TRELLIS TOMATOES 



15 



tightly on the top and bottom wires than onto the plants. The string for sup- 

 porting the plants should be a stout one, such as 3 to 5 ply jute or binder twine. 



J 



Figure 5. A Trellis for Tomatoes. 



Stakes 



If a supply of inexpensive stakes is available, it will probably be cheaper to 

 use these than to build a trellis. When the plants are to be pruned to a single 

 stem, a stake is driven beside each plant. If they are pruned to two stems, two 

 stakes are needed. A disadvantage in using stakes is that the plant has to be 

 tied to the stake, whereas with the trellis the plant is twisted around the string. 

 It is difificult for inexperienced farm help to tie the string around the stake se- 

 curely and yet keep it loose enough so that the plant has room to grow. 



The manner of supporting the tomato plants will vary from farm to farm, de- 

 pending upon materials, labor, and the preferences of the grower. The method 

 used makes no difference in the 3'ield or quality of the crop. 



Spacing and Training Plants 



Before the tomatoes are set in the field it is necessary to decide just how they 

 are to be trained and spaced. In these experiments it was not possible to include 

 plots in which the plants were given different spacings except in relation to the 

 number of stems. The distances were 12 inches for plants trained to a single 

 stem, 21 inches for plants trained to two stems, and 4 feet for untrained plants. 

 The distance between the rows was 4 feet. 



A new method practiced by one grower was to vary the distance between the 

 rows by placing two rows close together (2 feet) and then allowing 6 feet to the 

 next row. That allowed space between rows to drive small tractors for hauling 

 spray equipment and wagons to pick up the fruit. 



There has always been considerable discussion among growers as to which is 

 more advantageous, pruning the plants to one or two stems. The results of these 

 experiments with the two types of pruning are presented in Table 4. Both at 

 Waltham and at Amherst the plants 12 inches apart and pruned to a single stem 

 produced the largest yield of early fruit and the greatest total yields. 



