1818 



TOMATO 



TOMATO 



pests should, as a primary procedure, be eradicated, 

 as far as possible, from the Tomato plot. This at once 

 suggests the importance of crop rotation as a second 

 step, and thereafter, in sequence, the destruction of 

 affected vines and contiguous vegetable matter, the se- 

 lection of areas not recently planted with solanaceous 

 crops, and finally the importation of seed (for all sola- 

 naceous plants as well as Tomatoes) from districts 

 known to be exempt from the blight. 



Insect Pests. While these are relatively numerous, 

 their ravages are much less of a menace to the grower 

 than either the fungous or 

 the bacterial maladies. Only 

 the more important are 

 here mentioned. 



First, the boll worm, Hel- 

 iothis armigera. As the pro- 

 blem of the damage done by 

 this insect is of almost equal 

 interest to the cotton plant- 

 er and the Tomato trucker, 

 the corngrower, too, being 

 largely concerned, it might 

 well be left in their hands 

 for solution, but for the fact 

 that the loss to the trucker 

 is not confined to the direct 

 depredation of the worm it- 

 self, but a pathway is there- 

 by opened to the subsequent 

 inroads of the blight bacil- 

 lus, as stated. It is on this 

 account that the trucker's 

 interest in the"boll worm" 

 is paramount. Unfortu- 

 nately no adequate remedy 

 beyond hand-picking, the 

 use of corn as a "trap-plant" 

 and the destruction of 

 wormy fruit has ever been 

 suggested. 



Of the various cut worms 

 and wire worms almost the 

 .;"-.'.-'i;-'-.~ ->-K;i- '- same might be said, omit- 



ting the interest of the cot- 



2524. Stake-trained Tomato, ton planter. Remedies are 

 equally illusive. Except the 



stereotyped "sunrise worm hunt" with a bit of shingle, 

 and cabbage leaves or dough poisoned with Paris green 

 and deposited at night about the plat, nothing of value 

 has ever been suggested. 



Hand-picking for the great, green, sluggish tobacco 

 worms, Phlegethontins Carolinus, usually proves effec- 

 tive, in combination with the process of poisoning fol- 

 lowed by tobacco growers by means of a solution of co- 

 balt and sugar deposited each afternoon, at dusk, in the 

 corolla of the Jimpson weed, Datura Stramonium, which 

 the tobacco moth frequents. 



The flea beetle, Phyllotreta vittata,pinholing the foli- 

 age in clammy, cloudy weather and thereby assisting 

 the inroads of fungi and bacilli, is sometimes repelled 

 though not destroyed by Bordeaux mixture. 



Nematode galls, Fig. 2144, p. 1545, caused by the 

 "vinegar eels," Heterodera radicicola, which affect cot- 

 ton, peas and certain other garden plants, frequently do 

 much damage to the Tomato. They can be avoided only 

 by rotation of area and preventing the contiguity of any 

 of their host plants particularly cowpeas. 



After all, the chief injury wrought by insects upon 

 the Tomato consists not so much in direct depredation 

 as in the incidental transfer of bacterial germs through 

 their agency. Boll worms, thrips, Colorado and flea 

 beetles, and other forms relatively innocuous in them- 

 selves, become, for this reason, a serious menace. 

 Were their complete extinguishment possible, the com- 

 mercial prospects and possibilities of the Tomato plant 

 would be infinitely improved. HUGH N. STARNES. 



Tomato Growing Tinder Glass. The Tomato is now 

 one of the most popular vegetable crops for forcing. It 

 is grown to a considerable extent near most of the large 

 eastern cities. Very often it is grown in connection 

 with carnations or other plants. The houses may be 



used for carnations during the winter season and for 

 Tomatoes in late winter and early spring when the out- 

 side temperature becomes warmer. In many cases, 

 however, houses are used almost exclusively for To- 

 mato growing. The forced crop usually comes into 

 market during holidays and runs until May or even 

 June. The winter crop is usually relatively light and 

 the Tomatoes small. The crop that matures when the 

 days are long, from April on, is much heavier and the 

 fruits are considerably larger. Nearly all the heavy 

 yields and large specimens that are reported in the pub- 

 lic press are secured in the later crops. 



Many Tomato growers aim to have crops from two 

 sets of plants. One set of plants produces a crop in 

 midwinter or somewhat later, and the other set comes 

 into bearing in April or May. These crops may be 

 raised in different houses, succeeding other plants. If 

 they are grown in boxes, however, they may be handled 

 in the same house, the pots for the second crop being 

 set between those of the first crop before that crop is off. 

 In many instances, however, only one crop is grown; 

 that is to say, the effort is made to secure a more or 

 less continuous picking from one set of plants running 

 over a period of two months or more. 



The Tomato requires a uniform and high tempera- 

 ture and is very subject to diseases and difficulties when 

 grown under glass. There are many risks in the busi- 

 ness of Tomato growing in winter. It is probable that 

 there is no money to be made from it when the price 

 falls below thirty cents per pound, and perhaps the limit 

 of profit, taking all things into consideration, is not 

 much below forty cents. 



Tomatoes are now usually grown on benches or in 

 solid beds, preferably the former. Sometimes they are 

 grown in boxes 10 or 12 inches 

 square or in 10- or 12-inch pots, 

 but greater care is exercised to 

 grow them in this way and the 

 expense is also increased. 

 Plants may be raised either 

 from cuttings or from seeds. 

 Seedlings are usually preferred 

 in this country. It requires 

 from four to five months to se- 

 cure ripe Tomatoes after the 

 seeds are sown. The young 

 plants are usually started in 

 flats and are then transplanted 

 to other flats or, preferably, to 

 pots. They should be stocky 

 and well grown and about 6 

 or 8 inches high when they 

 are placed in the beds. 



Sometimes the old plants are 

 bent down at the base and one 

 or two feet of the stem covered 

 with earth; the top then re- 

 news itself, particularly if cut 

 back, and a new crop of fruit 

 is produced. Plants can be 

 kept in bearing for two sea- 

 sons. Healthier plants and bet- 

 ter results are usually secured, 

 however, when new plants are 

 used for each succeeding crop, 

 although time may be saved by 

 the laying-down process. 



As grown in this country win- 

 ter tomato plants are usually 

 trained to a single stem, being 

 supported by a cord that runs 

 from near the base of the plant 

 to a support overhead. In this 

 system of training the plants 

 may stand 2 feet apart each 

 way or even less. The side 

 shoots are pinched out as fast as they appear, the main 

 central shoot being allowed to grow. It is loosely tied 

 to a cord or wire as it ascends. Usually the main stem 

 is stopped when it reaches about 5 feet in height. Some 

 persons prefer to start 3 to 5 stems from near the crown 

 of the plant and to train them fan-shape. When this is 

 done the plants should stand from 2 to 3 feet apart 



2525. A strand of winter 

 Tomato, showing the 

 clusters supported by 

 slings. 



