694 the farmers' handbook. 



Pruning. 



If it is intended to keep the plants well pruned throughout their growth 

 (and for early fruit this will be necessary) 4£ feet will be found ample space 

 in the rows, and 5 feet between the rows, but if quantity of crop is of more, 

 consequence than earliness, little or no pruning will be needed. 



Pruning should commence as soon as suckers get to be an inch long. 

 Frequently these will appear immediately the plants are set out in the field,, 

 and if the tendency is not checked by their removal, the plants generally 

 lose their first bloom and earliest fruits. Some experienced growers prefer 

 to leave one sucker and the main stem, some two suckers, and others the 

 main stem only, until the first or second cluster where it will fork, then 

 leaving the fork or two stems. Pruning for an early crop is specially 

 referred to a few pages later. 



When working amongst the crop, diseased plants or fruit should be imme- 

 diately removed from the field and burnt, and after the crop is gathered the- 

 haulms or stems should be collected and burnt also. It is not advisable for- 

 tomatoes to follow a crop of tomatoes on the same land, at any rate without 

 a crop or two of a totally different nature intervening. This prceaution is~ 

 necessary to prevent the spread of disease. 



Picking, Packing, and Grading. 



Care should be taken when gathering the fruit that it be not bruised, or 

 it will decay rapidly. Tomatoes that are to travel long distances, or occupy 

 days in transit, should be picked when they begin to colour at the blossom- 

 end. 



When packing, the fruit should be graded according to size and ripeness,. 

 all in each package being as near alike as possible. The grading shoiild be 

 something like this : — 



1. Large ripe fruit. 4. Small medium ripe. 



2. Small ripe fruit. 5. Large green fruit. 



3. Large medium ripe. 6. Small green fruit. 



The fruit will thus look better, sell better, keep better, and pack or travel- 

 better; the arrangement will be found advantageous to the buyer and more 

 profitable to the seller, besides establishing a reputation for the brand 

 amongst buyers. Each package must have the contents and quality faith- 

 fully marked on the outside, so that buyers may learn to rely on the brands- 

 without wanting to overhaul the fruit. 



Culls should not be marketed, but fed to pigs or destroyed, as is done- 

 with other refuse fruit. 



Varieties. 



There are several good varieties from which the grower can make his- 

 selection. Spark's Earliana is an excellent early tomato that does well 

 where the vines are trellised. Chalk's Early Jewel is also favoured by some 

 growers for the early crop. Burwood Prize, which shelters its fruit beneath 

 abundant foliage, is largely grown in the Hawkesbury district under field 

 conditions for the purposes of the sauce-making trade. Dwarf Champion is 

 also used for field crops, its strong, upright stems saving the labour and 

 expense of staking. For private gardeners, Ponderosa can be recommended;, 

 but it has the disadvantage that it does not carry well. 



