THE VEGETABLE GARDEN 361 



tors in determining their fitness for special purposes. Medium-sized, 

 smooth, spherical fruits, which ripen evenly and have small seed 

 cavities and thick walls are especially suited to long-distance ship- 

 ment. These qualities should enter into every sort selected to the 

 greatest possible degree consistent with earliness, lateness, heavy 

 yield, or any other special quality which gives the variety a marked 

 commercial advantage. The following list is made up of varieties 

 possessing some markedly distinct character, such as earliness, great 

 size, purple, red, or yellow color, dwarf habit, etc. : 



Early Ripening Varieties. Sparks' Earliana, Atlantic Prize, 

 Early Freedom. 



Large-Fruited Varieties. Ponderosa, Beefsteak. 



Purple-Fruited Varieties. Beauty, Acme, Imperial. 



Red-Fruited Varieties. Favorite (late), Honor Bright, Match- 

 less, Stone, Royal Red, New Jersey. 



Yellow-Fruited Varieties. Golden Queen, Lemon Blush. 



Dwarf or Tree Types. Dwarf Champion, Station Upright Tree, 

 Aristocrat. 



Potato-Leaf Types. Livingston's Potato-Leaf, Mikado, Turner's 

 Hybrid. 



The Tomato as a Field Crop at the South. -Commercial tomato 

 growing in the Southern States is almost exclusively confined to the 

 production of tomatoes at a season when they can not be grown at 

 the North, except in greenhouses. On this account the commercial 

 production of this crop is restricted to areas where there is very little, 

 if any, freezing during the winter months. 



Time of Planting. At the extreme southern limit of the com- 

 mercial cultivation of this crop in Florida the plants are grown so 

 as to be ready for setting in the open about December 1. The date 

 of seed sowing advances as the cultivation of the crop progresses 

 northward, so that in northern Florida the seeds are sown early in 

 January and the young plants placed in the field in March. Where 

 frost conditions do not form barriers against the production of seed- 

 ling plants in the open, the seed beds for the young plants are pre- 

 pared in some sheltered situation where partial shade can be given 

 and where the seed bed can be frequently watered. The young plants, 

 as soon as they have attained the proper size that is, from 6 to 10 

 inches in height are transferred to the field in practically the same 

 manner as are the hotbed-grown plants produced for general field 

 culture at the North, and except for a specially early crop they are 

 not transplanted or potted. The young seedlings in the cold frame 

 will require careful attention in the way of watering and ventilation ; 

 otherwise many plants will be lost by damping off or from sun- 

 scorching during bright days unless the sash are lifted or entirely 

 removed. 



Yield. The yield of fruit in the South, under the conditions 

 mentioned, is much less than it is in regions having the long grow- 

 ing periods characteristic of higher latitudes. Yields vary from 

 75 to 250 bushels to the acre, but the high price obtained for the 

 fruits which are thus produced at a season when the sole competition 



