77 



those of many others made elsewhere. There is another important 

 matter in this connection which is generally overlooked. In_making 

 pork, dairy farmers have the great advantage that skim-milk is a largely 

 nitrogenous food. A large part of the i^ork produced in the United 

 States is grown on corn, and in consequence is excessively fat. With 

 nitrogenous food swine have better developed organs and their flesh is 

 leaner. Lean pork is more valuable for nourishment and commands 

 better prices. For further suggestions in this line, see Report of the 

 Office of Experiment Stations in the First Report of the Secretary of 

 Agriculture, 1889, pp. 515-519.] 



Virginia Station, Bulletin No. 4, January, 1890 (pp. 18). 



A STUDY OF TOMATOES, W. B. AlWOOD AND W, BoWMAN, PH. D. — 



It is estimated that the value of the tomato crop grown for the can- 

 neries and the general market of Virginia is not less than $1,000,000 

 annually. In view of its high rank, therefore, among the special croi)s 

 of the State, the station in 1889 began investigations with reference to 

 the plant and fruit, the points for study being as follows : 



1. Cultural and botanical — (1) Best methods of culture, (2) productive- 

 ness of varieties, (3) quality of fruit for canning and for market, (4) 

 earliness, (5) teudency to variation, (G) value of selection, (7) j^redispo- 

 sition to become diseased and remedies therefor, (8) selection and im- 

 provement of varieties and strains. 



2. Chemical — (1) Chemical composition of the fruit, (2) chemical com- 

 position of the eirtire plant, (3) effect of different fertilizers. 



The investigation was undertaken by the departments of botany and 

 chemistry conjointly. Only a small portion of this work could be car- 

 ried out during the past season, but it was hoped that by interest- 

 ing the growers and canners and securing their co-operation, further 

 investigation would be suggested and accomplished. 



Field tests icitli tomatoes. — The report upon this division of the work 

 is stated to be preliminary. The soil of the experimental field, which 

 had been used as a pasture aud was much impoverished, is a stiff, 

 upland clay. The plants were set at distances of 4 feet, in rows 6 feet 

 apart, each hill receiving about 1.8 bunces (200 pounds per acre) of a 

 special fertilizer prepared at the station aud containing 3.3 per cent of 

 nitrogen, 8 per cent of potash, and 3 per cent of soluble phosphoric 

 acid. While no test of fertilizers was intended, the results seem to 

 indicate that " abundant crops can be grown on poor soil by the direct 

 application of a small quantity of fertilizer in the hill." Leaving out of 

 account the small-fruited varieties, the average yield obtained was nearly 

 400 bushels per acre. It is advised that to insure vigor and product- 

 iveness of plants they should be transplanted once at least before their 

 final transplanting to the" field. 



The varieties used were thirty-nine, and included those considered 



