146 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



9. Trimming plants in midsummer has usually resulted irt 

 slightly hastening the maturity of fruit already set. 



10. While heavy fertilizing does not lessen productiveness, the 

 best fertilizers are those which act quickly and hasten growth 

 early in the season. 



11. For New England the most pi'ofitable work with tomatoes 

 may be carried on under glass. For this purpose Lorillard, 

 Chemin, Optimus, and Golden Queen, are the most promising. 



Professor Munson exhibited a variety of photographs, to show 

 the methods of training in the forcing house, and in field culture ; 

 the effect of varying amounts of pollen on the flowers of one 

 plant, i.e. where deficient; when sufficient; when excessive. 

 Others showed the effects of different fertilizers used in both 

 greenhouse and field ; and also where diff'erent amounts per acre 

 were used. 



Discussion. 



William C. Strong asked : When do you put out young tomato 

 plants in the field, in spring? How do you avoid the killing 

 effects of spring frosts ? 



Professor Munson replied that they get them out by the 

 fifteenth of May, or as soon after as the weather will permit. 

 The best results are always obtained from the earliest settings. 

 If properly hardened off, tomato plants will endure a much lower 

 temperature than is commonly supposed. One reason that young 

 plants are so easily cut down by frost is the usual lack of vigor 

 following transplanting. He believed that this weakness is more 

 often due to starvation than to a sudden change of temperature. 

 The supply of nitrogen, in a readily available form, seems 

 insuflicient for the needs of the plants. A solution of nitrate of 

 soda — say three ounces to a gallon of water — applied at the 

 time of setting will, by inducing vigorous growth, render the 

 plants belter able to withstand checks of any kind. 



Benjamin P. Ware expressed much interest in the statement 

 made in the lecture, regarding artificial pollination of tomato 

 flowers, and he asked if it was necessary in field culture. 



Professor Munson replied, No, the forces of Nature — wind 

 and insects — attend to it there. 



