The Canadian Horticulturist. 371 



FORCING TOMATOES. 



Now is a good time to sow seed for a succession crop of tomatoes, so that 

 the plants may be well under way before the days become too dull and dark. 

 Some growers still adhere to the practice of striking cuttings in place of growing 

 plants from seed, but the seedlings are no more trouble and are in many ways 

 preferable. The plants when large enough should be pricked singly into three- 

 inch pots, and again into five inch pots as they require it, using a compost of 

 three-fourths fibrous loam and one part leaf mold and pulverized sheep manure in 

 equal portions. They should have a light, airy position, and be placed well up 

 to the glass to prevent them becoming drawn. They may be fruited in pots or 

 boxes or in a bed, but boxes are preferable, and will in most cases be found the 

 most convenient. A very suitable and easily handled size is eighteen inches 

 long by twelve inches wide and nine inches deep, which gives ample room for 

 two plants. The boxes should be filled only two-thirds of their depth at first, 

 the other space being left for a top-dressing as the plants require it. They must 

 be carefully and regularly watered, and there will be no necessity for giving 

 liquid manure until after the fruit is set, when they may have a weak solution 

 applied about twice a week. 



The plants should be trained to a single stem, all side shoots being pinched 

 off as they appear. Half the leaf is sometimes cut off, but this is not advan- 

 tageous unless the plants are overcrowded. The height of the plants must be 

 regulated by the convenience of the house, but after four or five clusters of fruit 

 have set they will in most cases be high enough, and the points should then be 

 pinched out, and all lateral growths carefully removed, to concentrate the vitality 

 of the plant upon the work of maturing the fruit. Sometimes the fruit will set 

 naturally, but it is always safest to resort to artificial pollination. 



A light, well-ventilated house, with a medium supply of bottom heat, where 

 a temperature of sixty degrees can be maintained at night, is most suitable. On 

 bright days the thermometer may run up to eighty degrees, but ever}' advantage 

 should be taken to admit fresh air. As to varieties, there are several adapted 

 for forcing, but for a good reliable variety the Lorillard is still the best all-round 

 forcing tomato at command. — Garden and Forest. 



The Elberta Peach. — So many varieties of fruits are introduced with a 

 great flourish, only to be discarded in the course of a few years. Some kinds, 

 however, seem to insure permanent popularity, which is a sign of their value. 

 The Elberta Peach is one of these. It seems rather to grow in popularity as the 

 years roll by. It is considered the most desirable of all the yellow flesh peaches, 

 Crawford's Yellow excepted. Possibly some of its popularity comes from its 

 high coloring It is one of the darkest of all, in this respect approaching a nec- 

 tarine. — Meehans' Monthly for October. 



