232 PICTURING MIRACLES 



was not lessened at all. The crop was very much in- 

 creased. As potatoes require an alkaline solution, 

 that was obtained by eliminating the sulphuric acid. 



For Tomatoes 



The tomato plants grown in the ordinary flats in 

 soil were transplanted when 6" to 8" high. The ex- 

 celsior layer was only two or three inches thick, and 

 a little opening made with your finger will enable 

 you to work the roots of the small plant down 

 through the excelsior, the wire netting and into the 

 water. Then the excelsior was simply patted up 

 around them to hold them vertically. Planting for a 

 winter market in a greenhouse, they should be 

 placed in the tanks in November or early in Decem- 

 ber. In our California climate, the water was kept 

 at a temperature of about 70 and the greenhouse 

 as cool as possible. All the ventilators were open day 

 and night. The water was maintained at this tem- 

 perature by approximately 60 feet of insulated heat- 

 ing wire with a thermostat control on the tanks. The 

 tomato plants grew very rapidly, and those planted 

 here in Berkeley reached the ceiling of a 12 foot 

 greenhouse by the first of March. By the middle of 

 March most of the crop was ripe. The crops from 

 individual plants averaged from 17 to 25 pounds 



