8O TOMATO CULTURE 



depended upon to hold the plants erect through the 

 heaviest storms, as seen in Fig. 21. This is gener- 

 ally and wisely done as soon as the plant is set, though 

 some growers delay doing so until the fruit is well 

 set, claiming that the disturbance of staking, tying 

 and pruning tends to hasten the ripening of the fruit. 

 The plant is then tied up, the tying material being 

 wrapped once about the stake and then looped about 

 the plant so as to prevent slipping on the stake or 

 choking the stem of the plant as it enlarges. Raffia 

 is largely used and is one of the best tying materials, 

 but short pieces of any soft, cheap string can be used. 

 The tying up will need to be repeated as the stem 

 elongates, which it will do very rapidly. 



In pruning the tomato we should allow the central 

 shoot of the young plant to grow, and remove all of 

 the side shoots which spring from the axils of the 

 leaves and sometimes even from the fruit clusters, as 

 seen in Fig. 22. It is very desirable that this be done 

 when the branches are small, as there is then less 

 danger of seriously disturbing the balance of the grow- 

 ing forces of the plant, and also because there is less 

 danger of careless workmen cutting off the main shoot 

 in place of a lateral, which would seriously check the 

 ripening of the fruit. It is especially important that 

 any shoots springing from the fruit cluster be removed 

 "as early as possible. For these reasons it is important 

 that, if the plants are to be pruned at all, the field be 

 gone over every few days. If the pruning is not well 

 done it is a disadvantage rather than a help. 



Some growers allow two or three (Fig. 23) instead 

 of one shoot to grow, selecting for the second the most 



