126 HORTICULTURE LECT. vin 



them early enough for producing and ripening crops in the open 

 air ; but mushrooms need no glass to shelter them, though they 

 are often grown successfully in glass structures in winter. 



Q. Taking tomatoes first, what are the chief essentials of 

 their culture ? 



A. Stout plants (page 118), produced by thin sowing in a 

 temperature of about 55, and having them gradually hardened 

 for planting in warm positions early in June. 



Q. Will they succeed in the open, or must they be trained to 

 walls and fences ? 



A. Many tons of ripe fruit have been produced in the open 

 during warm summers, but the crops are more certain from 

 plants trained to walls or fences facing the south. In the open 

 the plants are grown three or four feet apart, each supported by 

 a stake. When they produce four or live trusses of fruit the 

 tops are taken off the plants and all subsequent growths are 

 pinched off before they are two inches long, leaving only the fruit 

 trusses and the leaves on the main stem. On walls the plants 

 may grow taller, but all the side growths are pinched just the 

 same. 



Q. Is the treatment uncler glass conducted on the same 

 lines ? 



A. Yes, precisely the same, only the plants are grown a foot 

 or two closer, also allowed to extend to the limits of the roof or 

 space, and are watered as needed. They like firm, fresh loam, 

 not a rich deep-rooting medium, and manure may be applied 

 to the surface of the soil when the crops arc swelling. They 

 are liable to be attacked by disease the same as potatoes, and 

 the same applications are useful Bordeaux mixture and Anti- 

 Blight (page 83), if applied soon enough as preventives. 



Q. Will you please name a few good varieties of tomatoes ? 



A. New ones are being constantly raised. Sutton's Earliest of 

 All and Saxton's Early are good for the open air ; Perfection, 

 Challenger, Ham Green Favourite, and Golden Queen for culture 

 under glass. Full cultural details are given in Iggulden's 

 Manual, Is., 171, Fleet-street. 



Q. Now be good enough to tell us how mushrooms are raised 

 and grown. 



A, They are raised from "spawn," which is bought from 

 seedsmen. The bricks are broken into eight or ten pieces, and 

 these are forced in very firm beds of partially-decayed fermenting 

 manure from horse stables. The warmth causes the spawn to 

 ' ' run " the mycelium (page 1 19) to spread. The beds are cased 

 with soil beaten hard down to an inch or two thick, then covered 

 with litter to prevent the moisture escaping from them. Flat 



