262 TOMATO. 



oide, and the wind would blow tiie warm smoke over the plot of 

 ground and thus save the plants from the frost. In his locality 

 there was no danger of frost when the wind was in the south, 

 hence he placed no heaps of combustibles on that side. In this 

 manner he has saved his crop of Tomatoes not once, nor twice, 

 but several times, and as he usually plants an acre or more, and 

 markets the crop, it is quite a material item with him. 



For early Tomatoes, it is desirable to select a light, dry and 

 warm soil ; if not rich enough to give the vines a good start, a 

 little well-rotted manure should be worked into the soil where 

 each plant is set, and in such soil three feet apart is a good dis- 

 tance to plant them. For the main crop, they may be set in 

 heavier soil, that is well drained and rich, at four feet apart each, 

 way. When those plants which are intended for the early crop 

 bave set their first clusters of fruit, it will hasten the swelling 

 and ripening of the fruit to cut off the vine a little beyond the 

 clusters, and as often as it starts again into growth to pinch out 

 all the young shoots, not allowing the plant to make any more 

 growth or set any more fruit. In hoeing, the earth should not 

 be drawn up to the plants but from them, and the roots made 

 to feel as much of the sun's heat as possible. 



There is no doubt that something can be gained in the way 

 of early maturity, by annually selecting for seed, the first well 

 formed Tomatoes that ripen and sowing only such seed. Every 

 year, some new sort is advertized which is to be from ten to thirty 

 days earlier than any other, but it never turns out to be any 

 earlier than those that have been in cultivation for years. We 

 advise every Tomato grower to save his own seed from his earliest 

 good specimens, and let the " greenhorns " buy the wonderful 

 novelties. 



When there is no lack of space, the simplest mode of cultiva- 

 tion is to keep the ground free from weeds, and allow the Tomato 

 vines to spread over the ground. In small gardens they may be 

 tied to stakes or a trellis, or kept up by a hoop placed around 

 the plant and supported by stakes at any desired height from th© 



