(;16 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE Off. Doc. 



GREENHOUSE TOMATOES 



Tomatoes may be grown in the greenhouse the year round if de- 

 sired. A few of the Ohio vegetable growers devote a part of their 

 houses to tomatoes each fall. They aim to have them ripening at 

 least by Thanksgiving time and in some cases considerable earlier. 

 It is important to have the plants and fruit as well quite fully de- 

 veloped before the usual dark, cloudy weather of winter sets in. 

 Tomatoes require sunshine for their best development but when the 

 fruits have attained their normal size they will ripen even in 

 cloudy weather. The plants of the fall and early winter crops are 

 allowed to produce fruit as long as they give profitable returns. 

 Such seasons as the present when we have so few clear days the 

 fruits ripen very slowly but on the other hand prices have been 

 good, partly as a result of the slow ripening. 



A much larger area is devoted to tomatoes in the spring and 

 early summer than in the fall. We do not grow any in the fall but 

 make a specialty of spring tomatoes. Tomatoes are a very satis- 

 factory crop to grow under glass when weather conditions are 

 favorable as is usually the case in the spring. There is a beauty 

 and quality about greenhouse grown tomatoes which makes them 

 superior to those grown in the field even when the field grown 

 fruits are allowed to mature before being picked and there is a very 

 wide range of quality between the greenhouse tomatoes and those 

 which are picked green as is usually the case, of necessity, with 

 southern grown tomatoes. Those whq know the difference in the 

 quality of greenhouse grown and southern grown tomatoes are 

 always willing to pay much more for the former. We have been 

 able to get .f2.00 per bushel for greenhouse grown tomatoes when 

 early homegrown field tomatoes wonld not bring over fl.SO. 



VARIETIES 

 There is quite a difference of opinion among growers as to which 

 varieties are best adapted to forcing. Tt should be understood 

 whenever this subject is under discussion that the varieties which 

 are suitable for spring and early summer forcing may not be satis- 

 factory in the fall and vice versa. The small fruiting varieties are 

 the best for fall forcing as the markets at that season demand 

 small fruits. In the spring larger fruiting varieties can be grown 

 as the prices are not as a rule as high as in winter and thus the 

 trade is not as particular as to size. The small fruiting sorts pro- 

 duce such very small fruits toward the close of the season that they 

 do not sell well when they are forced to compete with the larger 

 fruits from the south and the local field-grown crops. The fruit- 

 ing season in the greenhouse with us extends from June first to 

 August fifteenth, thus we must sell in competition with southern- 

 grown tomatoes from the start and with local field-grown tomatoes 

 toward the close of the season. Our list of varieties this year con- 

 sists of Magnus, Beauty, Globe, Stone and Grand Rapids Forcing. 



STARTING THE PLANTS 

 We have found it necessary, owing to the very dull winter weather 

 which we have experienced the last two or three years to sow the 

 seeds soon after the first of November. If half or more of the 



