52 TRUCK FARMING 



to go slow, plant only a package or two and thoroughly exploit 

 their merits before planting them for a general crop. 



In making applications of fertilizer great stress must, at all 

 times, be laid upon the advisability of supplying the plants with 

 an abundance of potash, and I find this has a great tendency to 

 prevent blossoms shedding during the growing season. To such 

 an extent have I found this to be the case, that I now use as 

 much as eight to ten per cent of potash in the first application and 

 continue with this high grade throughout the season. The best 

 growers here frequently use as much as a ton and a half of high- 

 grade commercial fertilizer, and I think it pays at all times to 

 supply our plants with a superabundance of nutriment. Applica- 

 tions of fertilizer should be made every ten days throughout the 

 growing season, being careful not to apply the fertilizer close to 

 the base of the plants; a rule being to stay away from the stem 

 of the plant a distance corresponding to the length or height of 

 the plant itself, applying each successive application in a circle to 

 the outside of the one previously made. It is not necessary to 

 incorporate the fertilizer to any great depth with the soil it 

 should be worked in rather shallow near the surface but great 

 stress must be laid upon working it in, thoroughly incorporating 

 it with every particle of the soil. 



Do Not Pick Tomatoes Until Well Matured. 



Too much importance can hardly be attached to this. Don't 

 pick a single fruit until it is thoroughly filled out. Some little 

 experience is required by the novice to tell exactly when the 

 fruit is properly filled out and should be marketed. It is, there- 

 fore, advisable to pick a few tomatoes and lay them aside in a 

 shady place to see just how soon they will turn color or ripen. 

 They should, if well filled and picked at the proper time, show 

 color in about five days after picking and should turn red, 

 ready for the table, in about eight days from the time they are 

 taken from the vine. Of course, the time of the year that the 

 crop is growing has considerable to do with the above, hence 

 thev must be left on the vine until they show color earlv in the 



