TOMATO 273 



Growing the Plants. It is especially important to 

 sow the seed before the first of April, and the middle of 

 March is thought about the right time by most growers. 

 The seed grows easily but needs considerable heat and 

 rich soil to do its best. The plants should be transplanted 

 after they have their second leaves and again when they 

 get crowded, so that they may become stocky and strong. 

 The seed may be started in greenhouses or hotbeds; it is 

 also easily grown in window boxes. If too close together, 

 they grow weak and poor. It is very important that the 

 plants should be well hardened off before they are set in 

 the open ground. 



The land preferred for tomatoes is a rich, retentive 

 sandy loam, but they will do fairly well on almost any 

 well-drained soil, and even if on rather poor soil will do 

 better than most crops. A southern slope is preferable, 

 but they will ripen almost anywhere if properly managed. 

 The tomato pre-eminently needs a warm place, and if 

 rich manure is plowed into the soil it is beneficial, since 

 by its fermentation it raises the temperature of the land. 



Transplanting and After-cultivation. The plants should 

 be moved to the open ground as soon as all danger of 

 severe frost is past, which will generally be about the 20th 

 of May in southern Minnesota, and not until the 1st of 

 June in more northern sections. They should be set 

 about five feet apart each way and about six inches deep. 

 If the stems of the plants when planted out are very long, 

 they should be partly buried under ground. They need 

 thorough cultivation, which can best be given by a horse 

 cultivator on a large scale. 



Pruning and Training. Tomato plants under field 

 cultivation are generally allowed to run over the ground 

 in any direction and are not trained; but even under this 



