WHERE THE PLANTS ARE TO BE GROWN. 157 



ond lot grew much more slowly than the first one. This 

 is because the plants were growing in the short and dull 

 days of midwinter. Market growers like to sow seeds or 

 take cuttings in August for the holiday crop. The second 

 crop is ready to go on the benches early in January. A 

 commercial grower in Ontario informs me that when he 

 sows seeds the middle of January he expects to put the 

 plants on the benches on the first of April and to make 

 the first picking the aoth of May. 



Beds, benches and boxes. There are various methods 

 of growing house tomatoes. Much depends upon the 

 height of house and arrangement of benches and heating 

 apparatus. They may be planted in the ground or floor 

 of the house, but this is not advisable, as it does not allow 

 of the application of bottom heat, and the plants grow 

 slowly ; and it is frequently an advantage to shift the 

 plants somewhat during subsequent treatment. They re- 

 quire brisk bottom heat, and it is necessary, therefore, to 

 place them upon benches. 



The plants may be grown in shallow beds upon the 

 benches, or in boxes or pots. Many persons prefer to 

 grow tomatoes in i8-inch-square boxes. Fig. 49 (page 155) 

 shows the arrangement of such a tomato house. The re- 

 turn pipes lie close upon the ground, and are covered with 

 a low platform or bench, made of 3-inch slats with inch 

 spaces between them. The boxes are placed 10 inches 

 or a foot apart, and four plants are set in each of those 

 which are 18 inches square and a foot deep. A plant, 

 therefore, occupies about \% square feet of floor space. 

 We have grown them in lo-inch-square boxes, and also 

 in lo-inch pots, but these dry out so quickly that we do 

 not like them. One or two narrow cracks are left in the 

 bottom. A good layer of potsherds or clinkers is placed 

 in the bottom for drainage, and the box is then filled 

 two-thirds full of soil. When the fruit begins to set, the 

 box is nearly filled with rich soil and manure. The ob- 

 ject of not filling the box at first is to confine the roots 



