VEGETABLES AND THEIR CULTURE 401 



attempted until the ground is thoroughly warm. The tubers require the 

 same conditions for storage as squash. 



Tomato. — This is unquestionably one of the most important c ops of 

 American home gardens as well as commercial plantations. It does well 

 in a great variety of soil types. The sandy loams are preferred, though 

 very heavy yields have been obtained in clay and silt soils. Earliana is the 

 best known and most widely planted very early variety. It is fair in 

 quality and very productive. Bonny Best matures soon after Earliana 

 and is superior in some respects. Chalk Jewel and June Pink are also 

 popular early varieties. Among the leading late varieties may be men- 

 tioned Stone and Matchless. Beauty and Trucker Favorite are desirable 

 varieties of pink fruits. Good seed is highly essential to this crop and not 

 a few of our commercial growers make careful selection from their own 

 plantations. Seed for the early crop should be sown under glass not later 

 than the 1st of March and, if extremely early tomatoes are desired, the 

 20th of February will not be too soon. The finest plants are obtained by 

 first transplanting the plants one and one-half to two inches apart and then 

 three or four inches apart, and finally into pots which vary in size from four 

 to six inches. If the plants contain a blossom or two or perhaps a cluster 

 of fruit when set in the field, a few ripe tomatoes should be available by the 

 tenth of June and a large quantity should be available for market before 

 the first of August. The plants should be hardened as well as possible 

 before setting in the field, but no more water than is absolutely necessary 

 should be applied. Such plants will stand a considerable amount of 

 freezing in the field. Tomatoes of a superior quality may be obtained by 

 training the vines to single stems. The usual practice is to make the rows 

 about four feet apart and set the plants about fourteen to eighteen inches 

 apart in the row. The plants are secured to stakes or wire trellises and the 

 lateral branches are pinched out as fast as they appear. When a plant 

 attains a height of four or five feet a trellis is always used and this causes the 

 rapid development of fruit all along the stem. This method, however, 

 should not be practiced unless there is plenty of labor to attend to the 

 training. 



Turnips. — Our farmers are familiar with the growing of turnips because 

 they are produced not only for the home table but also to be stored during 

 the winter for the farm stock. Roots most uniform in size are obtained by 

 sowing in drills a foot to fifteen inches apart and thinning the plants to 

 four to five inches apart. The roots are usually preserved during the winter 

 by burying or covering with moist soil in pits. Some of the most popular 

 varieties are White Milan, Red Purple Top, White Flat Dutch, Purple 

 Top White Globe, White Egg and Yellow Globe. 



Watermelon. — The watermelon requires the same cultural condi- 

 tions as muskmelon. It should be planted in hills 8 x 10 feet to 

 10 x 10 feet apart. A bountiful supply of rotten manure should be used 

 in the hills. Commercial fertilizers can also often be employed to advan- 



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