34 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



thinning process and will prove profitable when earliness of maturity 

 is important. 



INSECTS AND DISEASES. 



The most troublesome insects are the Colorado i»otato-l)eetle, the 

 flee-beetle and <he tomato worm. On small i)atches. the two larger 

 insects can be kept under control by hand picking. On larger areas, 

 a few applications of Bordeaux 4-4-50 and arsenate of lead three pounds 

 to 50 gallons, will keep all three insects under control. For the flea- 

 beetle, an application will often need to be made soon after the plants 

 have been set in the field. 



The use of Bordeaux to prevent certain leaf troubles, while not 

 commonly practiced, will often give very good results. In one test 

 made in this state last season, five ai)i)lications of Bordeaux made to 

 the tomato plants increased the yield 100 per cent over the yield of 

 those in the same patch which were not sprayed. The dry or point 

 rot will do little or no damage in a soil which is sufficiently supplied 

 with water. 



PICKING, GRADING AND PACKING. 



The fruit should be allowed to become fully matured on the vine if high 

 (luality is to be secured. The southern tomatoes sold on northern 

 markets must of necessity be picked partly or entirely green. This 

 is the chief reason for the very poor quality which nearly all of this 

 fruit is known to possess. Well-matured home-grown tomatoes will 

 often sell at double the price at which the southern grown tomatoes 

 are sold on the same market. 



Frequent and regular pickings are necessary to avoid over-ripe fruits 

 which are even less to be desired than slightly under-ripe tomatoes. One 

 of the very important things to practice in connection with growing 

 tomatoes for market is that nothing but first-quality fruits be put 

 up for selling. It will pay much better in the long run to discard all 

 irregular, damaged or unevenly ripened fruits than to try to work 

 them off by placing them underneath the better specimens. For fancy 

 stock, it is a good plan to remove the stems in order that they will 

 not break the skin on other fruits. The fruit should also be wi])ed 

 when at all dirty. If the stem end of the fruit is placed down on the 

 top part of the package, it will add greatly to the appearance of the 

 fruit and if the tomatoes are the same size as those lower down in 

 the package, no deception will be practiced. A neat, attractive package 

 will greatly help in the selling of the fruit. 



For the handling of late tomatoes, the bushel basket, box or crate 

 is most commonly used. For fancy early tomatoes, a smaller package, 

 one holding 20 pounds, or even less in some cases, is preferable. If 

 the fruit is to be shipped, some form of covering is essential. 



If a fancy tomato is grown, it should be possible for the purchasing 

 public to know that particular ''brand" of tonmtoes at sight. If the 

 package is not distinct and different from any other found on the 

 same market, some form of label should be attached to each package 

 so that identification will be easy. This is the plan followed by all 

 parties who put up fancy cautied goods or other food stuff's in pack- 



