L 66 Commercial Gardening 



Tomatoes in the Channel Islands. In the Channel Islands (Guernsey 

 and Jersey) Tomato growing for market is practised extensively. In 

 Guernsey the plants are grown chiefly under glass, but in Jersey they 

 are mostly grown in the open air. The climate is milder than in most 

 parts of England or Scotland, but is no more favourable for Tomato grow- 

 ing in the open air than parts of Devonshire and Cornwall and the south 

 and west of Ireland. Indeed it is a question if the mildness and humidity 

 of the Channel Islands are not drawbacks instead of advantages to the 

 cultivation of Tomatoes. Whether grown under glass in Guernsey, or in 

 the open air in Jersey, the plants seem to fall an easy prey to fungoid 

 diseases, and it is not unusual to see thousands of plants in Jersey simply 

 putrid with disease, although they have been heavily sprayed two or 

 three times with poisonous Bordeaux mixture. 



In Guernsey Tomatoes are grown under glass in the same way as in 

 England, either in large pots or planted out, and trained up by means 

 of string or bamboo canes. Very little ventilation is given, most growers 

 firmly believing that opening ventilators is equivalent to spreading the 

 disease amongst the plants. There may be some truth in this now, as 

 there must be millions of spores in the atmosphere as the result of bad 

 cultivation in former years. It is nevertheless bad for the Tomatoes to 

 plant them so close together and to keep the houses so badly ventilated as 

 they are in Guernsey. The tissues of the plants become so tender that 

 the spores of the various diseases germinate upon them readily and cause 

 havoc that often cannot be suppressed or prevented with all the nostrums 

 so loudly recommended in some quarters. 



Another fruitful cause, and perhaps the main cause, of the prevalence 

 of Tomato diseases in the Channel Islands, is the enormous quantities of 

 chemical manures or fertilizers used by many growers. Instead of culti- 

 vating the soil deeply, and ringing the changes upon layer after layer 

 to a good depth, the soil is drenched with some chemical manure, and 

 when that does not produce speedy and miraculous results, another brand 

 is tried with similar results. Hence the cost of cultivating Tomatoes in 

 the Channel Islands is usually much greater than in English establish- 

 ments. The houses are built much more strongly than in England, and 

 much valuable light is excluded by having narrow panes of glass, and 

 huge division rafters about 5 or 6 ft. from each other. These are said 

 to be necessary to give the houses strength against the gales, but it is 

 questionable whether the grower is not more or less at the mercy of 

 the island carpenter. 



In Jersey there are few glass establishments devoted to Tomatoes. 

 The largest is that of Messrs. Bashford, at St. Saviours. In one house, 

 777 ft. long and 32 ft. wide (over J ac. in extent), about 12 tons of 

 tomatoes are produced annually. From Christmas till October in one 

 season the houses are occupied with Tomatoes. The next crop is Potatoes 

 from October till March and April, and these are followed again by 

 Tomatoes, with a row of Runner Beans after every third row. With 



