18 MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 419 



Insects and Diseases 



The control of insects and disease is important for successful culture of to- 

 matoes. Control of the flea beetle and early and late blight are particularly 

 important. Up-to-date information on the control of both insects and diseases 

 will be found in Leaflet No. 116 of the Massachusetts State College, "Control 

 Calendar for Vegetable Pests." 



Cracking of Fruit 



The results of these experiments confirm previous experimental work and the 

 observation of growers that trellising tomatoes increases their tendency to crack. 

 The work with varieties indicates that those with a small amount of foliage are 

 most susceptible to cracking. 



Cracking of fruits probably cannot be eliminated entirely but several growers 

 have shown that it can be kept to a minimum. Some of the practices that reduce 

 the amount of cracking are: 



1. Select land that does not dry out readily and that is well supplied with 

 organic matter. 



2. Keep the soil moist at all times. Most cracking is due to uneven periods 

 of growth and swelling of the fruit. 



3. If no irrigation is available use a mulch, if possible. 



4. Provide sufficient plant food either before planting or as top-dressing to 

 keep the plants growing steadily. 



5. Harvest fruit at the pink stage. 



Harvesting and Marketing 



Picking of the tomatoes where the plants are trellised is not so difficult as 

 with flat-grown plants but it is necessary to use care not to pick too green or to 

 bruise the fruit. Since trellis tomatoes are quite firm, there is likely to be more 

 carelessness in handling. During warm weather, it is necessary to pick every 

 two or three days in order to prevent the fruit from becoming over-ripe for 

 handling. 



The fruit is usually picked into baskets and then carefully transferred to bushel 

 boxes at the end of the row. Most of the preparation for market is done at the 

 packing shed. If more than an acre of trellis tomatoes is grown, it will probably 

 pay the grower to obtain a mechanical wiper to remove spray residue and brush 

 off any loose dirt. Some growers have found it an advantage to pack from a 

 moving belt in line with the wiper; others pack from tables. 



There are two common packages in which tomatoes are marketed — the 12- 

 quart basket with handle and the half-bushel box. The former, which is illus- 

 trated in Figure 7, is the more popular. 



The basket makes an attractive package but it is hard to pack on the truck or 

 to ship. The half-bushel box can be loaded on the truck \\ithout difficulty. 

 Cellophane on the top of the basket, held in place by a large elastic, is widely 

 used to dress up the package, particularly at times when prices are high. 



The yield of trellis tomatoes ranges from 1200 to 2500 baskets per acre. 



