144 FARM-GARDENING AND SEED-GROWING. 



keep well under the best of circumstances, and hence it 

 is advisable to commence digging early, and sell them 

 direct from the field, finishing before frost if possible. 



Varieties^ The varieties are not numerous, the " Nan- 

 semond " being the one generally conceded to be the best 

 for a Northern climate. 



TOMATOES. 



They are extensively grown for market, and are an impor- 

 tant crop for the farm-garden. Fifty years ago they were 

 scarcely used for eating, while now hundreds of thousands 

 of bushels are annually consumed in this country, show- 

 ing that all vegetable productions create a mar- 

 ket for themselves, a fact worthy the attention of those 

 who from fear that the business of vegetable-growing 

 may be overdone are deterred from planting many crops 

 which they might grow to advantage. 



Growing the Plants. The seed may be sown in the 

 open ground after frost, but at the North these plants will 

 be too late to mature much of the crop, though some will 

 ripen. 



To grow them early sow the seed in March in a hot-bed, 

 transplant into a new hot-bed, and give the same general 

 treatment as directed for egg-plants, though they do not 

 require quite so much heat. For seed purposes or main 

 crop sow in hot-bed early in April, and transplant into a 

 cold-frame, five inches each way, covering with sashes, 

 and giving air clear days. By either of these methods, 

 the former especially, they could be produced at the South, 

 for the Northern market, a fortnight or more earlier than 

 they now are. 



Soil, Preparation, and Planting, Tomatoes will 

 grow in almost any soil, but to grow them early, that 

 composed mostly of sand is best, and for late and abun- 

 dant yield a loamy soil is preferable. The ground should 



