TOMATO. 87 



a tight barrel or a tank to undergo fermentation. 

 This will take from two to three days, depending on 

 ripeness of seed as well as temperature; the warmer the 

 temperature, the quicker fermentation takes place. A 

 frequent stirring must be given the mass while fer- 

 mentation is going on, otherwise seed at the top is 

 liable to become blackened. 



When seed has been properly fermented, it may be 

 washed in a vat, similar to the one described for pepper 

 and after the same manner. 



Some growers place barrels in handy rows in the 

 field where picking is being done. On top of one of 

 the barrels a small, portable hand mill is set for grind- 

 ing the fruit. The pickers empty their buckets in the 

 mill, while one person does the grinding. When a barrel 

 is about three-fourths full, the mill which may easily be 

 carried by one man, is removed to the next barrel, and 

 so on until picking is completed. The barrels are then 

 hauled on a sled or a wagon to a shed or some shel- 

 tered place convenient to water, where fermentation 

 of the ground pulp is allowed to take place in the bar- 

 rels. It is contended that fermentation is much better 

 done in a smaller mass in barrels than in troughs. 

 However, some larger growers use a trough which is 

 made about 20 feet long, 3 feet wide, 1| feet deep, 

 placed on a platform raised several feet from the ground. 

 One grower, whose crop is grown on about 100 acres, 

 uses ten of such troughs, having them placed side by 

 side, under shelter, near the water supply. A gateway 

 is made at the end of each trough to let out the pulp 

 when it is to be washed. The tomatoes are hauled in 

 wagons from the fields to the troughs, the fruit being 

 then ground in a hand mill set on top of a trough. The 

 washing tank of the growers in question is made 4 feet 



