THE TOMATO. 223 



manured soil, in cold frames, in drills across the beds four 

 inches apart ; and earlier or later, according to the de- 

 gree of latitude south or north of Savannah. On heav- 

 ier soils, use a slight bottom heat, light manuring, and 

 sow ten days earlier. If, after sowing, the weather 

 should be cold and cloudy, the ground should be kept 

 warm by means of the glass; but if warm, with much 

 sunshine, the frames must be kept open or shaded, and 

 the soil moist, until the plants have come up. Under 

 the shade and moisture of the front boards of the frame 

 the plants are apt to damp off, and to grow small and 

 slender under the reflection of the sun near the back. It 

 is therefore advisable to sow the seed more thinly near 

 the front and back than in the middle of the bed. To 

 avoid a too spindling and crowded growth, the plants 

 should be thinned as soon as they are large enough to be 

 handled with safety, and transplanted to fill vacant spaces 

 in other cold frames, or thrown away. A tomato plant 

 should never be put out in the open field, if avoidable, 

 without having been previously transplanted. When the 

 plant is pricked out deeper than it stood in the seed bed, 

 it will throw out numerous small fibrous roots along the 

 stem and at the root, to which the soil will adhere, when 

 again taken up; and will therefore be apt to suffer less 

 check at the final transplanting. When about four inches 

 high, near the middle of February, pricking out into 

 other cold frames, with the soil as in the seed bed, should 

 be commenced. Set the plants down to the seed leaves 

 at three or four inches apart, or if very large plants are 

 desired, more space may be allowed to each. At those 

 distances, each three by six-foot sash will cover from one 

 hundred and sixty-five to two hundred and ninety plants, 

 and an acre will require the use of at least eleven sashes. 

 A very stocky growth can be obtained by stopping or 

 cutting off the tops of the plants just above the seed 

 leaves, as soon as vigorous growth has commenced. They 



