170 



Commercial Gardening 



light and as much air as possible on all days when the weather is genial 

 Watering must be attended to regularly each day, care being taken to give 

 water only to those plants that require it. When the soil is still wet from 

 the previous day's watering it indicates bad drainage or a plant that is 

 unhealthy in its root and leaf action. All freshly potted plants should 

 be watered with a rosed can until the soil becomes more consolidated; 

 afterwards water may be applied carefully from a pot with a fine spout, 

 so as not to make holes in the surface. 



Final Planting* or Potting 1 . Tomatoes are grown either in pots, 

 wooden boxes, or planted out in beds or borders to develop and ripen their 

 fruits. When the 4- or 5-in. pots into which they were moved from the 

 seed boxes are well filled with roots, the plants will be ready for the final 

 moving. If pots are to be used, 12-in. ones will not be too large. They 

 should be well drained with a large " stopper " and a handful of " crocks " 

 at the bottom. Over these a thickish layer of fibrous loam, moss, or 

 half-decayed leaves should be placed. The compost to be used should, if 

 possible, consist of good fibrous loam, with a good sprinkling of river sand 

 or grit and a little leaf mould, the whole compost heap being turned over 

 three times before using, to secure proper mixing. If a dusting of basic- 

 slag manure is added to the soil it will be found of great use to the plants 

 when they are setting and ripening their fruits later on. About 1 Ib. 

 of basic slag will be sufficient to mix with an ordinary barrowload of 

 soil. When using large pots for Tomatoes, the plants should be put in 

 deeply without disturbing the ball of soil too much. The upper third of 

 the large pots should not be filled with soil at first, as the space thus left 

 will be useful for adding topdressings or mulchings of fresh soil later on 

 to maintain the requisite growth and vigour of the plants. 



Instead of using pots, many growers plant their Tomatoes in what are 

 known as "kipper" boxes. These measure about 14 in. long, 8 to 9 in. broad, 

 and about 4 in. deep, and cost about a penny each. They are very useful, 

 and if placed on a bed of old soil or ashes, the roots of the plants push 

 through the slits in the bottom and secure plenty of moisture from the old 

 compost, as well as food that will have been left behind from other plants. 



When neither pots nor boxes are used, the Tomatoes are then planted 

 out one row each along sides of a narrow span-roofed house, or several rows 

 in larger houses. 



Training". In small houses the main stems are trained up beneath the 

 glass until they reach the ridge board; the top is then pinched out. All 

 side shoots " laterals " as they are called are suppressed as they spring 

 from the axils of the leaves. The sap is thus kept moving up the main 

 stem from, the roots into the leaves, where it is converted into flowering 

 and fruiting material under the influence of sunlight. The more light the 

 better; consequently it is a mistake to plant too closely, and about 18 in. 

 should be left between the plants when trained up beneath the glass. 



If several wires, about 1 ft. apart, have been tightly strained from end 

 to end of the house, about 6 or 8 in. from the glass, it will be found a great 



