TOMATO 287 



mulching, but fresh horse manure is generally employed. 

 Care should be exercised in order to avoid burning the 

 leaves with ammonia that may escape from hot manure. 

 Such injury may be prevented by spreading the manure 

 in thin layers until it is cool, or it may be soaked with 

 water immediately after it is applied to the beds. A 

 depth of 3 or 4 inches is necessary for the best results. 

 Mulching is most commonly employed with the spring 

 crop. If surface watering is practiced, most of the ma- 

 nure will be sufficiently decayed by midsummer to spade 

 or plow into the soil preparatory to the fall crop of 

 lettuce or cauliflower. 



An experiment made at the Ohio station demonstrated 

 the superiority of a strawy manure mulch over straw 

 alone. There were two plots, each 120 square feet in 

 area, and 28 plants were set in each plot. The results 

 were as follows : 



PLOT 1 MANURE MULCH 



Variety Number of Weight 



fruits Ibs. 



Magnus 326 102 



Stone 299 104 



Beauty 256 72 



881 278 

 PLOT 2 STRAW MULCH 



Magnus 234 63 



Stone 234 75 



Beauty 234 76 



702 214 



The plants in the manure-mulched beds averaged 

 about 9*4 pounds each, while those in the straw-mulched 

 beds averaged about 7^4 pounds to the plant. 



There is considerable difference of opinion among 

 growers concerning the proper time to apply a mulch. 

 If straw is used, there can be no objection to putting it 

 on immediately after the plants are set, and some grow- 

 ers who use manure, mulch at this time. It is claimed by 



