14 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE OF AMERICA. 



implement, but by one whose couleur rose is that of the 

 blossom. Leaning on the dark blue handle of one of 

 these, you may gaze at the cluster of dark blue larkspur at 

 your feet wliile you listen to the song of the lark in the 

 dark blue heavens. 



And speaking of larks — leaving for tlie moment the 

 subject of spades — birds are to be very popular in the 

 gardens this season. One gleans this information from a 

 garden e.xhibit. They are not real birds, of course : the 

 real bird is too obvious a visitor and too closely associated 

 with utilitarian needs, such as picking off bugs from the 

 rose bushes. The birds selected for the garden will be 

 as artificial as the other innovations. The shops are now 

 displaying foreign looking bird cages made of wicker, 

 such as one sees on the little trees that intensive farming- 

 makes possible in some tiny l-'rench garden. These are 

 painted in some vivid hue, or gilded gayly, are bell-shaped 

 aild hold a parti-colored paroquet whose magnificent 

 plumage makes just the right bit of color in a dreary spot 

 of the garden or an orange and black creature with a tail 

 that resembles one of the fashionable aigrettes and seems 

 to gaze longingly through the wicker bars of its swaying 

 cage, with a pathetic expression to its glass eye and a 

 soulful droop to its taxidermatized wing. 



The brilliant little humming bird that you see evidently 

 alighting for the moment on the stalk of some old- 

 fashioned stock is in realitv a garden stick, its end stuck 

 in the earth, its head representing some feathered song- 

 ster ; a seeming dragon fly never flies away, and a yellow 

 oriole, the shyest of all migratory birds, remains all day 

 firmly planted to a selected spot, and if you put out a hand 

 to stroke its plumage he will not even chirp. 



Little footstools are provided for you to sit at your task 

 of weeding wild carrots or other pests of the farmer 

 which sometimes stray from the kitchen garden among 

 the flower beds. The legs are painted to match the flow- 

 ers, as are the spade handles, and one can have pink, blue, 

 heliotrope, emerald or scarlet. A ribbon handle with bow 

 adds to the general eiifect immensely, and swinging from 

 the sleeve of the flowered chintz who could cavil at the 

 picture afforded. — Sitn. 



CULTURAL NOTES ON THE TOMATO. 



By J.AMES S. B.JiCHE. 



Tomatoes are one of our most important crops, not 

 only with the truck farmer but with every one who main- 

 tains a garden from the cottager to the large private 

 establishment which grow for their own use. It is 

 tomatoes everywhere. What we all want to know is. 

 which are the best varieties to grow and how to grow 

 them. Some 20 years ago the tomato was not much 

 heard of. Those who talked of them mostly were of the 

 opinion that they were a breeder of cancers and unfit 

 even for hogs. But today all this is changed ; the best 

 physicians will tell you to eat tomatoes and when you 

 think of the many ways the tomato is used, baked, 

 boiled, fried, stewed, canned, preserved, in so many ways 

 it is no use trying to tell of their usages. I will leave 

 all that to the cook and proceed to explain how to grow 

 the tomato. 



The culture of the tomato is so easy that it is often 

 neglected. It is often the case that they are planted and 

 left to take care of themselves, which is a great mistake. 

 We can never get something for nothing : to grow good 

 tomatoes the grower must give them some attention. 

 Here is how I grow tomatoes. I sow the seed at the end 

 of March or the second week in April in a box or pan 

 and as soon as they show the rough leaf I pick them oft' 

 in as small a pot as I can get, for this reason, to keep 

 them stocky and short jointed, for if you give them lots 



of root room and loose soil you will get rank growth 

 which means no fruit. When six inches high they should 

 be fit to plant out in the garden or field where the ground 

 has been prepared for them. I find the best and quickest 

 way to prepare the groimd is to dig pits 15 inches deep 

 at the distance of three feet apart in the rows and si.x feet 

 from row to row. In these pits I put a fork of good rotten 

 manure and a 2-inch put of fine bone meal well worked 

 up to the depth of 18 inches. Fill in some soil to leave 

 the ground in a hollow to take water if required. To 

 each plant I put a strong stake 6 feet high to which I 

 lie my plant after I have given it the first pinch to make 

 it give me two shoots. After it begins to grow I keep 

 all side shoots rubbed ofl', not cut. Don"t leave it as long 

 as to require the knife. As you see the shoots breaking 

 rub them out ; this will save the plant from spending its 

 strength on useless growth. When you have two or three 

 good clusters of fruit formed it is time to feed them with 

 some stimulant of some sort which should consist of 

 liquid manure in the way of cow or sheep dropping well 

 soaked in water. One pail of manure to 50 gallons of 

 water make a good stimulant. When watering give a 

 good drenching and at all times keep the soil well hoed 

 about the plants to keep the weeds down and surface 

 loose to let warmth down to the roots. Remember they 

 are a plant that like a light, dry atmosphere to set their 



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B.xciiE's .\nuxn.\x"CE. 



blossoms and if they get crowded and shaded you will 

 not get good results. The varieties to grow I would 

 prefer to leave to the grower as every one has not the 

 same taste as to flavor, color or shape, in which there is 

 a great difference in the different varieties grown. I 

 may say I have grown most of the best varieties in 

 America as well as those from the other side, and by 

 crossing I have succeeded in getting a tomato which is 

 worthy of a trial. . It has been awarded a first-class 

 certificate of merit at Boston and it has been honored 

 with specials and commended wherever it has been 

 shown. It is named Bache's .-Kbimdance. You will notice 

 in the accompanying ]5hoto that the fruit is without de- 

 pression at the stem end. .\ fruit that is round and with- 

 out ridges : a fruit that is well formed and compact : a 

 fruit of medium size growing in large clusters. When 

 the fruit is matured its bunches touch the soil. This 

 I consider a good tomato. .Some future time I will 

 endeavor to give some notes on the culture of the tomato 

 under glass, and on its diseases and insect enemies, and 

 what are the best remedies to use to keep diseases and 

 insects in check. 



