TOMATOES 



445 



regions having the long growing-periods characteristic of higher 

 latitudes; it varies from 75 to 200 bushels to the acre. The small- 

 ness of the yield is not a result of the methods of culture or 

 training practiced, but is, without doubt, to be attributed to the 

 uncongenial climatic conditions and the harmful soil organisms. 



Soil. The best soil for the production of this crop is one which 

 contains a comparatively large percentage of sand. At the South, 

 sandy loam or a sandy soil is preferred to bottom land. 



Harvesting and marketing. The same precautions in handling 

 the fruits should be observed at the South as at the North. For 

 the long-distance shipments necessary to place the Florida- and 

 Texas-grown tomatoes on the mar- 

 ket, the fruits are picked as soon 

 as they have reached full develop- 

 ment and show the slightest change 

 in color. The individual fruits are 

 wrapped in a soft brown or white tea 

 paper and packed in two-layer boxes 

 or in the six-basket peach carrier 

 already mentioned and shown in 

 figure 1 68. Fruits packed in this 

 way and shipped by express or by fast 

 freight under refrigeration are suc- 

 cessfully carried from Miami, Florida, 

 to New York City, and from Corpus Christi, Texas, to Chicago. 

 The four-basket carrier shown in figure 169 is used by Texas 

 growers with satisfaction. The prices obtained for the fruits grown 

 in these latitudes at the season when the Northern markets are 

 bare of fresh tomatoes, except those from greenhouses, net satis- 

 factory returns to the growers. 



Late crop for the South. At the present time the tomato growers 

 of the South place their main dependence on the early crop which 

 matures in advance of the tomatoes grown at the North, and which 

 comes in competition only with the hothouse-grown product. There 

 is, however, another very promising field for a limited number of 

 truck growers in the Southern states in the production of a second 

 or later crop of tomatoes, which shall ripen during the months of 

 September and October. The Southern markets, which are each 



FIG. 169. Four-basket carrier for 

 tomatoes 



