March, 1913 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



60 



Tomatoei as Grown Under Glass in the Niagara District. 



plants are to the glass, later on the 

 stockier they will be. 



In five or six days the hotbed will be 

 ready for the seed, but it is necessary 

 to wail until the manure has cooled a 

 little and the temperature has fallen to 

 between eighty and ninety degrees Fah- 

 renheit. During this time, when it is 

 hottest, some of the heat may be allowed 

 to escape by raising the sashes a little 

 every day. One should not be in a hurry 

 to sow the seed, as if the temperature is 

 too high the results will not be satis- 

 factory. When the bed has reached the 

 right temperature the soil should be spad- 

 ed over a couple of times and the sur- 

 face levelled and made fine with the 



rake. 



The bed is now ready for sowing. The 

 seed is usually sown in rows about four 

 inches apart and about the same depth 

 as outside. When the young plants 

 come up the frame should be kept suflii- 

 ciently aired by raising the back of the 

 sash to prevent the plants from getting 

 weakly or spindly, when they are apt 

 to damp off. Care should be taken to 

 prevent their being chilled or frozen. The 

 soil must be watered when necessary, 

 care being taken not to overdo this, as 

 the plants would then be likely to damp 

 off. As soon as the plants are large 

 enough they are pricked out into ano- 

 ther sash or frame. 



Grooving Early Tomatoes 



A. H. MacLennan, O.A.C., Guelph, Ont. 



The whole problem of growing early 

 tomatoes is to get fruit before anyone 

 else. There are several factors essential 

 for success : First, a day temperature of 

 eighty to ninety degrees Fahrenheit and 

 not below sixty-five degrees Fahrenheit 

 at night. Good tomatoes have been 

 grown at seventy-five degrees, neverthe- 

 less eighty to ninety degrees is the op- 

 timum temperature. Second, the grower 

 must be near a market or at least have 

 the facilities for easy marketing. Third, 

 the seed should be planted in February 

 in a hotbed or greenhouse. 



The seed should be selected the sea- 

 son before and taken from those plants 

 which show the greatest smoothness 

 and have the earliest maturity. Prolific- 

 ness in early tomato culture is a tertiary 

 consideration. If the seed is to be pur- 

 chased the grower should get the best 



obtainable regardless of its price ; but 

 other things being equal, the home- 

 grown seed is the best. 



The best soil is sandy or a sandy loam 

 with a porous clay subsoil, because this 

 type of soil is earlier than others and 

 becau.sc the plant must have an even 

 and equal supply of moisture, otherwise 

 it will "go down." This is overcome 

 in greenhouses by sub-irrigation and is 

 modified out of doors by drainage. The 

 tomato is a large plant with a small 

 .md short root system, therefore the rea- 

 son for constant and even supply of 

 moisture and plant food. A small quan- 

 tity of nitrate of .soda may be applied 

 to the plant in the early part of its life, 

 but not later or it will produce stem 

 and leaf to the detriment of the fruit. 

 The nitrate of soda should not touch the 

 plant, otherwise it will burn the tissues. 



The soil should be in the finest pos- 

 sible tilth before setting the plants and 

 farmyard manure should be plowed in 

 the fall before. Or another plan is to 

 sow rye in the fall so as to get about 

 six inches growth to plow in in the 

 spring. This will warm the soil by de- 

 composition besides supplying humus 

 and rendering the soil tillable a week 

 earlier than usual. 



GROWING YOUNG PLANTS 



Among the methods of growing young 

 plants are the following : Sow thinly six 

 to eight weeks before field planting in 

 hotbed or greenhouse in rows three to 

 six inches apart, and set in the field 

 without transplanting. This method 

 will produce spindly plants with poor 

 root system. 



."Xnother method is to sow ten to 

 twelve seeds to one inch of furrow, rows 

 two inches apart, seven to eight weeks 

 before planting in field, transplant once 

 one and a half to two inches apart each 

 way . 



.\ third plan is to sow as in previous 

 plan nine weeks before planting, trans- 

 plant two inches by two inches, then 

 four inches by four inches as the plants 

 crowd, into three to five inch pots. 



A fourth is to sow ten to twelve 

 weeks before planting and give three or 

 four shifts ; finally into five inch pots or 

 quart berry boxes. The crown cluster 

 of buds should be removed as soon as it 

 appears. This will cause the axillary 

 buds and branches to develop rapids 

 and each to produce flowers. 



The cost of raising the plants in 

 creases with the number of times they 

 are transplanted, but results show a 

 more hardy, vigorous and healthy plant. 

 When the last method is followed, the 

 crowrt cluster of flowers should be re- 

 moved as soon as they appear. This 

 will cause the plant to branch and throw 

 off its early vigor into the stem and leaf 

 growth and form several flower clusters 

 at the ends of the lateral branches. The 

 plant should be set an inch or two deeper 

 in the field than in the nursery. 



Staking is not advised commercially, 

 but if it is done there will be no culls 

 and dirty tomatoes, and cultivation may 

 be continued later; which may be em- 

 phasized as an important feature in the 

 early part of the season owing to the 

 plant's requiring a constant and even 

 supply of moisture. The plants should 

 be set about three and a half feet by 

 four feet, or four feet by four feet, but 

 if staked and pruned to one stem they 

 may be set two feet by two feet, and 

 ripe fruit may be expected in from six 

 to seven weeks. 



The tools we use in the garden are 

 very few and cheap, but they need to be 

 strong and able to stand the weather 

 and not apt to break. — Dr. H. M. 

 Speechly, Pilot Mound, Man. 



