TOMATO. 



TORMENTIL. 



the fermentation is completed, an oily, azotized, 

 volatile matter called nicotine is found in the 

 leaves. This substance, nicotine, which pos- 

 sesses all the properties of a base, was not 

 present before the fermentation. The different 

 kinds of tobacco are distinguished from one 

 another, like wines, by having very different 

 odoriferous substances, which are generated 

 along with the nicotine. 



On a soil which contains potash, both wheat 

 and tobacco may be reared in succession, be- 

 cause the latter plant does not require phos- 

 phates, salts which are invariably present in 

 wheat, but requires only alkalies, and food 

 containing nitrogen. 



According to the analysis of Posselt and Rei- 

 mann, 10,000 parts of the leaves of the tobacco 

 plant contain 16 parts of phosphate of lime, 

 8*8 parts of silica, and no magnesia ; whilst 

 an equal quantity of wheat straw contains 47-3 

 parts, and the same quantity of the grain of 

 wheat 99-45 parts of phosphates. 



Now, if we suppose that the grain of wheat 

 is equal to half the weight of its straw, then 

 the quantity of phosphates extracted from a 

 soil by the same weights of wheat and tobacco 

 must be as 97-7 : 16. This difference is very 

 considerable. The roots of tobacco, as well as 

 those of wheat, extract the phosphates contain- 

 ed in the soil, but they restore them again, be- 

 cause they are not essentially necessary to the 

 developement of the plant. (Liebig's Organic- 

 Chemistry.') 



TOMATO, or LOVE-APPLE (Solanwn lyco- 

 persicum; Lycopersicon esculatum). There are 

 two species of the tomato at present in culti- 

 vation in England: the red-fruited and the 

 yellow-fruited. Of each of these there are 

 several sub-varieties, chiefly differing in the 

 size and shape of their fruit. The most esteem- 

 ed is the common large red, though for pickling 

 some of the smaller-fruited varieties are pre- 

 ferable. 



Of the red there are 



1. The common large. 2. Small. 3. Pear- 

 shaped. 4. Cherry-shaped. 



Of the yellow there are 



1. The large yellow. 2. Small, or cherry- 

 yellow. 



The soil best suited for the love-apple is 

 rich, light, and mouldy, in a dry subsoil ; for, 

 although a regular supply of moisture is a 

 chief requisite, yet stagnant water is very in- 

 jurious. Sea-weed may be applied with advan- 

 tage to the border on which it is grown, as 

 may kelp or common salt in small quantities. 

 The situation must be sheltered. It is propa- 

 gated by seed, which may be sown at the close 

 of March or early in April, in a hot-bed or 

 stove, which latter is to be preferred. The hot- 

 bed must be of a moderate durability, earthed 

 about 6 inches deep. The sowing must not be 

 performed until the requisite time has elapsed 

 for guarding against the danger of a violent 

 heat arising. If a hot-house be employed as 

 the nursery of the seedlings, the seed must be 

 sown in pots or boxes set on the flues or round 

 the edges of the pits. 



In whatever situation sown, the seed must 

 be scattered thin, and not buried more than 

 half an inch below the surface. The plants 

 1052 



are not long in appearing; when of two or 

 three weeks' growth, in which time they ac- 

 quire a height of as many inches, they must be 

 thinned to 3 inches apart, and those removed, 

 if wanted, pricked at the same distances, in a 

 similar- bed to that from which they may be 

 removed; shade and water being afforded as 

 may appear necessary. Air and light must 

 be afforded freely in every stage of their growth. 



This annual trailing plant is a native of 

 South America, and is now most extensively 

 used in Europe, but still more so in the United 

 States, where they flourish most luxuriantly 

 and mature in the open air, the fruit of 

 some species growing to a very large size, 

 sometimes a single one wefghing a pound, and 

 even 1 Ibs. It is used in the preparation of 

 soups, and when stewed it forms a fine vege- 

 table sauce, of a rich and pleasant acid fla- 

 vour. In its preparation the ripe fruit is cut in 

 halves, and squeezed sufficiently to extract the 

 water and seeds, and, being put in a pan, with 

 a pod of pepper or capsicum, and a small portion 

 of beef-gravy or butter, it is stewed over a slow 

 fire for an hour ; it is afterwards rubbed through 

 a sieve into a clean stew-pan and simmered a 

 few minutes, salt and other seasoning having 

 been added. When well prepared, it constitutes 

 a superior vegetable. The tomato is reputed to 

 be possessed of highly valuable medicinal vir- 

 tues, and forms a most wholesome article of food. 

 With sugar it makes a very valuable preserve. 

 In the Middle or Northern States, the seed may 

 be sown in April, in a hot-bed ; or in May, in a 

 warm situation, and transplanted as soon as the 

 season will admit. A middling soil produces 

 more fruit and less vines than a very rich soil. 



Tomatoes remaining on the vines late in 

 the season, and which, if left out, would be de- 

 stroyed by frost, may be preserved for many 

 weeks by simply pulling up the vines and hang- 

 ing them up, with the fruit upon them, in some 

 house or sheltered situation. Those not ripe 

 when the vines are pulled mature afterwards. 



Cows are said to thrive well and give an in- 

 creased quantity of milk of improved quality 

 when fed upon tomatoes. They may not take 

 them kindly at first, but are said to grow fond 

 of them soon. 



TOMENTOSE. In botany, covered with 

 dense, close, white hairs, or down. 



TOP-DRESSING. A term applied to such 

 manures as are laid upon land without being 

 turned in : and also to the practice of dressing 

 the surface of grass land, or other crops, with 

 some kinds of highly reduced manure, that can 

 be evenly spread out or sown equally over them 

 by the hand. 



A great variety of substances are in use for 

 this purpose, such as soot, ashes, the dung of 

 pigeons and other birds, rape dust, lime, gyp- 

 sum, &c., the benefits of which are noticed 

 under their respective heads. 



TORMENTIL (Tormentilla, alluding to a 

 supposed efficacy in toothache, as well as to a 

 belief that it could cure diseases of the bowels). 

 The British species are two ; both perenniaJ. 

 They are now regarded as belonging to the 

 genus Potentilla, and the natural order Rosacea. 



1. In England common tormentil or sept-foil 

 (P. officinalis or tormentilla') grows in barren pas- 



