84 VEGETABLE GROWING IN NEW SOUTH WALES. 



which sauce and preserves are made. The method usually adopted is fur 

 growers to contract with the manufacturer for the quantity of tomatoes 

 they require. 



The best land for tomatoes is a rich mellow loam, with a little sand in the 

 upper layer, and a good clay subsoil. For early crops a northern aspect is 

 desirable. Poor and medium quality lands will frequently give early crops, 

 but not heavy ones. Where this plant is to be grown in quantity for manu-" 

 facture or the open market, when quantity is of more consequence than 

 earliness, the soil must be either naturally rich or artificially made so. 



Having selected the land for this crop it must be prepared during the 

 autumn previous to planting in the sprang. If new land be taken it must be 

 broken up and thoroughly prepared. Planting in the open cannot take 

 place until the district is clear of frosts unless means be taken to shelter the 

 young plants every evening. For early crops the young plants must be* got 

 ready in a cold frame, in order that they may be planted out as soon as the 

 weather has become favourable. 



The Seed Bed. 



The seed or plant bed may be made of any desired size, according to the 

 extent of cropping. A frame of the required size may be built on this plot, 

 and covered with calico or new hessian ; the latter should be made to shift 

 or roll up, as will be frequently needed The seed may be sown in shallow 

 boxes under cover, or in the frame, and covered with a sprinkling of fine 

 'loamy soil. One to two ounces of seed will produce more than sufficient 

 plants for one acre. As soon as the plants are large enough to handle ('2 or 

 3 inches high) they should be transplanted into the frame, which by this 

 time should have been worked up to the finest condition and tilth. 



The plants may be set out in rows 5 or 6 inches apart, with the same 

 distance between plants, setting each plant opposite the space in the previous 

 row. Here they remain and grow until time for transplanting into the field, 

 and by removing the calico, giving them air, light, and sunshine on fine days, 

 and covering up in the evenings or during cold spells of frost, they should 

 presently become stout and stocky plants After they are once set out, do 

 not give them much watering, or they may be inclined to dra\v up and 

 become lanky and tender. 



The main point in a frame or bed of this character is to keep it dry and 

 warm, and in transplanting into it, care must be taken that the plants are 

 not much lower than in the seed-bed, as the deeper they are set the more 

 liable they are to damp off. If any plants have got rather down in the seed- 

 bed, and become long-shanked, they should be laid slanting, just below the 

 surface, and they will take root along the stem, and become stout and stocky 

 plants. The drier the bed is kept (with discretion) the better, as perusal of 



