TOMATOE. 89 



Tomatoes may he brought to perfection late in the sum- 

 mer, by sowing the seed in the open ground the first week 

 in May ; these plants will be fit to transplant early in June, 

 and the fruit may ripen in time for preserves or Catsup. 



One ounce of good Tomato Seed will produce upwards 

 of four thousand plants ; and a single plant has been known 

 to yield upwards of a bushel of fruit. 



Tomatoes may be preserved in a stone or glazed earthen 

 pot, for use in the Winter, by covering them with water in 

 which a sufficient quantity of salt has been dissolved to 

 make it strong enough to bear an egg. Select perfectly 

 ripe berries, and cover the pot with a plate in such a man. 

 ner that it presses upon the fruit without bruising it. Pre- 

 vious to cooking these Tomatoes, they should be soaked in 

 fresh water for several hours. 



Besides the various modes of preparing this delicious 

 vegetable for the table, it may be preserved in sugar, and 

 used either as a dessert, or on the tea-table, as a substitute 

 fox Peaches or other sweetmeats. It also makes exquisite 

 pies and tarts, and excellent catsup. 



A celebrated writer observes, that " the common Tomatoe 

 made into a gravy,, by stewing over the fire, and used as a 

 sauce for meat, has been known to quicken the action of 

 the liver and of the bowels, better than any medicine he 

 ever made use of. ;> He states further, that " When 

 afflicted with inaction of the bowels, head-ache, a bad taste 

 of the mouth, straitness of the chest, and a dull and painful 

 heaviness of the region of the liver, the whole of these 

 symptoms are removed by Tomatoe sauce, and the mind, 

 in the course of some few hours,, is put in perfect tune." 



To make them into catsup, use one pint of salt to one 

 peck of Tomatoes ; bruise them, and let them stand two* 

 days ; then strain them dry, and boil the juice until the 

 scum stops rising, with two ounces of black pepper, the 

 same quantity of pimento or allspice, one ounce of ginger,. 

 tfie of cloves, and half an ounce of mace. 



8* 



