i895' 



• • • GARDENING. 



123 



have renewed their subscription, and Mr. 

 \V. H. Monroe, one of our brightest and 

 best gardeners, told me he would take it 

 it it eost $5 for it is worth it. 



J. A. Wilson. 

 Stationer, Beverly, Mass. 



The Vegetable Garden. 



OROWING TOMATOES IN WINTER. 



In the production of tomatoes under 

 glass for winter there seems to be a varied 

 opinion as to which means are the best 

 to produce the greatest weight of fruit in 

 the smallest space of house, but unless 

 they are grown to the best advantage in 

 these times of close competition with the 

 southern growers they will not pay, for 

 their market value has decreased within 

 the last few years, and it is only by the 

 production of the finest fruit in midwinter 

 that there is a profitable outlet for them. 

 One may read of big prices being obtained, 

 but to get those prices is not an easy 

 task. 



It is verj- essential to make a proper 

 start. A good time to sow the seed is 

 about the first week in August. As soon 

 as the plants are large enough they should 

 be potted into small pots and later trans- 

 ferred into larger pots to fruit in them, or 

 planted out into a greenhouse where they 

 are to remain. If intended to be grown 

 in pots these should be about twelve 

 inches in diameter and well drained and 

 the plants should be potted verj' firmly 

 to prevent them making a soft growth, 

 which is very detrimental to their fruit- 

 ing. If to be planted out the beds should 

 be about eight inches deep, including two 

 inches of drainage to prevent stagnation. 



There should onlv be sufficient soil put 

 in at first to enable you to cover the roots 

 thoroughly, say about three inches, add- 

 ing soil from time tc time as the roots 

 come near the surface, for if it is all put in 

 together they will make a rampant 

 growth and will be near the top of the 

 house before showing fruit, but by giving 

 them a little soil at first the growth from 

 the commencement is short jointed and 

 firm, and consequently will produce more 

 fruit near the soil. 



A good turfy loam with about one 

 fourth part decayed manure added, and 

 well mixed together, will suit them ad- 

 mirably. While they are growing and 

 when the soil is well filled with roots a 

 little bone dust will do them good. Ni- 

 trate of soda is also a good stimulant 

 when the crop is swelling, or cow manure 

 diluted with water suits them well. They 

 should be planted about two feet apart 

 each way and either be trained to a single 

 stem or two or three shoots can be left 

 to each plant. If the latter plan is de- 

 cided upon of course fewer plants will be 

 required. In eachcase the lateral growths 

 should be removed as soon as they ap- 

 pear. Plenty of air should be given on 

 all favorable occasions, and every induce- 

 mentgiven them to make a sturdygrowth 

 from the first. 



The blooms will need to be fertilized to 

 enable them to set their fruit; this is best 

 done by a small piece of fur or a rabbit's 

 tail tied to the end of a stick, or a sharp 

 tap of the wire they are tied to will also 

 help to distribute the pollen. The best 

 time to do this is near the middle of the 

 day when the sun is shining. 



They can either be trained to wires run- 

 ning perpendictilarlj' through the house, 

 or in any position where they will get 

 the greatest amount of light without the 

 plants shading each other too much. If 



trained on the roof they must be far 

 enough away from the glass to prevent 

 the frost from touching them. 



A temperature of about (iO" at night 

 with 65° by day and a rise to 70^ with 

 sun heat will suit them. Be careful to 

 avoid a stagnant atmosphere, as it is 

 conducive to mildew. On the other hand 

 a hot dry one is to be guarded against for 

 fear of red spider. 



They can also be propagated from cut- 

 tings taken from plants growing in the 

 open ground, and this plan is to be rec- 

 ommended if your stock outside is clean 

 and healthy and the variety is adapted 

 for forcing! The cuttings will root in 

 about two weeks if inserted in sand in a 

 shady part of the greenhouse or in a hot- 

 bed sash. They should be kept close for 

 a few days, and when rooted have plenty 

 of air tokeep them sturdy. These plants 

 will show fruit nearer the ground sooner 

 than seedlings will, and they will continue 

 to bear quite as heavy crops. 



The best variety for winter that I am 

 acquainted with is Lorillard. It is of 

 good color and not too large, and it is a 

 first rate shipper. Dwart Champion being 

 of shorter growth is well adapted for 

 small houses, but while the fruit is very 

 firm it lacks the solidity and color of the 

 former, a very important point in a crit- 

 ical market. Thomas Gkiffin. 



Westbury Station, Long Island. 



fl BOOK ON TOMATOES. 



We notice in issue of G.\rdk.ning Decem- 

 ber 15, page 107, in answer to a question 

 as to where a book on the tomato can be 

 had, you say there is no book on the sub- 

 ject that you have seen. We therefore 

 take the liberty of mailing you a copy of 

 our book, "Livingston and the Tomato," 

 and hope it will reach you safely. 



