464 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



regarding their experience, that a tomato should never be pulled from the vine, 

 until it shows unmistakable evidence of ripening on the blossom end; neither 

 should it be allowed to become fully ripe on the vine. I send about two-thirds 

 of my crop to market, and feed the balance to my stock, which they eat with 

 evident relish. 



The most successful growers commence warming their hot-beds about the 

 1st of February, and sow the seed from the 6th to the 10th of the month, 

 transplanting them three times in the beds: first, 3x3 inches; second, 4x4 

 inches, and last putting them into the cold frames, from eight to ten inches 

 each way. Ten inches makes by far the best plant, and when ready to set 

 in the field, if properly grown, will have laterals from two to three inches 

 long, the plants about ten inches tall and stalky. 



The Philadelphia Press, in speaking of the popularity of the Acme tomato, 

 says : Some years ago, when the Acme tomato was first introduced, we prophe- 

 sied that it would soon furnish the bulk of all the tomatoes sold in the mar- 

 ket. Most writers on horticultural topics approved the Acme, "but," said 

 every one, "its color will prevent its ever becoming a popular market sort." 

 But the result has been that this spring, from the time that the first Florida 

 tomatoes arrived up to the present, the Acme color has been about the only 

 color of tomatoes in our markets. The old time bright scarlet tomato is 

 hardly ever seen. The smooth skin and solid flesh of the Acme, combined 

 with its earliness and good shipping qualities, have won the day in spite of 

 the color. True, it rots badly in dry seasons, but so do most of the others, 

 and it will be a long time before another sort will win its way to so general a 

 popularity. 



Southern Competition. — W. F. Massey tells a good deal of truth in the 

 following lines : What a depressing effect a little active competition has on 

 the majority of cultivators. Years ago, before the advent of early tomatoes 

 from the far south, the market gardeners around Baltimore took a pride in 

 having tomatoes at least as early as July 4; but now very little effort is made 

 in getting them early. "What is the use ? " say the growers. " The market 

 is full of southern tomatoes." And yet to-day, July 13, a moderate quantity 

 of near-by tomatoes are in the market and are bringing as much per bushel 

 as the first tomatoes brought any season when there were no southern ones 

 in market. People are always ready to give up the stale southern fruit as 

 soon as the home product is ready, and as our growers here can by extra ex- 

 ertions put their tomatoes into market by June 20, it is easy to be seen what 

 a reward can still be reaped by those who get in ahead of their neighbors a 

 week or so. Near-by tomatoes now, near the middle of July, are retailing at 

 $1.60 per peck, and there are so few of them that southern tomatoes are yet 

 worth $1.20 per peck, retail. Yet there is not one of our growers who could 

 not, by a more intelligent management, have had one-third of his crop of 

 early tomatoes in market before this. Hot-house tomatoes from Boston were 

 retailing for $1 per dozen when our market gardeners were making their 

 late hot-beds and growling about southern competition. Our farmers are 

 finding out that on our good wheat lands they can compete in growing wheat 

 with the west by better farming and getting forty to fifty bushels per acre, 

 and our market gardeners around all our large cities will ere long discover 

 that, by the use of brains and glass, there is just as much chance for them to 

 make money as before the days of southern truck. 



