74 



for Large Red ; I remark that Alger is early and prolifie ; Clii- 

 liuliua is very late, enormously large, but apt to decay before- 

 fully maturing. I also add tliat the Round Red sort arc much 

 the more popular in the market. Of the Round Red kind T 

 will here remark, that for want of proper care in selecting seed 

 stock, and also for a natural tendency to deteriorate, Avhich may 

 be influenced by locality and season, they will sometimes grow 

 irregidar in shape. Of those named, (V)ok's Favorite has so 

 deteriorated Avith me, that for the future I shall not grow it^ 

 Tilden, though yet an excellent tomato, is not so regular in 

 shape as when it was first sent out. 



Let us now classify our tomatoes with reference to earliness. 

 First, however. Ictus dismiss the Cherry, Grape, Plum and Fig^ 

 sorts, with the remark that with the exception of the Fig they 

 are all early sorts ; that for flavor they cannot be surpassed ;: 

 that they are all highly ornamental ; that they are the best: 

 sorts for preserving in sugar ; that they, particularly the Grape- 

 and Fig, are highly ornamental when seen growing, or brought 

 on to the table for decorative uses ; and finally, that the Fig, as- 

 its name would indicate, is fig-shaped, and has been so nicely 

 preserved as to make quite a good imitation, in both appear- 

 ance, color and flavor, to the fig of commerce. 



Of no vegetable have avc more conflicting testimony on the 

 question of earliness than of the tomato. Let me state a few- 

 facts which will explain away some apparent contradictionsv. 

 First, if the same variety of tomato be planted side by side in, 

 the same bed, on the same day, and the plants be transplanted' 

 on the same day, one lot on upland and the other on lowland i^. 

 those on the upland will yield the earlier fruit. Second, if the 

 same conditions be carried out, with the excej^tion that the t\vo« 

 lots be planted in the same location, but the soil in one pari? 

 shall be richer than the other, those growing on the poorer soil 

 will ripen the earliest fruit. Third, if every condition is the 

 same, but a difference in exposure, one lot having a warmer- 

 spot, that lot will ripen the earliest fruit. Fourth, if seed of 

 the same varieties be planted with a difference of some weeks 



