TOMATOES 



THE TOMATO AS A FIELD CROP AT THE SOUTH 



443 



Commercial tomato growing in the Southern states is almost 

 wholly confined to the production of tomatoes at a season when 

 they cannot be grown at the North except in greenhouses. On this 

 account the commercial production of the crop is restricted to areas 

 where there is very little, if any, freezing during the winter months. 

 Florida, Texas, and Mississippi lead all the other Southern states 



FIG. 167. Tomatoes trained to stakes 



in the production of this crop. At the extreme southern limit of 

 tomato cultivation in Florida the plants are grown so as to be 

 ready for setting in the field about December I . The date of seed 

 sowing advances as one proceeds northward, so that in northern 

 Florida the seeds are sown early in January and the young plants 

 placed in the field in March. Where frost conditions do not form 

 barriers to the production of seedling plants in the open, the seed 

 beds are made in some sheltered spot where partial shade can 

 be given and where frequent watering will be possible. As soon 

 as the young plants are from 6 to 10 inches in height, they are 



