444 



GARDEN FARMING 



transferred to the field in practically the same manner as are the 

 hotbed-grown plants produced for general field culture at the North, 

 and, unless for a specially early crop, they are not transplanted or 

 potted. The plants are set in rows from 3 to 4 feet apart, and the 

 plants are spaced from 1 8 inches to 3 feet apart in the row. The 

 ground is fertilized with commercial fertilizers containing from i to 

 2 per cent of nitrogen in the form of nitrate of soda, from 8 to 

 10 per cent of phosphoric acid, and from 4 to 6 and even 8 per 



cent of potash. A dressing 

 of from 400 to 800 pounds 

 to the acre is employed and 

 with clean cultivation the 

 plants make a quick return. 

 Training. It is custom- 

 ary in this latitude to train 

 the plants to stakes from 

 2 to 2^ feet in height. 

 The stalks, usually reduced 

 to two or three, are tied 

 to the stakes in order to 

 keep the fruits and the 

 foliage off the ground, and 

 to expose the plants to 

 the action of sun and air 

 for the purpose of bringing 

 the fruits to early maturity. 

 A field of plants so trained 

 is shown in figure 167. 



Yield. The difficulties of producing a satisfactory crop of toma- 

 toes in these southern latitudes are much greater than at the 

 North. In some localities the Southern blight, which produces 

 a dry, darkened area, usually around the blow end of the tomato, 

 frequently causes the loss of a considerable percentage of the crop. 

 The fact that no effective remedy is now known for this disease 

 renders the cultivation of the tomato at the South more precarious 

 than it would otherwise be. Tomato worms, too, are more abun- 

 dant and more annoying in the Southern fields than at the North. 

 The yield of fruit under these conditions is much less than in 



FIG. 1 68. Wrapping and packing tomatoes for 

 distant markets 