A. W. Livingston's Sons. 



We have received the book and are glad 

 to get it. It contains over 170 pages 

 and is well illustrated. Most every de- 

 tail of cultivation in the outdoor garden 

 and field, and for profit is gone into in a 

 practical, easily understood manner. We 

 may say to our readers that the author 

 of the book is a tomato specialist, and 

 the originator of many of our very best 

 varieties as Livingston's Perfection, L.'s 

 Beauty, Acme, Pai'agon and others. The 

 book is very instructive and a desirable 

 one to get. 



"Tomato Culture" is another hook, 

 it comes to us from A. I. Root, Medina, 

 Ohio. It contains over 130 pages, and 

 has a good many practical engravings. It 

 is divided into three parts, first, tomato 

 culture in the south, second, tomato 

 culture especially for canning factories; 

 and third, plant growing for market and 

 high pressure gardening in general. The 

 little book is full of suggestive ideas and 

 especially aoout cheap hotbeds and 

 economical work, how to grow tomatoes 

 out of doors and make money out of 

 them. 



Tomato "Vines."— In the reference to 

 the Gardeners' Chronicle quotation from 

 my Annals of Horticulture, page '.)0, I am 

 made to appear as sayingthat thctomato 

 is the "fruit of the vine, just as are cucum- 

 bers, squashes, beans," etc. The quota- 

 tion referred to is taken from page 4-0 of 

 Annals for 1893, where it is (luotcd as 

 the incidental language and decision of 

 Justice Gray when concluding that toma- 

 toes, in the'eye of the law, are vegetables. 

 The words are included in quotation 

 marks and the tvpe is smaller to show 

 that I borrowed them. L. H. Bailey. 



flSPflRflGUS. 



The Oyster Bay asparagus is considered 

 the best brand in the New York market, 

 and as the soil in this town is so well 

 adapted to the cidtivation of this vegeta- 

 ble, it is the principal crop grown by the 

 farmers. The main shipping point is 

 Locust Valley station. Glen Cove is also 

 in the town of Oyster Bay. so we are 

 right in the asparagus country. 



But growing for market and for honie 

 use are quite different, and wc should dis- 

 advise amateurs growing their asparagus 

 as the market growers do. 



The land in this section varies from a 

 light sandy loam to a substantial brovyn 

 loam. Asparagus is grown in all of it, 

 and does well in either case. The sandy 

 soil has a sandy bottom and needs more 

 manure than the hazel loam, which often 

 has a hard pan. In the sandy soil the 

 "grass" comes up perfectly straight and 

 is easv to cut; in the other it is often bent 

 or twisted by a clod, and it is harder to 

 cut. The "grass" is cut white. The mar- 

 ket growers know just as well as you or 

 we or anyone that the green grass is the 

 best to eat, but as the market won't take 

 it, what's the use of growing it? 



The farmers prefer the biggest stemmed 

 "grass". Those who buy their seed ask 

 for Colossal, but most of them save their 

 own from a few marked plants in their 

 fields. The seed is sown eariy in spring in 

 rows 15 inches apart, in good, mellow, 

 rich ground. The following spring the 

 seedlings are planted out. 



The field is marked out in single rows 

 4' b leet apart, and each row is furrowed 

 out 16 to 18 inches deep below the level 

 of the ground. Into this pit two to three 

 inches deep of manure is spread, then 

 about two inches of dirt over the manure 

 and on this the plants are set 16 to 18 

 inches apart. About two inches of earth 

 are placed over the plants. The point 

 they observe is to have the crown of the 

 asparagus about 14 inches under the sur- 

 face of the ground. When the plants be- 

 gin to grow and the land needs cleaning 

 or cultivating, at every cleaning consider- 

 able earth falls into the pit, and in this 

 way the ditches are filled up gradually, 

 and the plants are not smothered. Byfall^ 

 the first year, the ditches are pretty well 

 filled up. 



Cutting begins about the 25th of April 

 and lasts till the end of June. If the one 

 vear old plantations are vigorous, they 

 are cut clean fora week, and then allowed 

 to run to growth. 



The two-year old plantations are cut 

 clean for a few weeks, say till the end of 

 Mav, and then allowed to run. A three- 

 vear old plantation is considered in pretty 

 good bearing, but so as not to weaken it 

 too much cutting it stops about the mid- 

 dle of June. A four year old field is 

 regarded as prime, and it lasts in fine 

 bearing for five or siic years, after that it 

 weakens gradually. In and after the 

 fourth year cutting lasts till the end of 

 June, and during the season of cutting 

 not a vestige of "grass" big or little is 

 allowed to grow above ground; what 

 isn't big enough to use is cut and dis- 

 carded. This ^lean cutting eliminates the 

 breeding ground and food supply of the 

 asparagus beetle, hence helps to greatly 

 lessen its numbers and ravages. Besides, 

 were the big grass cut and the small 

 grass left "to strengthen the crowns" as 

 one might think, they would incline the 

 food furnished by the roots aw^ay from 

 the still pushing shoots, and lessen the 

 tendency of more shoots coming, and 

 they would also set eyes for next vear's 

 crop, and these e.veg would be of a 

 inferior grade. By cutting cverythin 



