TOMATO. 



241 



watered. When the two first trusses of bloom have ex- 

 panded, the shoot should be stopped by pinching off the 

 portion which is beyond the leaf above the second truss, and 

 no more lateral shoots should be suffered to grow ; but the 

 leaves must be carefully preserved, especially those near the 

 trusses of bloom. The number of shoots on each plant will 

 vary according to the strength and vigor of the particular 

 plant ; but three or four will be quite enough, leaving about 

 half a dozen trusses of fruit. 



Culture and Training. A convenient, simple, and eco- 

 nomical support for the plants may be made from three 

 narrow hoops, one twelve, another fifteen, and the third 

 eighteen or twenty inches in diameter, and attaching 



Trellis-training. 



them a foot from each other to three stakes, four feet in 

 length ; placing the lower hoop so that it may be ten inches 

 from the surface of the ground after the stakes are driven. 



