286 LESSONS IN AGRICULTURE 



tinue bearing until frost, and if full-sized green to- 

 matoes are picked and placed on the cellar floor, they 

 will usually ripen. Earliana, Eclipse, Acnn-. I'mnli'i-osji. 

 Yellow Prince, and Best of All, are good varieties. 



Practical Exercises 

 1 Experimenting in Tomato Culture 

 Procure enough tomato plants from the hot-bed or 

 from any source available to set out a plot on the home 

 grounds, two rods by one rod. Transplant and culti- 

 vate as directed above. When the vines begin to branch 

 and blossom, divide your plot into three sections and 

 treat each section as follows : 



1. Mulch the ground about the plants with straw 

 and allow them to fall without support. 



2. Support the plants with some sort of trellis to 

 which they are tied, and prune away most of the lower 

 and side branches. 



3. Allow the plants to fall unpruned and unsup- 

 ported on the bare ground. 



Pick the ripened tomatoes from each section all sum- 

 mer and keep a record of the quantity and quality of 

 the yield from each. Report this experiment and the 

 results to the school next autumn. 



S. Organising Girls' Tomato Clubs 



Write to the Department of Agriculture at Wash- 

 ington, D. C., or to the State Agricultural College for 

 plans and details for the organization of a Tomato 

 Growing and Canning Club. Ask your teacher to help 

 organize a Tomato Club in the school. 



