YIELDS OF TOMATOES. l6g 



plants were of equal value, but the buried plants were 

 distinctly inferior. It should be said, however, that such 

 tests are of comparatively little value, because the merits 

 of the buried and sprout-made plants depend very much 

 upon the vigor and healthfulness of the parent plants. 

 As a result of several years' experience, we now habit- 

 ually grow our tomato plants from seeds. 



Yields and prices. It will be seen from the foregoing 

 discussion that any statement of the yield per plant of 

 house tomatoes must be utterly valueless unless the 

 method of training is given. The yield from two- 

 stemmed plants may be twice as great as that from 

 single-stem training, and the yield from double cropping 

 of one plant will be from two to four times as much as 

 from a single crop ; and much will depend upon the time 

 of year. Some of the reports which have been made of 

 enormous yields must be untrue. The true way to esti- 

 mate yield is by the amount of floor space covered. 



In our experience we obtain from i% Ibs. to 2 Ibs. 

 per stem (or plant) in midwinter, and about twice to three 

 times as much in spring, or an average of 3 Ibs. or more 

 for the season. This amount is produced on \y z to 2 sq. 

 ft. of soil. Mr. Pennock obtains from 8 Ibs. to 10 Ibs. 

 to the plant for the season, but his plants cover 5 sq. ft. 

 The practical results of the two systems are therefore 

 about the same about 2 pounds to the square foot;* 

 but the uniform single-stem system has some advantages 

 in ease of manipulation, and the plants are so numerous 

 that the loss of one by any accident is not so serious as in 

 the other case. It should be said that the reported yields 

 of house tomatoes are usually made from the spring crop, 

 not from the winter crop. A winter crop, to be profit- 

 able, should average at least 2 Ibs. to the plant, in close 

 planting and single-stem training, and a spring crop 



* This is over three times the yield per square foot in field culture 

 in this latitude. 



