336 



The Profitable Culture of Vegetables. 



TOMATOES. 



Lycopersicum esculentum. 



WITHIN a comparatively few years the consumption of 

 the Tomato has grown enormously. Well within living 

 memory the "love-apple" was regarded by the multitude with 

 a mild curiosity on the rare occasions it was exposed to view 

 in the windows of a few large shops, and the only purpose it 

 served was that of a tit-bit for epicures. Now it has become 



such a popular article 

 of consumption, with 

 rich and poor alike, 

 that the crop forms 

 the main-stay of the 

 huge glasshouse in- 

 dustry in Britain and 

 the Channel Islands 

 which has sprung 

 into existence co- 

 incidently with the 

 rise of the Tomato 

 into public favour. 

 Under the circum- 

 stances no grower 

 doing a direct trade 

 can afford to ignore 

 the steady and per- 

 sistent demand for 

 Tomatoes which pre- 

 The Tomato. vails throughout the 



summer season. Of 



course, the matter of supply is simple enough where the grower 

 has glasshouses for the accommodation of the crop, but that 

 method of culture is outside the scope of this work, which only 

 deals with the Tomato so far as its growth in the open-air is 

 concerned. Thousands of tons are so grown in the southern 

 and midland counties every year, and there is no good reason 

 why. the culture should not be extended much further north, 



