72 TOMATO CULTURE 



fullest possible exposure to air and sun, and then a 

 thorough wetting a few hours before they are to be set. 



The South Jersey plan of growing and setting plants 

 gets them into the field in the best condition of any 

 method I know. Two to five days before they expect 

 to plant, the growers go over the beds and, by means 

 of a hoe that has been straightened and sharpened to 

 form a sort of spade, they cut through the soil and 

 manure so as to divide the plants into blocks of six. 

 A few hours before they are to plant, they saturate the 

 bed with water. By means of a flattened shovel they 

 can take up the blocks of plants and place them in a 

 cart or low wagon so the soil is scarcely disturbed at 

 all, the roots in the manure serving to bind the whole 

 together. In the meantime furrows are opened along 

 the rows and the cart driven to the field; the plants 

 in the blocks are cut apart with a butcher knife placed 

 in the furrow and the earth drawn about them. 



Plants set in this way often do not wilt at all, even 

 in hot sunshine. When plants are grown in boxes 

 these can be taken to the field and plants taken from 

 them in much the same way and so that they will be 

 disturbed but little. In setting the plants it should 

 always be borne in mind that while sunshine on the 

 leaves of a plant rarely does any injury, it is very in- 

 jurious to the roots, and the exposure of the roots to 

 the sun or to cold, dry wind, should be avoided in 

 every practicable way, such as by carrying the plants 

 to the field laid on the sides of a box, which is then 

 carried with its bottom toward the sun so as to have 

 the plants in the shade, always handling the plant in 

 the shade of one's body, etc. It is well worth while 



