For about three weeks the plants made 

 no growth. The remaining plants were set alongside the others 

 Juue 12th. At this time the weather was warm and settled, and 

 it was the season of our general setting. The plants had been 

 shifted in the house and they were in prime condition for the 

 race. The early set plants responded quickly to the first warm 

 days of June ; they were already well established in the soil, 

 while the late set plants had to wait to gain a foothold. The 

 first ripe fruit was picked from each row the same day, August 

 5th. But the late set plants did not come into full bearing until 

 a month later, while the others bore steadily from the first pick- 

 in 2: . The numerical results are as follows : 



l £>' 



No. ripe frts. Total No. of Total wt. Average wt. of 

 Lot. before ripe frts. from individual 



Sept. 5. from 12 pits. 12 pits. fruits. 



Early Setting, ... 37 354 ... . 140 lbs. ... 6.3 oz. 



Late Setting, .... 8 66 .... 30 " . . . 7-3 " 



4. Seeds vs. cuttings. It is frequently said that plants grown 

 from cuttings are superior in earliness, and sometimes in produc- 

 tiveness, to those grown from seeds, and some growers earn- over 

 a few stock plants of tomatoes in a greenhouse or conservatory 

 for the purpose of securing spring cuttings. A house of forced 

 tomatoes gave us a good opportunity to test this point. Ignotum, 

 Lorillard and Sunrise were employed. Cuttings were made 



