THE VEGETABLE GARDEN 363 



tomatoes to be frozen each year. The depth of soil required for the 

 successful growth of tomatoes is considerably more than that 

 employed for roses, although the temperature and other require- 

 ments are very similar to those demanded by the rose. While 4 or 5 

 inches of soil are adequate to produce a crop of roses, the soil for 

 tomatoes should be at least 6 or 8 inches in depth ; 8 inches is prefer- 

 able. It is not well to allow the soil to remain in the greenhouse 

 longer than a single season. It becomes somewhat exhausted and is 

 likely to become infested with injurious forms of life, particularly 

 nematodes, which cause root-knots upon the tomato plants, thus 

 defeating the work of the gardener. This trouble, however, can be 

 easily overcome by subjecting the soil to freezing. 



Seedling Plants. Two types of plants are used for forcing pur- 

 poses seedling plants and cutting plants. The former are, of 

 course, seedlings grown from seed especially sown for the purpose 

 of raising plants to be grown in a greenhouse. It is customary in the 

 latitude of New York and northward to sow the seed for a forcing 

 crop of tomatoes in the month of August. The young seedling 

 plants, as soon as they develop the first true leaves, are then trans- 

 planted from the seed bed to small pots, preferably 3-inch pots. They 

 are planted deeply at this time and are kept growing rapidly but not 

 sufficiently to produce a soft, succulent growth. As soon as the 3-inch 

 pots are filled with roots the plants are shifted to 4-inch pots, and 

 when the plants have attained a height of 12 or 15 inches, and have 

 developed their first blossoms, they are usually placed on the benches 

 of the greenhouse, where they are to produce their crop. The plants 

 are then set 15 or 18 inches apart each way in a soil prepared as 

 previously described. 



Cutting Plants. Cuttings should be taken from strong, healthy, 

 vigorous-growing plants in the field, and placed in the cutting bed 1 

 about the last of August, where they will quickly take root. As soon 

 as the roots have developed to a length of from one-half to 1 inch the 

 young plants are shifted to 3 or 4 inch pots, where they are allowed 

 to develop until the blossom buds are well formed or the blossoms 

 have expanded, when they should be planted on the bench where 

 they are to mature their crop, in like manner as noted for seedling 

 plants. 



Pollination. In the field, where the tomato plants are exposed 

 to the action of wind and to the visits of insects, no special attention 

 is necessary in order to secure the pollination of the flowers and the 

 setting of the fruits. Under the conditions existing in a greenhouse, 

 however, it is necessary to artificially pollinate the flowers of the 

 tomato; otherwise only a very small percentage of fruits will set and 

 the object of the work will be defeated. It is therefore necessary to 

 allow me temperature of the house to become quite high in the middle 

 of the day on bright sunshiny days while the plants are in bloom, 

 and to pass through the house at this time with a little stick, 18 inches 

 or 2 feet in length, with which to strike the supporting strings or 

 wires and thus to set the plants in motion and liberate the pollen and 

 cause it to fertilize the flowers. A more satisfactory way, however, 



