TOMATOES 435 



cans such as are used by canners for vegetables. The heat neces- 

 sary to unsolder the tops and bottoms of the cans will also un- 

 solder the seam at the side, which will leave a rim of tin about 

 5 inches in height and from about 3 to 4 inches in diameter. 

 After tying a string around the rim so as to prevent its spreading 

 open, each can is filled with soil and used as a receptacle for a 

 young plant. By slipping a shingle under each can it may easily 

 be shifted to the place where the plant is to grow until field- 

 planting time arrives. If seed is sown in March, it will frequently 

 happen that plants handled as described above will be in bloom 



FIG. 1 66. Hotbed for starting tomato plants 



or will have formed small fruits the size of a marble before it is 

 time to transplant to the field. With careful handling at the time 

 of transplanting, these blossoms and fruits can be saved and will 

 come to maturity and produce an early and profitable crop. 



Training. For earliest returns it is desirable to train these forced 

 plants to a single stem by tying them to a stake 4 or 5 feet in 

 height. A good stake for this purpose is made from small saplings 

 such as are used for training beans, or from a mill edge | or i inch 

 square. These stakes should be driven firmly into the ground 

 beside the plants, and the plants carefully tied to them to prevent 

 whipping and to keep the fruits off the ground. All side shoots 

 should be kept pinched out, and only the central leading stem 



