VEGETABLES TOMATO. 299 



and heavier crop ; all our experience shows that little 

 benefit is derived from the practice. Like all vegetables 

 grown on so large a scale, and in such varying soil and 

 climate, the Tomato sells in our markets at prices varying 

 widely, from $6 down to 25 cents per bushel, the average 

 price for those raised in the district, being about 75 cents 

 per bushel. The quantity raised per acre is about 400 

 bushels. This may seem at first glance to be quite a profit- 

 able crop for a farmer ; but every acre necessitates the 

 use of at least 100 sashes, for, on the second transplanting, 

 only about fifty plants can be grown to a sash, and about 

 5,000 plants are required for an acre. On one occasion, 

 having a very suitable soil, I grew about four acres of 

 Tomatoes for three years, which realized me from $1,500 to 

 $2,000 annually in receipts ; but I discovered that the 

 operation was a losing one, as, to raise 20,000 plants for 

 my four acres, I had to make use of 400 sashes, in which, 

 in rather less time and with far less labor than it took to 

 grow the Tomato plants, Lettuce could have been grown 

 that would have sold for at least $2 per sash. . Thus I 

 lost annually, in preparing for the Tomato plants, half 

 the receipts of the crop even before they were planted out. 

 But there are many parts of the country where Lettuce, 

 thus forwarded, could not be sold, while Tomatoes could, 

 which would materially change the aspect of the opera- 

 tion. In the southern sections of the country, convenient 

 to shipping, Tomatoes are largely grown for the northern 

 markets, and sold there at prices highly remunerative to 

 the grower. In many instances, in the Southern States, 

 the cultivation of Tomatoes for market is carelessly done, 

 the seed being sown in the open ground and the plants 

 transplanted, as we do Cabbages. No doubt, by starting 

 in January or February with the hot- beds, or even cold 

 frames, and planting ouc in March or April, they could 

 be had at least two weeks earlier than they are now sent 

 to us. In some localities thousands of acres of Tomatoes 



