32 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



they should be pricked off into flats or beds, spacing them about two 

 inches each way. A second trans])lanting should be made before the 

 plants begin to crowd. This time they may be set in two-inch pots. 

 A third transplanting sliould be made in from two to three weeks and 

 a four or five inch pot is desirable at this transplanting. Paper pots, 

 dirt bands and berry boxes are also used. For the late crop, the green- 

 house is a very satisfactory place in which to start them but some grow- 

 ers are very successful in growing plants in hot beds. For. best results 

 the seedlings for the late crop should be transplanted once or twice 

 whether grown in tlie greenhouse or liotbed. Much fruit goes to waste 

 annually because it does not ripen before a heavy freeze comes. If the 

 growers would secure larger and better plants for setting, some of this 

 loss could be prevented. 



Success with early tomatoes depends to a great extent on the kind of 

 plants used. They should be large, nearly ready to bloom, stocky and 

 well hardened off before they are put in the field. Some growers prefer 

 plants in bloom or with small tomatoes on them. Such plants must be 

 transplanted with great care. The roots should be disturbed as little 

 as possible. To harden off plants which have been grown in the green- 

 house, place them in a cold frame which can be covered if necessary 

 but which should be left uncovered except when frost threatens. It 

 only takes a few days of such treatment to get the plants ready for the 

 field. They should be watered sparingly when hardening them off. Just 

 before taking them to the field, they should be watered freely. 



PREPARATION OF THE SOIL. 



A clover sod which is in a good state of fertility and which has much 

 humus in it will be a very satisfactory soil for the tomato crop. If a 

 clover soil is not available, a field which has been well manured or fer- 

 tilized for a previous crop, would be a second choice. Well rotted stable 

 manure may be applied before plowing but care should be taken not to 

 plow under too much litter or to incorporate too much nitrogenous mat- 

 ter in fertile soils. The layer of litter under the furrow is liable to in- 

 terfere with capillary action of the soil moisture and too much nitrogen 

 will grow more vine than fruit. If manure or other litter is to be plowed 

 under, it is a good plan to disc it into the surface of the soil before 

 plowing. 



Whether the crop be early or late the soil should be plowed as soon as 

 it is in suitable condition for plowing in the spring. After plowing it 

 should be harrowed frequently until planted. 



COMMERCIAL FERTILIZER. 



The use of commercial fertilizer in connection with the tomato crop is 

 a big problem in itself. The kind and amount which can be profitably used 

 will vary greatly according to the nature and condition of the soil. Most 

 growers of early tomatoes use commercial fertilizer in liberal amounts. 

 Applications of from 500 to 1,000 pounds per acre are often made. An 

 acre of tomatoes which yields ten tons and the vine growth of which is 

 estimated at four tons will, according to Voorhees, remove from the soil 

 57 pounds of nitrogen, 16 pounds of phosphoric acid and 94 pounds of 

 potash. When clover or any other leguminous crop has been grown on 



