I89I. 



POPULAR GARDENING. 



213 



Sun-Drying Apples. 



The following account of an Australian 

 method of drying Apples is not without its 

 lessons to American fruit growers: 



"There is no doubt that the artificial pro- 

 cess of drying Apples is the most expedi- 

 tious, and makes the best color where a 

 little sulphur is used, but at the same time 

 the sun-dried Apples have the best flavor, 

 and are the best for home use on that ac- 

 count. The apparatus is simply an ordinary 

 table twelve feet long (but it can be made of 

 any size) and four feet wide. The side 

 boards are put on nearly flush with the top. 

 One feature of the arrangement is that 

 from the ends you can draw out two long 

 trays of the whole length of the table, with 

 legs at the end to support them, thus in- 

 creasing the surface to nearly three times. 

 Round the top of each tray or drawer is a 

 small ledge, tacked on to keep the slices 

 from falling ofi'. Over the top are a few 

 light moveable rafters and a ridge pole, and 

 there is a light drill cover which fits over 

 them and ties round the table under the 

 drawers, so as to cover all up secure at 

 night, or if a shower comes on. Two other 

 drawers could be made if required, to pull 

 out sideways. 



With the aid of an American corer, parer, 

 and slicer, you can get through a great 

 many Apples in a short time, and the cores 

 and skins can be dropped into a bucket and 

 given to the pigs; or they will make excel- 

 lent jelly, if you are so disposed. The slices 

 must be stirred pretty often, and when quite 

 dry, hung up in scrim bags for a month or 

 more, when you can press them into dry 

 casks or boxes, and you have then a good 

 store of wholesome food for home use. 



Care must be taken against rain or damp, 

 as in hot weather drying fruit Is more apt 

 to spoil than in the cooler and more breezy 

 atmosphere of the following months, and 

 you will find the morning the best time to 

 gather and slice the Apples, as those cut in 

 the afternoon are much more apt to spoil. 

 Apples should not be too green when sliced, 

 or they are apt to be very acid, and require 

 more sugar as well; and they should not 

 be too ripe, or they will spoil— nor should 

 they have any bruises on them. Perfect 

 Apples, just approaching ripe, are the best, 

 but very fair samples can be made even out 

 of windfalls." 



Prof. L. H. Bailey on Forcing 

 Tomatoes. 



Winter Tomatoes always find a ready 

 sale in the larger cities at prices ranging 

 from forty to eighty cents per pound. The 

 crop is one which demands a high tempera- 

 ture, an abundance of sunlight, and great 

 care in the growing, but the profits, under 

 good management, are correspondingly 

 high. Tomato forcing is an interesting and 

 satisfactory enterprise. 



The House. A light and tight house is 

 essential, and it must be high enough to 

 allow of training the plants. Our prefer- 

 ence is for a house having a two-thirds span 

 and the ridge eleven feet from the ground. 

 The house is twenty feet wide and built 

 upon a sharp slope. It follows the lay of 

 the land, running nearly east and west but 

 a north and south house would be prefer- 

 able, probably, because of the more even 

 distribution of light. The framework is 

 unusually light and the glass is 14x34 in. 

 We also grow Tomatoes for a late spring 

 crop in a Pea and Lettuce house. 



Direct and strong sunlight is of great im- 

 portance. The plants in partial shade grow 

 as well and as large as those in full sun, and 

 they often blossom well, but the fruit does 

 not set. The proper temperature for Toma- 

 toes is from tiO" to (j.5° at night and 10° higher 

 for dull days. On bright days it may be 

 allowed to run higher, although we always 



wish to ventilate at 75°, but a temperature 

 of 00° or even 100° can do no harm. Until 

 fruit begins to set, the atmosphere should 

 be kept moist, especially on bright days, 

 but the setting of the fruit is hindered by a 

 humid atmosphere. 



Soil and Fertilizers. Heavily man- 

 ured plants undoubtedly require more care 

 in the pruning, and it is possible that when 

 not properly handled they may be more 

 liable to mildew because of the dense and 

 crowded growth; but on the other hand, 

 we always get the best yield from the 

 strongest plants, and we find the extra cost 

 of training to be of little account. We grow 

 the plants in rich garden loam to which is 

 added a fourth or fifth of its bulk of well 

 rotted manure. When the plants begin to 

 bear, liquid manure is applied every week, 

 or a top-dressing of manure is given. To 

 those unaccustomed to forcing-house work 

 this may seem extravagant fertilizing; but 

 it must be remembered that in the house 

 culture the roots are confined in a small 

 space and they have little chance to search 

 for food. And as a matter of practice, we 

 find this heavy manuring to be essential to 

 satisfactory resiilts. 



Bearing Age. In this latitude it requires 

 from four to five months to bring a forced 

 Tomato plant into bearing. Seeds which 

 were sown the 9th of last August gave 

 plants fit for transplanting early in Septem- 

 ber. These were planted in permanent 

 quarters in the Tomato house October 1.5th, 

 and the first fruits were obtained December 

 28th. They continued in bearing until near 

 the end of February, when they were train- 

 ed for a second crop. Plants started No- 

 vember 10th were transplanted into 4-inch 

 pots December 8th, and from these pots 

 into permanent quarters February 25th. 

 The first fruits were picked May 6th, and 

 May 12th the first market picking was had. 

