266 CALIFORNIA VEGETABLES 



or make use of cozy nooks where tomatoes need no such appliances. 

 Mr. G. P. Rixford, of San Francisco, informed us in May, 1916, 

 that he had seen a three-year-old tomato plant, still producing fruit, 

 in the vicinity of Porterville, Tulare county. At another place in 

 the same region he saw a one-year-old plant with plenty of ripe 

 tomatoes. 



No vegetable has advanced so rapidly in public esteem during 

 the last decade as the tomato, and in addition to our great output 

 of canned tomatoes California shipped in 1916 about twelve hun- 

 dred carloads from August to January, which were chiefly grown 

 in Los Angeles and Orange counties. Other large producing regions 

 are around the bay of San Francisco and in the Sacramento and 

 San Joaquin valleys. 



Shipments of fresh tomatoes are not only in late fall and early 

 winter to the East but in spring and early summer many carloads 

 go to the upper coast states and to mountain states, where the crop 

 is late or difficult to grow at all. 



Requirements of the Tomato. For spring planting of tomatoes 

 which are to attain their chief growth before the close of the rainy 

 season, somewhat elevated situations, above the lowland frosts, and 

 with light, warm soils and free drainage, should be selected. Some- 

 times frosts will occasion replanting, for which a stock of thrifty 

 plants should always be in readiness. It is idle to attempt the 

 growth of early tomatoes on a commercial scale except on situa- 

 tions naturally fitted for them. In the family garden slight cov- 

 ering from frost can be successfully undertaken. 



For the main crop of tomatoes, rich, lower lands, either 

 naturally retentive of moisture or supplied therewith by irrigation, 

 are usually employed. Even heavy valley soils are profitably used 

 by thorough preparation before planting and cultivation afterward. 

 Late planting can be practiced and immense yields are secured for 

 harvesting in September and October, when the fruit is of superior 

 solidity and the canneries are clear of their summer fruit work 

 and can turn their full capacity to this most popular canned vege- 

 table. In some parts of the state, November and December toma- 

 toes are very profitable when autumn frosts and rains are light. 



The moisture requirements of the tomato are moderate, but 

 they must be adequately met. Stunted vines and small, inferior 

 fruit are the results of drought. High heat can be endured and 

 favors growth, provided ample moisture is available. The more 

 moderate heat of the coast regions and the interior river bottoms 

 is, however, adequate for full development of the plant, and it is 

 attained with much less moisture than on the higher lands of the 

 interior. For this reason splendid crops are secured without irri- 

 gation on retentive soils in valleys of sufficient rainfall, even if the 

 plants are not set until the opening of the dry season provided 

 suitable winter and spring working is given to prevent evaporation 

 and to hold moisture near the surface. On lands moistened by 



