CHAPTER XIII 



Staking, Training and Pruning 



Under favorable conditions of soil and climate, 

 plants of most varieties of tomatoes will, in field cul- 

 ture, yield as much fruit if allowed to grow naturally 

 and unpruned as if trained and pruned. This is espe- 

 cially true of the sorts of the Earliana type and on 

 warm, sandy soils, while it may not be true of the 

 stronger growing sorts or on rich clay lands or where 

 the fertilizer used contains an excess of nitrogen. In 

 any case more fruit can be grown to the acre on 

 pruned and staked plants because more of them can 

 be gotten on an acre; and it is an advantage to grow 

 them in that way because it enables us, by later culti- 

 vation, to keep the ground in good tilth longer; also 

 it facilitates the gathering of the fruit; and last, but 

 not least, it generally enables us to produce better 

 ripened and flavored fruit. 



Staking and pruning used to be the almost univer- 

 sal practice in the South, but in many sections grow- 

 ers have abandoned it, claiming that they get as good 

 or better results without it. In the North it is rarely 

 used in field culture, though often used in private gar- 

 dens and by some market gardeners, and both staking 

 or tying up and pruning are essential to the profitable 

 growing of tomatoes under glass. In the South, stout 

 stakes from I to 2 inches in diameter and 4 to 5 feet 

 long are driven into the ground so that they can be 



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