THE KITCHEN-GARDEN. 239 



the estimation in which it was held by our fore- 

 fathers. It was called Lycopersicum, a com- 

 pound term meaning wolf and peach; indicating 

 that, notwithstanding its beauty, it was regarded 

 as a sort of " Dead Sea fruit." The Italians first 

 dared to use it freely; the French followed; and 

 after eying it askance as a novelty for unknown 

 years, John Bull ventured to taste, and having sur- 

 vived, began to eat with increasing gusto. To our 

 grandmothers in this land the ruby fruit was given 

 as " love-apples," which, adorning quaint old bu- 

 reaus, were devoured by dreamy eyes long before 

 canning factories were within the ken of even a 

 Yankee's vision. Now, tomatoes vie with the po- 

 tato as a general article of food, and one can scarcely 

 visit a quarter of the globe so remote but he will 

 find that the tomato-can has been there before him. 

 Culture of the tomato is so easy that one year I 

 had bushels of the finest fruit from plants that 

 grew here and there by chance. Skill is required 

 only in producing an early crop; and to secure this 

 end the earlier the plants are started in spring, the 

 better. Those who have glass will experience no 

 difficulty whatever. The seed may be sown in a 

 greenhouse as early as January, and the plants 

 potted when three inches high, transferred to larger 

 pots from time to time as they grow, and by the 

 middle of May put into the open ground full of 



