i6o 



TOMATO. 



52. A single-stem tomato plant. 



Training. The plants 

 must be trained. For 

 midwinter, when it is 

 necessary to economize 

 sunlight, I much prefer to 

 train plants to a single 

 stem. Strong flax cord, 

 the size of wool twine, is 

 used for support. A 

 single strand runs per- 

 pendicularly from each 

 plant to a horizontal wire 

 or rafter extending length- 

 wise the house under the 

 roof. The plant is se- 

 cured loosely to this sup- 

 port at intervals of a foot 

 or so by means of some 

 broad and soft cord, as 

 bass or raffia. Fig. 49 

 (page 155) shows the 

 young plants being 

 trained, and Fig. 52 shows 

 a mature vine supported 

 by the cord. AH side 

 shoots are pinched off as 

 soon as they appear, and 

 the leader is "stopped" 

 or pinched off as soon as 

 it reaches the glass, or 

 sometimes when fruits be- 

 gin to form. In houses 

 of sufficient height, I like 

 to train the plants fully 6 

 feet high. In midwinter 

 it may be necessary to 

 cut away some of the 



