356 FIELD AND GARDEN PRODUCTS 



than when it is large, and because early fruits are as a rule more val- 

 uable than late ones it is of advantage to the gardener to secure his 

 crop as early in the season as practicable. The season is, therefore, 

 lengthened at the beginning rather than at the end. This is accom- 

 plished by sowing seeds in hotbeds or greenhouses several weeks in 

 advance of the time when they could be safely planted in the open. 



The Tomato as a Field Crop at the North. East of the Missis- 

 sippi River and north of the latitude of Washington, D. C., the tomato 

 is handled as an annual, the seeds being sown in hotbeds about the 

 middle of March. The young plants, as soon as they have developed 

 their first true leaves, are transplanted to stand about 2 inches apart 

 each way and are allowed to develop in these quarters until they have 

 attained a height of from 4 to 6 inches and the leaves begin to crowd 

 considerably. They are then transplanted to pots, 3 or 4 inches in 

 diameter. 



Training Plants to Stakes. For earliest returns it is desirable to 

 train forced plants to a single stem by tying them to a stake 4 or 5 

 feet in height. These stakes should be driven firmly into the ground 

 beside the plants and the plants carefully tied to them to prevent 

 whipping and to keep the fruits off the ground. All side shoots 

 should be kept pinched out and only the central leading stem allowed 

 to develop to bring larger results. If the plants are to be trained in 

 this way they can be set from 18 inches to 2 feet apart in the row, 

 and about 3^2 to 4 feet between the rows. 



Training Plants on Frames. Another plan sometimes followed 

 in the training of tomatoes is to place a flaring frame, about 18 inches 

 square at the base and 24 inches square at the top over the plants 

 before they begin to spread. The shoots as they become heavy with 

 fruit fall over against the sides of the rack and are prevented from 

 coming in contact with the earth. For a kitchen garden where but few 

 plants are grown this is a very satisfactory plan. The plants can be 

 set somewhat closer than is the case where no supports are provided. 

 For commercial plantations, however, the cost of the frames is pro- 

 hibitive. The common commercial practice is to place the plants 

 about 4 feet apart each way in check rows so as to allow them to be 

 cultivated in both directions. Under intensive cultivation in a small 

 garden, however, the first method, that of tying the vines to stakes, 

 will be found very satisfactory. 



Where tomatoes are grown on a large scale and where the prod- 

 uct brings only a small price per bushel, expensive methods of hand- 

 ling and training can not be profitably followed. The common 

 practice in growing tomatoes for the general market and for canning 

 purposes in localities north of New York City is to sow the seed very 

 thinly in a hotbed about March 15 and allow the plants to grow 

 slowly without transplanting them until they can be put in the field 

 about June 1. The plants, even with the most careful attention, when 

 grown under these conditions will become long and thin stemmed, 

 with a small tuft of leaves at the top. 



Setting the Plants. Plants more than a foot high which have 

 been grown under these conditions should be treated somewhat as 



