TOMATOES 13 



Trimming. The moderate trimming and, at times, even the 

 heavy trimming of the foliage is very essential. We disagree 

 with the wholesale defoliation of plants almost before they have 

 reached middle age, for it appears to us always as unnecessarily 

 cruel. We agree that some thinning of the dense foliage is 

 quite necessary to allow sunshine to penetrate throughout 

 the plantation that is reasonable enough but if the health of 

 the plant is of any consideration whatever, and of course it is, 

 then the thinning should be a gradual process, and not done 

 at one fell swoop. It is not fair to the plant. The healthier 

 the foliage the more tentatively should it be pruned, and instead 

 of removing entire leaves at once, why not shorten them by 

 one-half ? 



When the plant can dispense with any particular leaf, or 

 rather, when any leaf has ceased to function and becomes useless, 

 it turns yellow, and can be removed altogether without injury 

 to the plant ; also when badly infested with cladosporium it is 

 advisable to remove it entirely, but so long as the leaf is func- 

 tioning healthily and is helping the plant to carry on its work, 

 so long should it be preserved in part, if not intact. A really 

 heavy crop constitutes a great strain upon roots and foliage, 

 and unless these can be depended upon to carry on their respec- 

 tive functions, the crops must suffer. It stands to reason that 

 a healthy leaf cannot be removed with impunity, and we advise 

 those who think differently to seriously study the functions of 

 the leaves and be guided by what they learn. We will leave it 

 at that. 



FEEDING 



Until the first truss of fruit has set the soil will supply all the 

 plant requires in the way of food. It is but little that they need, 

 for they should no more be fattened in their early days than a 

 breeding sow or laying hens ; all they ask is to be kept sturdy 

 and healthful. But with the setting of that truss a certain 

 strain begins, gently at first, but afterwards increasing from 

 day to day as the fruits swell and the active growth proceeds. 

 We, of course, understand that the first business of any plant 

 is to produce and perfect its fruit, and it throws its chief energies 



