TOMATO 



TOMATO 



3357 



set in a wagon. The wagon should be made to straddle 

 one row and the plants lifted out from the rear and 

 placed from 2 to 3 feet apart in the three adjoining 

 rows. Special pains should be taken when the plants 

 are placed in the furrow to prevent the soil from break- 

 ing away from the roots, as they will wilt easily at this 

 stage. Moist soil should be drawn by hand and pressed 

 around each plant. A sweep or small turning plow 

 should then be run around each row so as to fill in the 

 remainder of the furrow. 



Tomatoes should receive frequent and thorough culti- 

 vation from the time they are set in the open field until 

 the first fruits begin to ripen. A crust should never 

 be allowed to form on the soil, nor should weeds be 

 allowed to grow. A five-tooth cultivator is one of the 

 best implements that can be used in cultivation. 



When moved to the open field, the plants are often 

 beginning to show their first cluster of blooms and are 

 also beginning to force out shoots from the axils of the 

 leaves. The plants should be gone over carefully every 

 few days and all lateral shoots and suckers should be 

 removed before they have grown longer than 1 inch. 

 It is a serious mistake to neglect removing shoots and 

 suckers, even for a few days. 



When three or four fruit-clusters have set, the ter- 

 minal bud is pinched out, and thereafter no new 

 growth whatever should be allowed. This severe prun- 

 ing undoubtedly reduces the amount of fruit to the 

 acre, but it is a considerable aid in the development of 

 quality and earliness. 



The staking, like the pruning, should begin soon after 

 the plants are set in the field. A 4-foot stake, 1 by 2 

 inches, should be driven down within a few inches 

 of the plant, and coarse twine wrapped around the 

 plant and tied to the stake. Two or three tyings should 

 be made during the development of the plant. The 

 staking holds the vines and fruit off the ground, pre- 

 vents rotting of the fruit in wet weather, and allows the 

 sun and air to strike the fruit, thus inducing earliness, 

 while, at the same time, reducing the danger from 

 diseases. 



Tomatoes in the southern states north of Florida 

 begin to ripen about the middle of May. As soon as 

 the ripening period arrives, the tomato patch should be 

 gone over every day during the shipping-season. As 

 soon as the fruit shows a deep -creamy white color, 

 with a faint blush of pink, it is ready for harvesting. 

 At the first of the season, the fruit may be allowed to 

 take on a deeper color than later on. 



Tomatoes are gathered in one-half-bushel baskets, 

 lined with coarse ducking, and carried to the packing- 

 sheds, which are generally located in the field, and then 

 packed in four-basket crates, averaging twenty pounds, 

 or one-third bushel, each. As a rule, there are two 

 grades: fancy and choice. The fancy are packed with 

 the stem end down and average about twelve to the 

 basket. The choice are packed on the side and average 

 about fifteen to the basket. The six-basket crate is 

 now becoming popular in some sections. 



The bulk of the crop is shipped in refrigerator cars, 

 well iced. It is now becoming the custom, when distant 

 markets are to be reached, to harvest the fruit as soon 

 as it is mature, but while still quite green in color. 

 Each tomato is wrapped with soft paper and packed in 

 flats or six-basket carriers and shipped in refrigerator 

 cars, -with the ventilators open, but without ice. This is 

 known as the "green-wrapped'' pack. It requires 896 

 four-basket crates to fill a car. A fair average yield is 

 250 crates to the acre, although a few growers some- 

 times produce as high as 600. A good average price 

 for a season is 60 cents a crate. 



A medium to large tomato, one that is smooth and 

 does not crack easily, is the best for early shipping. 

 The Acme has been the leading variety for many years, 

 while the Earliana. Stone, ana Beauty, are grown on a 

 small scale in some sections. 



There is no standard fertilizer for tomatoes. Tomato 

 soils of Texas are relatively rich in potash; so, as a rule, 

 it is not necessary to use more than 1 per cent of this 

 ingredient. Most of the Texas growers use a fertilizer 

 containing from 8 to 10 per cent of phosphoric acid, 

 2 per cent of nitrogen, and 1 per cent of potash. A 

 fertilizer containing from 400 to 600 pounds of equal 

 parts of acid phosphate and cottonseed meal to the 

 acre gives very satisfactory results. In the states east 

 of the Mississippi River, the amount of potash is con- 

 siderably increased; the total amount of fertilizer used 

 to the acre is also considerably greater. From 800 to 

 1,000 pounds of fertilizer to the acre, containing 6 per 

 cent phosphoric acid, 7 per cent potash, and 3 per cent 

 of nitrogen, seems to be satisfactory. Fifteen or twenty 

 loads of manure to the acre, applied broadcast, two or 



3823. A prolific tomato, 



the result of training to f jjl sl!'j( / 

 a single stem. / \r ''>' \ 



three months in advance of planting the crop, will 

 always give good results. 



The damping-off fungi often attacks the young 

 plants while they are in the hotbed. These fungi work 

 on the stem of the plant, just where it enters the soil, 

 causing it to shrivel and the top to fall over. Wet soil 

 and a damp sultry atmosphere are conditions that 

 favor the development of this disease. Frequent stir- 

 ring of the soil and thorough ventilation will go a long 

 way toward preventing the appearance of this trouble. 

 A thin coating of tobacco dust or a mixture of three 

 parts of lime to one of sulfur, spread over the soil after 

 the seed is planted, will also help to hold the disease 

 in check. 



The blossom-end rot is a very destructive disease. 

 It makes its appearance when the fruit first begins to 

 ripen, thereby destroying the earliest and most profita- 



