TOMATOES 439 



Keep an accurate, separate record of each plot, giving the date 

 and amount of each picking, together with the green fruit on 

 the plants when killed by frost. From such a record one can 

 easily determine the influence of the various mixtures on the 

 period of ripening and the yield of fruit, and these results, in 

 turn, will indicate the relative value of each mixture. This test 

 may be modified by increasing or decreasing the amount of the 

 various ingredients and comparing the results. If plants are 

 spaced 4 feet apart each way, 2722 will be required for an acre, 

 and each plot of 10 plants will represent about ^-^ of an acre. 

 Then by multiplying the amount of fertilizer applied to one plot 

 and the yield of fruit produced by one plot, by 272, the corre- 

 sponding amount of fertilizer and yield per acre of fruit will be 

 obtained. 



As a rule readily soluble, " quick " fertilizers which produce an 

 early growth and early ripening of the crop are most desirable. 

 Nitrate of soda is undoubtedly the best form in which to apply 

 nitrogen. It acts quickly, but only for a short time, and for that 

 reason is very desirable where short-season crops are concerned. 

 In many cases it has been found an advantage to apply the nitrate 

 in two installments rather than all at once, one application being 

 made when the plants are set in the field, and a second about the 

 time the fruits begin to color. Fertilizers containing nitrogen in a 

 slowly available form, as cottonseed meal or coarse, undecomposed 

 stable manure, which do not stimulate an active growth until late 

 in the season, are too slow for a short-season crop like the tomato, 

 which needs something to stimulate it at the time it is transplanted 

 to the field. These nitrogenous fertilizers tend to stimulate late 

 growth of the vine at the expense of maturity of the fruit. Potash 

 and phosphoric acid are more conducive to the development of 

 fruits than is nitrogen, 'unless it is in the form of nitrate of soda. 

 Heavy dressings of stable manure tend to produce too much vine 

 and are seldom employed. If stable manure is used, it is at a 

 moderate rate, not more than one small shovelful to a plant. This, 

 if well-decomposed and thoroughly incorporated with the soil, is 

 very stimulating to the young plant, and therefore very beneficial. 

 Whatever the fertilizer, it should be applied, in part at least, at the 

 time the plants are transplanted. The readily soluble fertilizers such 



