96 VEGECULTURE 



to cope with the demand. A well-grown, freshly-cut Tomato, 

 straight from the vine, is a luxury, and that is why so many 

 people strive to grow Tomatoes under circumstances far from 

 favourable. To grow Tomato-plants, and to produce the 

 green fruits, is, on the whole, an easy matter, both outdoors and 

 in the glasshouse ; but to ripen the fruits in the absence of sun- 

 shine is not a light task. The best means of securing a good 

 percentage of ripe fruits, both under glass and out of doors 

 are the raising of an early batch of young plants ; rapid, sturdy 

 growth ; and early fruit-setting ; these things, indeed, being 

 the essentials governing Tomato culture. Even under glass, 

 late-raised plants are almost failures in a dull summer ; whilst 

 an early planting outdoors in a warm border, and training to 

 a wall which receives the maximum of sunshine, will give fail- 

 results even in indifferent weather. 



The attention of the would-be Tomato-grower should therefore 

 be directed to the raising of plants very early in the year under 

 glass. The seeds should be sown thinly in five- or six-inch pots, 

 in pans, or in boxes. To accelerate germination, the pots may 

 be plunged in a brisk bottom heat, and the pots or pans covered 

 with squares of glass. The glass is not indispensable, but it 

 hastens germination and secures uniform moisture. The glass 

 must be removed as soon as the seedlings appear through the 

 soil, and when they are well above the surface the pots or pans 

 should be transferred to a shelf near the glass, aiming at all 

 stages of growth to keep the plants as sturdy as possible. Thin 

 out the seedlings if they are at all crowded, but this ought to 

 be avoided by sowing seeds thinly. Water them only when they 

 are dry, yet before the foliage flags, though a little limpness 

 will not do any harm, always using water of the same tem- 

 perature as the house. If the soil is of too close a nature, or 

 water too freely given at any time, however, the stems and roots 

 will rot. When the plants have developed a pair of leaves 

 other than the seed leaves, pot them singly into three-inch pots. 

 Employ clean, lightly-drained pots, and soil of the same tem- 

 perature as the house, consisting of two parts of fibrous loam 

 broken up moderately fine, and one part of thoroughly decom- 

 posed sifted manure. As the plants are rather tender, the 

 potting should be performed in the structure in which they are 

 growing. 



First carefully shake out the seedlings and select the strongest. 

 Put a little of the roughest soil over the one crock placed in 

 each pot, then finer soil, leaving sufficient space for the roots 



