Vegetables with Edible Fruits 191 



tomatoes are then wrapped in different kinds of paper to 

 suit the grower, and packed in carriers. By sorting the 

 fruit into various sizes or grades, one will be able better 

 to meet the desires of different markets and the different 

 desires of the same market. 



Few tomato-growers pay sufficient attention to local or 

 near-by markets, so it may happen that tomatoes are 

 being shipped to New York at a loss, when near-by towns 

 and cities have to depend on northern canned goods. 



The usual tomato crate holds about twenty-four quarts, 

 and should be made of first-grade material; no pains 

 should be spared to make the crate and the material in 

 the crate look as attractive as possible. The better 

 shippers are using colored designs and other tasty means of 

 distinguishing their products. 



Summer and fall crop. 



In preparing for the fall tomato crop, a frame should be 

 prepared, as for the spring crop. The protecting cloth in 

 this case is used for an entirely different purpose, however. 

 At this time of the year it is wanted to keep off the sun and 

 to keep the rain out, also to ward off such insect pests as 

 grasshoppers. 



All the watering had better be done by hand. In setting 

 the tomatoes out, care should be taken to provide for them 

 a shelter by using slats, or leaves of palms. The construc- 

 tion of a slat shade for a field is discussed on page 57. 



Saving tomato seed. 



The seed that is offered on the general market is so ex- 

 cellent and so cheap that it scarcely seems worth while to 



