CHAPTER VI 



Exposure and Location 



In sections where there is danger of the plants 

 being killed by early fall frosts before they have 

 ripened their entire crop, exposure of the field is 

 sometimes of importance in determining the market- 

 able yield. 



A gentle inclination to the south, with a protection 

 of higher land or timber on the sides from which 

 frost or high winds are most likely to come, is the 

 best. A steep descent to the south, shut in by high 

 land to the east and west, so as to form a hot pocket, 

 is not favorable for a maximum crop although it may 

 give a smaller yield of early ripening fruit ; nor is a 

 small field entirely surrounded by forest desirable. 



I once knew of a field, of about two acres, sloping 

 to the south and entirely surrounded by heavy timber, 

 on which two or three tomato crops were failures when 

 other fields on the same farm gave large yields, but 

 after the timber on the south and east had been cut 

 away this field generally gave the largest yield in the 

 neighborhood. 



Location. — While exposure is in some cases an im- 

 portant factor in determining the total yield an acre, 

 and so the cost, the location of the field as regards 

 distance from marketing point and the character of 

 the roads between them is of far greater importance 

 in determining the cost and profit of crop, but one 



38 



