1576 The Cornell Reading-Courses 



is the best implement. Spinach should "be harvested with as little injury 

 to the plants as possible. As soon as it has been cut, it should be placed 

 in baskets, taken to the house, washed, and placed on a rack to drain. 

 It is then ready to be prepared for canning. 



Yields. — Spinach often yields from two to two hundred and fifty barrels 

 per acre, four to six tons, if it is grown on sandy or gravelly loam, or from 

 seven to ten tons if it is grown on muck soil. In a small home garden, a 

 row one hundred feet long should yield from two to four bushels, according 

 to the cultivation given. 



tomatoes 



The tomato, one of the vegetables most commonly grown for canning 

 in the United States, requires a long, warm season for its best development. 



Site. — The best location for a field of tomatoes is a southern slope, where 

 there is sufficient air drainage to insure the tomatoes from injury by light 

 frosts. Tomatoes will grow fairly well on less suitable sites in favorable 

 seasons, but considerable risk is involved. 



Soil and its preparation. — From tests made in various sections of the 

 United States, it has been found that the tomato is adapted to a wide 

 range of soils. In experiments carried on by Will W. Tracy, the ten 

 largest yields of tomatoes were obtained from a great variety of soils, 

 ranging from hea\'A' clay loam to the Ughtest types. If it is possible to 

 choose the soil, a deep, fertile, sandy loam will probably give the best 

 results. On farms that are managed systematically, the soils are generally 

 well maintained and in good condition to grow a satisfactory crop of 

 tomatoes. 



The tomato has an extremely large root system ; therefore the soil should 

 be plowed six inches or more deep. It should then be harrowed and cross- 

 harrowed until the soil is fine and in good condition for transplanting the 

 young i^lants. 



Tomatoes, as well as other vegetables, should be grown on different 

 soils each year. Tomatoes may successfully follow corn, cabbage, or 

 almost any hoed crop or clover sod. They should not follow timothy sod, 

 for great injur}' may result from cutworms and grubs. 



Manures and fertilizers.— -It is seldom wise to use fresh manure on to- 

 matoes, for it causes the plants to produce an excessive amount of \'ines. 

 However, it may be the only kind of manure available; if so, it is well to 

 apply it the previous year. If well-rotted stable manure is to be had, it 

 may be applied to the soil, just before the young tomatoes are planted, 

 at the rate of from ten to fifteen tons per acre, depending on soil conditions. 



For the average soil, if commercial fertihzer is used, one containing two 

 per cent nitrogen, eight per cent phosphoric acid, and ten per cent potash 

 is recommended. It should be applied either in the hills or broadca :t 



