Popular Science Monthly 



895 



V 



Indoor Tomato Plants Fifteen 

 Feet High 

 ^OMATO \ iiKs tliiiicLii 

 feet tall may some- 

 times be grown in a garden, 

 l)Ut as far as investigations 

 iiavc shown that is tiie limit. 

 A few years ago a large tiekl 

 (if tomato plants ot that 

 height was grown in Charles- 

 ton, West X'irginia, but two 

 workmen in a factory in 

 Glenbrook, Connecticut, 

 have recently excelled tliis. 

 They ha\e grown one plant 

 on a trellis, from which the 

 tomatoes could be picked at 

 a height considerabK' aI)o\e 

 one's head, and the actual 

 length of the \ine reached 

 fifteen feet. 



Tomatoes occasionally em- 

 phasize their \ine-likc char- 

 acteristics, probabK" more 

 frequeiUK' within doors than 

 out of doors. 



To produce tall tomato 

 plants in any place. [Much off 

 or cut off the seed pods. All the energy 

 of the tomato is then transferred into the 

 terminal. The same principle may be 

 applied to any tree. Small trees, such 

 as willows and maples, if trimmed too 

 much on the side will soar so high and 

 become so slender that they will go over 

 to the ground— top-hea\y, as the forester 

 would call it. 



The species of tomato which usually 

 grow to great height are the small kinds. 

 The fruit grows in great profusion, and is so 

 attractive in appearance that in many 

 localities the vines are grown for decorative 

 purposes. It was the small red variet\' 

 which was formerly called the "love-apjile" 

 and was culti\ated for its beauty long 

 before it was 

 known as an 

 edible fruit. 



These 

 plants with 

 their profu- 

 sion of dark 

 foliage, if 

 trained over 

 wire netting, 

 make good 

 garden fences 

 ^\•herc space is 

 valuable. 



A tomato plant grown in 

 a window-box. The plant 

 attained a height of fifteen 

 feet and bore abundant fruit 



Valuable Products May Be Obtained 

 from Cherry Pits 



SIXT1:EX hundred tons 

 of cherry pits, now a 

 source of annoyance and 

 expense to canneries, can be 

 made to yield two \aluable 

 oils and also a meal for feed- 

 ing cattle, according to 

 specialists of the U. S. De- 

 partment of Agriculture. In 

 addition the 105,000 gallons 

 of cherry juice now wasted 

 in seeding cherries can be 

 turned into desirable jelly 

 and syrup, or even into 

 alcohol. A saving of these 

 \aluablc by-products from 

 cherrj- canning may make 

 possible the domestic manu- 

 facture of substitutes for 

 almond oil and bitter almond 

 oil, now imported, and at the 

 same time establish a new in- 

 diistr\- in the chcrr\' packing 

 districts of the North Atlan- 

 tic, North Central, and 

 \\'estern States. 



An Automobile-Pump Driven 

 from the Rear Wheel 



FOR pumping up automobile tires by 

 the power of the motor, the usual 

 practice is to mount the pump along with 

 the motor on the front of the car; but this 

 has the drawback that the pump can never 

 be removed to be used on another car. A 

 new idea which is shown in operation in 

 the illustration below employs a separate 

 pump and has fittings for placing it on 

 the side of the car. The piston of the 

 I)ump is driven by a rod from the rear wheel 

 of the car by the use of a special piece 

 which is readily clamped on the wheel. By 

 this arrangement a larger and more sub- 

 stantial air pump may be used than 

 is usually employed where the instal- 

 lation is per- 

 manent. This 

 of course 

 means more 

 rapid and ef- 

 ficient work, 

 which implies 

 j^'^"'^^^^ a sa\'ing in 

 valuable time, 

 temper and 



The piston of the pump is driven by a rod from the rear wheel patience for 



by means of a special member clamf>ed on the wheel automobilistS. 



^^-i^ 



