TOMATO. 101 



TOMATO. 

 ToMATE, ou PoMME d'amour. Solanum lycopersicum, 



VARIETIES. 



Large Red. 1 Pear-shaped. 



Large Yellow. | Cherry-shaped. 



The Tomato, or Love Apple, is much cultivated for its 

 fruit, which is used, in soups and sauces, to which it imparts 

 an agreeable acid flavour ; it is also stewed and dressed in 

 various ways, and is considered very wholesome. 



The seed should be sown early in March, in a slight hot- 

 bed, and the plants set out in the open ground, if settled 

 warm weather, in the early part of May. In private gar- 

 dens it will be necessary to plant them near a fence, or to 

 provide trellises for them to be trained to, in the manner 

 recommended for Nasturtiums ; they will, however, do very 

 well, if planted four feet distant from each other every way. 



Tomatoes may be brought to perfection late in the sum ■ 

 mer, by sowing the seed in the open ground the first week 

 in May ; these plants will be fit to transplant early in June, 

 and the fruit may ripen in time for preserves, or for catsup. 



One ounce of good Tomato seed will produce upward of 

 four thousand plants ; and a single plant has been known to 

 yield upward of a bushel of fruit. 



Tomatoes may be preserved in a stone or glazed earthen 

 pot, for use in the winter, by covering them with water in 

 which a sufficient quantity of salt has been dissolved to make 

 it strong enough to bear an egg. Select perfectly ripe ber- 

 ries, and cover the pot with a plate in such a manner that it 

 presses upon the fruit without biuising it. Previous to cook- 

 ing these Tomatoes, they should be soaked in fresh water 

 for several hours. 



Besides the various modes of preparing this delicious ve- 

 getable for the table, it may be preserved in sugar, and used 

 either as a dessert, or on the tea-table, as a substitute for 

 Peaches or other sweetmeats. It also makes exqusite pies 

 an/i tarts, and excellent catsup. 



