RIPENING, GATHERING, HANDLING AND MARKETING 9I 



sunlight. Vine and sun-ripened tomatoes, like tree- 

 ripened peaches, are vastly better flavored than those 

 artificially ripened. This is the chief reason why to- 

 matoes grown in hothouses in the vicinity are so mucli 

 superior to those shipped in from farther south. Aft- 

 er it has come to its most perfect condition on the 

 plant the fruit deteriorates steadily, whether gathered 

 or allowed to remain on the vine, and the more rapidly 

 in proportion as the air is hot and moist. That it be 

 fresh is hardly less essential to the first quality in a 

 tomato than it is to such things as lettuce and cu- 

 cumbers. 



Gathering, — As is the case with most horticultural 

 products, the best methods of gathering, handling and 

 marketing the fruit vary greatly with the conditions 

 under which the fruit was grown and how it is to 

 be used, and it requires the best of judgment to gather 

 it in the stage of maturity in which it will give the 

 best satisfaction, under the conditions and for the 

 purposes for which it is to be used. It is impossible 

 to give exact rules for determining when the fruit is 

 in the best condition. This can only be learned by 

 experience, guided by a knowledge of the ripening 

 habit of the fruit, which not only varies somewhat 

 in different localities, but with diflFerent varieties. In 

 the extreme South, fruit is picked for shipment be- 

 fore it shows more than the slightest tint of color at 

 the blossom end; the depth of color which is con- 

 sidered as indicating shipping condition deepens as 

 we go north and nearer market. 



Generally the fruit should be left on the vine no 

 longer than will permit of its becoming fully ripe 



