No. 6. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 283 



Swells guaranteed to Juy 1st, fol- 

 lowing date of shipment. 



Signed, 



vp:getables commonly canned. 



The vegetables which take the lead in canned goods are corn, peas 

 and tomatoes, the last named being the simplest to put up success- 

 fully. It will therefore be considered here first. 



TOMATOES. 



It is estimated that an area of nearly 400,000 acres of good land is 

 devoted to the growing of tomatoes for the canning factory in this 

 country. The large pack of 1899 reported to have exceeded 7,000,000 

 cases of two dozen cans, indicates the importance of the tomato in 

 the canning industry. The bulk of the crop is grown in a few States 

 of which Maryland is in the lead. The tomato is adapted to a great 

 extent of territory and new regions are rapidly being devoted to the 

 tomato and its canning. 



The varieties best suited to the canner's purposes are sucli as pro- 

 duce large, smooth, solid fruits. They should be such as ripen to 

 the stem. The "Jersey Red,'' so commonly seen upon labels of 

 canned goods, is not a variety of the seedmeu's catalogue, but a local 

 name in New Jersey, for a tomato that has been grown for the 

 cannery so long that its true name has been lost. Paragon, Cham- 

 pion, The Stone and Perfection are all very good varieties. 



The plants are easily grown from the seed by remembering that 

 they are very tender and should have a seed bed sheltered from cold 

 winds and much well decayed manure w'orked ioto the soil to make 

 it loose and warm. The plants should be ready for the field not 

 later than the middle of Jvme, therefore, whenever late frosts would 

 prohibit the development of a strong plant by that time in the open 

 ground, it is necessary to start the seedlings in a hot bed. No effort 

 is made to have the fruit for the cannery at an early date. In this 

 latitude the fields planted for this purpose begin to ripen in August 

 and yield heavily until frost overtakes them. The tomato varies 

 greatly in its yield according to the variety, the treatment, and the 

 character of the soil. Twenty tons per acre are frequently obtained, 

 but the average yield for a term of years on fairly good soil is eight 

 tons, for which the farmer may expect a contract price of $5 to |7 per 

 ton. The form of contract is very brief, simply setting forth that the 



