1970 



ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PRACTICAL HORTICULTURE 



Table 3 shows that the expense of 

 pruning is greater than the expense of 

 training. Attention is also called to the 

 fact that when training alone is done, it 

 is more expensive than when both prun- 

 ing and training are performed. This is 

 accounted for in the fact that the work- 

 men while pruning are also lifting the 

 plants and tying them to their support, 

 but in the case of training and no prun- 

 ing, the plants are more difficult to 

 handle and therefore require more time. 



Effect of Pruning and Training on Date 

 of Ripening 



The popular opinion in the Palouse 

 country is that tomatoes do not mature 

 sufficiently early to make a profitable 

 crop. It is important in the Palouse 

 country to select lor tomatoes the warmer 

 spots which enjoy the greatest freedom 

 from early fall frosts. 



Experiments at the Idaho station, 1910- 

 12. showed that pruning to one stem and 

 staking hastens maturity over other meth- 

 ods employed. 



Effec-t of Pruning and TraininK' (in Yield 

 of Fruit 



Plants that receive no pruning and no 

 training on trellis produce the greatest 

 number of boxes of all grades of fruit. 

 The net profits, however, are likely to go 

 to the plants which receive no training, 

 on account of the cost of training. 



Cultivation 



Begin cultivation as soon as the plants 

 are set. This loosens the soil, and forms a 

 dust mulch. See that this mulch is main- 



tained throughout the growing period. It 

 prevents evaporation of moisture from the 

 soil. The first few cultivations may be 

 made deep and reasonably near the plant, 

 but later cultivation should be sufficiently 

 shallow so that none of the root system 

 will be molested. In the non-irrigated 

 sections cultivation should be given every 

 ten days or two weeks and after a rain. 

 In the irrigated sections the cultivation 

 should be given .iust as soon as the ground 

 is sufficiently dry after each irrigation. 



Cultivation in this manner will prevent 

 the appearance of weeds, and time spent 

 in thorough cultivation will be amply re- 

 paid. When the fruit begins to ripen, 

 cultivation should cease almost entirely. 

 Two or three cultivations during the 

 ripening period will enlarge the yield. It 

 should be done with care, as the root sys- 

 tem can be easily injured. Injury at this 

 time is serious. A one-horse cultivator 

 of the Iron Age or Planet Junior type is 

 a very good tool for doing this wofk. 



Irrigation 



Due to variation of soil and climatic 

 conditions of the irrigated sections no 

 rule can be laid down for the irrigation of 

 tomatoes. 



See that the newly set plants have one 

 good application of water which is suffi- 

 cient to moisten the soil at the greatest 

 depth possible. 



Begin cultivation immediately, and at 

 all times endeavor to preserve moisture 

 in order to lessen the number of irriga- 

 tions. Under ordinary conditions pos- 

 sibly three irrigations would be sufficient. 



