CHAPTER XLIH 



TOMATOES : INDOOR AND OUTDOOR 



THE successful cultivation of tomatoes finds a high place 

 among the achievements to the accomplishment of which 

 the amateur gardener directs his best endeavours. Nor 

 is this surprising, for the cultural rules to be observed are com- 

 paratively simple, and there is this additional stimulus towards 

 making the effort in the fact that the man who is able to cut 

 regularly a few pounds of ripe fruit from midsummer to the end 

 of September will find himself becoming increasingly popular with 

 the domestic powers that be. 



The grower's own self-esteem will, however, be immeasurably 

 increased if he is able to point to the circumstance that he pre- 

 sided over the destinies of his tomato plants from their very 

 earliest stages that he sowed the seed himself and carefully 

 nursed the seedlings until they gave him his reward in a rich 

 harvest of luscious fruit. But in order to achieve this result he 

 must have the necessary heated greenhouse accommodation, for 

 while it is true that the tomato can be induced to ripen success- 

 fully hi the open in a normal British summer, it is useless to at- 

 tempt to produce sturdy young plants sufficiently early to ensure 

 fully developed fruit unless artificial heat be called in to their aid 

 during the initial stages of their growth. 



But this does not mean that the glass structure must neces- 

 sarily be devoted entirely to tomato culture. During winter 

 months the chief use of the greenhouse hi most amateurs' gardens 

 is that of protecting tender plants which are destined to resume 

 their places in the beds and borders when summer is at hand. 

 When these are removed there will be plenty of room available, 

 and then it is that tomatoes may take their place. 

 35i 