 Arrangement of Plants. I prefer to 

 grow them over brisk bottom heat. The 

 plants may be in shallow beds, or in boxes 

 or pots. Altogether, I prefer 18-inch-square 

 boxes, although we have had good success 

 in beds. The return pipes lie close upon 

 the ground and are covered with a low 

 platform or bench, made of 3-inch slats 

 with inch spaces between them. The boxes 

 are placed ten inches or a foot apart and 

 four plants are set in each of those which 

 are 18 inches square. A plant therefore 

 occupies about one and one-half square feet 

 of floor space. We have grown them in 10- 

 inch-square boxes and also in 10-inch pots, 

 but these dry out so quickly that we do not 

 like them. Our boxes are a foot deep. One 

 or two narrow cracks are left in the bottom. 

 A good layer of potsherds or clinkers is 

 placed in the bottom for drainage, and the 

 box in then filled two-thirds full of soil. 

 When the fruit begins to set, the box is 

 nearly filled with rich soil and manure. 

 The object of not filling the box at first is to 

 confine the roots in a smaller space and 

 therefore to hasten fruitfulness but more 

 particularly to allow of an additional stim- 

 ulus to be given the plant at fruiting time. 

 Training. The plants must be trained. 

 For midwinter, when it is necessary to 

 economize sunlight, I prefer to train plants 

 to a single stem. Strong flax cord, the size 

 of wool twine, is used for support. A single 

 strand runs perpendicularly from each 

 plant to a horizontal wire or rafter extend- 

 ing lengthwise the house under the roof. 

 The plant is secured loosely to this support 

 at intervals of a foot or so by means of some 

 broad and soft cord, as bass or raffia. All 

 side shoots are pinched ofl" as soon as they 

 appear, and the leader is "stopped" or 

 pinched ofl as soon as it reaches the glass, 

 or sometimes when fruits begin to form. In 

 houses of sufficient height, I like to train 

 the plants fully six feet high. In mid- 



winter it may be necessary to cut away 

 some of the older leaves or to cut then in 

 two near the middle in order to let in light. 

 As the fruit sets, the leaves near the base of 

 the plant begin to die and they should be 

 picked off. Healthy plants in full bearing 

 are often full of leaves for the first two feet. 

 When the plants are set in benches, at 

 distances of two or three feet, two or three 

 shoots may be trained out upon the diverg- 

 ing strings, in fan-shaped fashion. If the 

 fan stands north and south it will probably 

 interfere least with the light. Tomatoes 

 are sometimes trained along under the roof, 

 but this darkens the house so much that 

 few plants can be grown. 



As soon as the fruit becomes heavy the 

 largest clusters will need to be held up. A 

 sling of raflia is caught over a joint of the 

 plant and passed under the middle of cluster. 

 Upon very strong vines the clusters some- 

 times "break" or push out a shoot from the 

 end. This shoot should he cut off. 



Watering. During all the early growth 

 of the plant the atmosphere may be kept 

 moist, particularly in sunny days, when it 

 is customary to wet down the walks. Care 

 must be taken in watering. It is best to 

 soak the soil pretty thoroughly at each 

 watering, yet it should not be drenched. 

 Careless watering usually leaves the sur- 

 face wet while the under soil remains dry. 

 This must be avoided. In midwinter we 

 water our plants thoroughly ab»ut twice a 

 week, giving no water directly to them be- 

 tween times. If the red spider should at- 

 tack the plants the atmosphere must be 

 kept moist, and in bad attacks the foliage 

 should be syringed. Every care should be 

 taken to keep the plants free from the 

 spider, for the pest cannot well be overcome 

 after the fruit begins to set, when the 

 house should be kept dry. If fungi begin 

 to attack the plants, however, the atmos- 

 phere will probably need to be kept drier. 



Pollination. When the flowers begin 

 to appear the atmosphere must be kept dry 

 during the brighter part of the day in order 

 to facilitate pollination. The pollen is dis- 

 charged most profusely in dry sunny days. 

 In the short dull days of midwinter some 

 artifical aid must be given the flowers to 

 enable them to set. The common practice 

 i.s to tap the plants sharply several times 

 during the middle of the day wath a padded 

 stick, but I am strongly of the opinion 

 that it will pay the commercial grower to 

 transfer the pollen by hand during mid- 

 winter. At this season the flowers are most 

 likely to fail and the product is the most 

 valuable. The most expeditious and satis- 

 factory method which I know is to knock 

 the pollen from the flowers, catching it in a 

 spoon, watch glass, or other receptacle and 

 then dipping the stigmas of the same or 

 other flowers into it. There is a time in the 

 life of the flower when the pollen falls out 

 readily if the atmosphere is dry enough to 

 hold dust. This is when the flower is fnlly 

 expanded and somewhat past its prime. 

 The flower is tapped lightly with a lead 

 pencil and the light yellow powder falls out 

 freely. In the brighter days of March and 

 later I have found no other attention neces- 

 sary than keeping the house dry at midday. 

 Second Crop. The crop from the one or 

 two or three trained shoots of house Toma- 

 toes does not exhaust the vitality of the 

 plant; consequently when the crop is well 

 along, one or two new shoots may be train- 

 ed out from the near base of the plant to 

 produce a second crop. 



Another method of obtaining the second 

 crop is to bury the old plants. As soon as 

 the fruit is off, the soil is removed between 

 the plants and the stems, deprived of lower 

 leaves, are coiled down into the hole until 

 only a foot or so of the tip projects. The 

 earth is then filled in over the plants, and 



