64 TOMATO CULTURE 



vary greatly and generally differ materially from those 

 given above. The seed is planted much earlier and 

 60 to 90 days before it is at all safe to set plants in 

 the open field; while a steady rate of growth is de- 

 sirable, it should be slow and the plants kept small by 

 a second and even third and fourth transplanting, and 

 especial care taken to avoid the soft and irregular 

 growth resulting from over-watering or over-heating. 

 Any side shoots which may appear should be pinched 

 out and a full pollination of the first cluster of the 

 blossoms secured, either by direct application of pollen 

 or by staking or jarring the plants on bright days ; 

 and finally, special efforts made to set the plants in 

 the field as early and with as little check as possible. 

 Growers are often willing to run considerable risk 

 of frost for the sake of early setting. 



When one has sandy land a very profitable crop 

 can sometimes be secured by sowing the seed very 

 early, and growing the plants on in beds until the first 

 cluster of fruit is set, then heeling them in, much 

 as nursery trees are, but so close that they can be 

 quickly covered in case of frost. As soon as it is at 

 all safe to do so, they are set in the open ground, very 

 closely, on the south side of ridges, so that only the 

 upper one-third of the plant is exposed, the remainder 

 being laid nearly level and covered with earth. 



So treated the plants will ripen the upper one or 

 two clusters very early but will yield little more until 

 late in the season, and it is generally more profitable 

 to plow them up and put in some other crop as soon 

 as the first clusters of fruit have ripened. Others 

 pinch out the central bud as soon as it is well formed, 



