STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 1 OS 



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The Tomato, when brought forward early, is perhaps one of our best 

 vegetables, and deserves as much attention as any other. The seeds 

 should be sown in hot-bed by the second week in February ; transplanted 

 in hot-bed once, from thence transplanted in cold frame, eight inches 

 apart, and about the loth of May, at Alton, they are ready to set in the 

 open ground ; the plants by this time will have formed young tomatoes. 

 There is still another method than the double transplanting method of 

 which I have just spoken. It is, to transplant the first time in square 

 boxes made of weather boarding, and sawed so as to make the boxes six 

 inches square at the top, and five inches square at the bottom, leaving the 

 boxes without bottoms. When you are ready to fill them, set the boxes 

 firmly upon a board, put in two inches of dirt and pack it down firmly — 

 this will serve as a bottom to the box — now fill up with good soil and set 

 your plants deep in the dirt, and put under the glass in the hot-bed ; the 

 roots will strike down below the box as well as fill the box, and will not 

 be cramped for room ; and when, m May, you come to set them in the 

 field, it is done without the knowledge of the \A\\\\.. k\. any rate, they 

 will grow right along as if nothing had happened, when, behold, an 

 earthquake was at their feet I 



I am at last converted to the plan of staking tomatoes. It is better 

 to set half the plants, and stake them, as the half staked is greater than 

 the whole not staked, in profits. The per cent, of rotten tomatoes, when 

 the vines are upon the ground, is great — greater than you may suppose ; 

 *and the extra labor in gathering what is good is almost enough to pay 

 the expense of labor in tying up. There is nothing better than the inner 

 coatings of the bark of the bass or linn wood for tying. Tie first in a 

 hard knot around the stake, and then tie loosely around the plant; tie 

 once, and then again at the top of the stake, which is three feet above 

 the ground when set ; prune tlie plant six or eight inches above the top 

 of the stake. Do this and you will have tomatoes to eat and to spare, in 

 abundance. 



The Nutmeg Melon has for years been with us a favorite and profit- 

 able crop — nothing more so. We grow the old Alton Nutmeg exclusively; 

 we know nothing better for a market melon ; it is large, round, 

 bears shipping well, and is good to eat when ripe. Half the melons 

 that go to the Chicago market are not ripe, and are not good to 

 eat. We start a few hills on sod in the hot-bed — sod three inches 

 square, and one seed on a sod. 'i'his planting may be made about 

 the first of April, or a few days before. To get ahead of the mice — 

 always troublesome — I mean to tr}', this year, a tight box, with lock and 

 key, if necessary, and see if I can bar out this "ridiculous muss." If 

 there is a better way, I want to hear about it. Perhaps a cat in the 

 " meal tub " would be the best thing. We ship in crates, with twelve by 

 twelve inch heads, and slats two feet long, holding a dozen melons of 

 average size. These crates cost from ten to twelve cents each. 



These are the crops with which I have had most to do. The record 

 given is simply my way of doing things. There may be a "more 

 excellent way." Show the road, and we will walk in it. 



