1814 



TOMATO 



TOMATO 



leads to a method of culture which differs somewhat 

 from that usually recommended. We plant the seed in 

 flats placed in a greenhouse or hotbed, some forty to fifty 

 days before we think the plant can be set in the field 

 without danger of frost, or what is quite as bad, a cold, 

 dry wind-storm. As soon as the plants can be handled 

 (which ought to be ten or twelve days from the sowing 

 of the seed), we transplant into other flats or into cold- 

 frames, setting them 2 to 4 inches apart according to 

 the space available and the desired size of the plants 

 when set in the field. We have never failed to get 

 better results from plants which had been transplanted 

 but once (and that when very small) and had been kept 

 in constant growth, than from those which were started 

 earlier and kept of a practical size for setting in the 

 field by repeated transplanting and pruning. 



We aim to give the young plants light, heat, water, 

 and above all air, in such proportions as to secure a 

 constant and steady growth, forming stocky, vigorous 



2519. A prolific Tomato, the result of training to a single stem. 



plants able to stand erect when set in the field, even if 

 they are a little wilted. A plant which has once bowed 

 its head suffers from it forever. 



For Tomatoes we prefer a field that has been made 

 rich by fertilization in previous years, but if manure is 

 used we aim to have it thoroughly worked into the soil. 

 There is no crop in which this is of greater importance 

 than with Tomatoes. If we have to depend upon com- 

 mercial fertilizers we select those comparatively rich in 

 nitrogen and potash, and work in two-thirds of it just 

 before setting the plants and the balance some four or 

 five weeks later. We prepare the field by plowing as 

 early as it can be worked, and repeated replowing or 



deep working until, at the time the plants are set, it is 

 a deep bed of mellow, friable soil. We begin cultivat- 

 ing the day after the plants are set, running the culti- 

 vator as deep as possible, and go through again every 

 two or three days, as long as the plants will permit; 

 but we aim to make each cultivation shallower than the 

 preceding one until it becomes a mere stirring of the 

 surface soil. 



When quantity and quality are of little importance 

 compared with earliness, the best results ai-e obtained 

 by a method almost the opposite of that given above. 

 The seed is sown very early so that, though growth is 

 kept in check by crowding and scarcity of water, the 

 plants have set the first cluster of fruit, which is some- 

 times nearly full grown by the time danger of severe 

 freezing is past, and the plants are then set in the field 

 much earlier than recommended for general crop. In 

 setting, furrows are opened running east and west and 

 the plants set in slanting to the south, so that the fruit 

 is just above the surface, with a bank of earth on the 

 north side, and the roots are no more than normal depth. 

 So treated, the plant will ripen the fruit already set 

 very early, but the subsequent crop is of very little 

 value. 



When quality is of first importance, staking and 

 pruning is essential, as in this way much better f^uit 

 can be grown than can be produced on unpruned vines 

 allowed to trail on the ground, particularly if the soil 

 be at all cold. When the plants are to be staked and 

 pruned they may be set as close as 30-40 inches apart. 

 We have obtained the best results from the use of a 

 single stake, some 2 inches square and 5 or 6 feet long, 

 to each plant. As soon as the plant shows its first clus- 

 ter of flowers it divides, and the two branches are 

 allowed to grow, being tied to the stake as necessary; 

 all branches starting below the division are cut or 

 pulled off, and any above are cut off just beyond the 

 first leaf or cluster of blossoms. Most of the fruit pro- 

 duced in the Gulf states for shipment north is grown in 

 this way. 



For market or for canning and pickling, quantity and 

 quality of crop and cheap production are of prime im- 

 portance, and the best results are secured by following 

 the general cultural directions as just given. As the 

 gathering of the crop is one great element of its cost, 

 we have found it profitable to set 15 to 20 rows and 

 then omit one to form a driveway, at the same time 

 omitting every sixth or eighth plant in the row to form 

 a cross-walk. This facilitates the distribution of the 

 empty, and the collection of the full crates, and enables 

 one to gather the fruit with less injury to the vines; 

 consequently one secures nearly as much marketable 

 fruit, particularly if it is gathered green for pickling, 

 as if the entire space was covered. 



Although the Tomato has been in cultivation a much 

 shorter time than most of our garden vegetables, there 

 have been developed a great many varieties, differing 

 materially in habit of vine, size, form and color of fruit 

 as well as other qualities; and these differences are so 

 divergent, and individual taste and the demands of dif- 

 ferent markets so varied, that it is difficult to classify 

 the varieties or arrange them in order of merit. 



The extra -early sorts are of two types, one repre- 

 sented by Early Minnesota, with a vigorous vine produc- 

 ing in abundance large clusters of small, round, smooth 

 fruits which ripen early but are too small for market; 

 the other represented by the Atlantic Prize, in which 

 the vine is short-lived, lacking in vigor, and produces 

 very early-ripening fruit, too rough to be salable after 

 the smoother sorts reach the market. 



Of varieties for a general crop there are quite a num- 

 ber, varying greatly in type and quality, from the Opti- 

 mus of medium size, perfect form, fine flavor and bril- 

 liant vermilion-red color, through the larger Favorite 

 and Matchless, to the perfect-shaped, large-sized, late- 

 ripening Stone; or if one prefers the purple-red, from 

 the Acme through the Beauty to the later Buckeye 

 State. 



If one prefers the dwarf-growing plants, we have the 

 purple-fruited Dwarf Champion or the fine-flavored and 

 beautiful red Quarter Century. For special purposes 

 and to meet individual tastes we have the immense and 

 solid Ponderosa and the Honor Bright, which can be 



