TOMATOES 33 



The demand for the luscious vegetable-fruit is ever increasing, 

 and though the Channel Islands, Belgium, Holland, Spain, 

 and the Canary Islands pour thousands of tons each year into 

 our market, to say nothing of the almost incredible amount 

 of tinned Tomatoes from Italy and America, the home grower is 

 still on the flood-tide simply because there are no Tomatoes like 

 the English Tomatoes, and certainly no better growers than 

 the English growers. 



In view of their tremendous importance they demand a close 

 study, and at no time are correct methods and treatment more 

 important than during the initial stages in the life of the plants. 



First, then, as to the choice of seed. We say nothing about 

 varieties, because progress is so rapid that the favourite of to-day 

 may become obsolete in a year or two and our remarks become 

 ancient history. What we have to talk about are those things 

 that are permanent and which will endure as long as the Tomato 

 itself. Choose your seed, if possible, before it has been harvested ; 

 in other words, select the ripe fruits and harvest your own seed. 

 Choose it from sources untainted by disease. Be exceedingly 

 exacting as to that. Choose it between midsummer and July, 

 for then you will procure the best ripened seeds. Avoid coarse 

 fruits just as you will avoid small fruits let them be perfect, 

 solid, and of richest colour. Select them from the second and 

 third trusses, as these will have perfected themselves without 

 the vicissitudes incidental to the first truss. Every little point 

 in their favour is worth considering, and, come to think of it, 

 how big these little things are ! 



I^et us, for clarity's sake, tabulate these points : 



(1) Select ripe, well-developed fruit, and harvest the seed 

 yourself. 



(2) Choose it from sources free from the suspicion of disease. 



(3) Choose it between June 2ist and July 3ist. 



(4) Avoid coarse or otherwise imperfect fruits. 



(5) Select them from the second and third trusses. 



(6) When cleaned, see that the seeds are thoroughly sun 

 dried. 



Tomato seeds vary a little in size according to variety, but 

 there should be about 6,000 to the ounce, and if the number in 



