VEGETABLE GROWING 37 



We know no way except to kill the gophers. We know of nothing 

 which could be added to the potato which would repel the pest without 

 destroying the seed. 



Tomatoes Dropping Blossoms. 



Can you give reason for a tomato plant dropping the fruit buds after 

 they have blossomed out in a nice healthy flower? How can I stop iff 



See the discussion in Part II, Vol. 1. Sometimes better setting of 

 fruit can be induced by pinching or topping off the shoots a distance above 

 the bloom. Sometimes good results are reported by fertilizing with phos- 

 phatic and potassic manures, free from nitrogen if the land is too rich 

 therein. The main point, however, is to guard against too rapid growth 

 by using very little water, or by allowing excessive moisture to escape 

 by slacker cultivation. 



Water Cress in California. 



I have bought a little place with a number of springs on it. I recently 

 read an article saying that water cress could be profitably raised wherever 

 one had a spring. 



Water cress (Nasturtium officinale) grows wild in California, hav- 

 ing been introduced at some remote period, for one is apt to find it now 

 on the margins of slow-flowing streams and rivulets and along the out- 

 flow from springs or uplands. If your springs are running free, the 

 chances are that you may already have it growing. It looks a little like 

 spinach, and it has a mild peppery flavor. If you do not find it you can 

 get seeds from the seedsmen, start the plants in the moist margin of the 

 rivulet and after the plants are up let the water rise higher so 3s to flood 

 the roots. By making new, zig-zag ditches, just a little off the level 

 or contour line, so that water will run very slowly, you can grow any 

 amount of cress that you can find use or sale for, and pluck it continu- 

 ously from the old roots ; but we would not advise you to have any- 

 thing to do with it in a commercial way until you know more about it. 

 It is used for garnishing, for salads, for boiling as greens, etc. There 

 is little chance of selling cress except in cities, and there is small chance 

 of profit far away from city consumers because the cress will wilt be- 

 fore you can deliver it. 



