32 TOMATO CULTURE 



sen the yield of fruit though it may increase the size 

 of the vine. Not only must the food be in right pro- 

 portions but in such condition as to be readily avail- 

 able. Tomato roots have little power to wrest plant 

 food from the soil. The use of coarse, unfermented 

 manure is even more unsatisfactory with this than 

 with other crops. The enormous yields sometimes 

 obtained by English gardeners from plants grown 

 under glass result from a supply of food of the right 

 proportions and in solution, instead of incorporating 

 it in a crude condition with the soil. 



Cultivation. — The tomato is grown in all parts of 

 the United States and under very different conditions, 

 not only as to climate and soil but as to the facilities 

 for growing and handling the crop and the way in 

 which it is done. What would be ideal conditions of 

 soil and the most advantageous methods under some 

 conditions would not be at all desirable in others. In 

 some cases the largest possible yield an acre, in oth- 

 ers fruit at the lowest cost a bushel, or at the earliest 

 possible date, or in a continuous supply and of the 

 best quality, is the greatest desideratum. It is im- 

 possible to give specific instructions which would be 

 applicable to all these varying conditions and re- 

 quirements ; so I give general cultural directions for 

 maximum crops with variations suggested for spe- 

 cial conditions and requirements, and then the reader 

 may follow those which seem best suited to his indi- 

 vidual conditions. 



