Vegetable Growing for Market 173 



flower to flower, thus ensuring better fertilization of the pistils. If 

 houses are kept too close and " muggy " the air is not so pure and the 

 plants do not set their fruits so well or grow so quickly; they are also 

 more liable to fungoid disease. Early in the season, of course, when the 

 plants are young and only just beginning to make growth, ventilation 

 must be regulated with a good deal of care. Cold draughts must be 

 avoided, and, if a little air is given to keep the atmosphere fresh, the 

 ventilators on the side away from the wind should be opened, those on 

 the windward side being kept closed. The mildness or otherwise of the 

 weather is always the dominating factor in ventilating Tomato houses, 

 and the grower who is himself sensitive to weather changes will always 

 see that his plants are kept in a genial atmosphere. 



Manures. If the soil in which Tomatoes have been planted is a 

 naturally rich and sandy loam, very little manuring will be required 

 during the season beyond a mulching or topdressing of a similar compost, 

 with a little well-decayed manure or leaf mould added to it. The remains 

 of an old mushroom bed or old hotbed make an excellent topdressing, 

 as the material keeps the roots moist, and at the same time yields up 

 a certain amount of soluble food in the process of further decomposition. 

 This is almost equivalent to giving repeated applications of weak liquid 

 manure, and is perfectly safe. Liquid manure made from the droppings 

 of cows, chickens, rabbits, sheep, &c., and given in a much-diluted state 

 two or three times a week when the flowers are setting, will be of great 

 assistance, but few market growers go to the trouble of making it. 



When chemical manures are used they should be applied with care 

 and judgment, and not recklessly, as one often sees. The chemical manures 

 most generally recommended for Tomatoes are nitrate of soda, superphos- 

 phate of lime, kainit, and sulphate of iron. How to use these to the best 

 advantage puzzles most growers, and the manures are often applied, as in 

 the Channel Islands, on the " hit-or-miss " principle. 



To apply chemical manures judiciously the grower must consider his 

 particular soil and the appearance of his plants. Indeed the behaviour 

 of the latter will be a very safe guide as a rule. If the foliage is large, 

 luscious, and of a deep healthy green it may be concluded that the soil 

 does not require any special nitrogenous manures like nitrate of soda or 

 sulphate of ammonia. Leaves will only assume a fine healthy tint when 

 there are already plenty of nitrates in the soil. If, however, the leaves 

 are of a yellowish tint, and by no means luscious, it is a sure sign that 

 nitrates are lacking in the soil. A pound, or at most 2 lb., of nitrate of 

 soda or sulphate of ammonia may then be given to every square rod 

 of soil (30 J sq. yd.), taking care to spread it evenly over the surface, and 

 having it watered in as soon as possible. Where these manures are not 

 available, a good dressing of soot and a thin mulching of well-decayed 

 manure will supply the necessary food in a perfectly safe form. If the 

 plants do not respond readily to these manures, it may almost be taken 

 for granted that the soil is also deficient in potash and phosphates 



