GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PLANT 21 



put into the best possible tilth before setting the plants, 

 and the management of the plants and their culti- 

 vation were such as to secure unchecked growth from 

 the time they were pricked out into cold-frames and 

 set in the field until the crop was matured. As long as 

 the plants would permit, the soil was cultivated every 

 few days and kept in a state of perfect tilth. 



B's field when the plants were set out was a mass 

 of clods, as it had been plowed, when wet, some time 

 before and never harrowed but once. The plants had 

 been crowded forward as rapidly as possible in the 

 cold-frame, and when set in the field were much higher 

 than A's, but so soft that they were badly checked 

 in transplanting and a great many of them died and 

 had to be reset. The field received but one or two 

 cultivations during the entire season. The growth 

 of the plants in B's field was irregular and uneven 

 instead of steady and uniform as in A's, and though 

 some of the fruits were quite as large, they were not 

 as uniform as A's while the yield per acre was not 

 more than half as much nor the fruit of as good gen- 

 eral quality. B had difficulty in disposing of his crop 

 and often had to sell below the market, while A had 

 no trouble in disposing of his at the highest prices 

 for the day. B's crop was a financial loss, while A's 

 returned a most satisfactory profit. 



The key to the most successful culture of the tomato 

 is the securing, from the start to finish, of an un- 

 checked uniform growth, though it need not neces- 

 sarily be- a rapid one. The failure to do this is, in 

 my opinion, the principal reason for the compara- 

 tively small yield usually obtained, which is very 



