The Busy Woman s Garden Book 



can be used for several years in succession if 

 stored away in a dry place when not in use. The 

 wu'e tomato supports on the market are good but 

 costly and quite as satisfactory ones can be made 

 at home from the wire or wooden hoops from 

 barrels, stapled to stout stakes sharpened at one 

 end. About three hoops should be used and three 

 stakes. These, too, can be stored away for fu- 

 ture use so that the first outlay is the last for 

 a number of years. 



In setting out the plants from the hotbed select 

 those with the stoutest stalks; it is not material 

 whether they have grown tall or keeled over in 

 the hotbed or not if the plant appears vigorous 

 with a robust stem. If one has a good supply of 

 plants to draw from one can discard all but the 

 best. 



Prepare the hills in advance by forking in a 

 forkful of old manure; if the plants are long, 

 make a trench two-thirds the length of the stem 

 with a deeper hole at one*end; place the root in 

 the hole and bend the top carefully into the trench, 

 turning the tip up straight so that it stands four 



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