112 



HORTICULTURE FOR SCHOOLS 



182. Red peppers (Fig. 82) are used either green or ripe. 



The larger kinds are preferred 

 for table use, while the smaller 

 more pungent varieties are used 

 for pickling and flavoring. Pep- 

 pers are hardy and easily grown. 

 Their culture is similar to that 

 of the eggplant. 



183. The tomato (Fig. 83) is 

 native to America, its original 

 home being in Peru. It was in- 

 troduced into Great Britain in 

 the latter part of the sixteenth 

 century, but was grown at first 



FIG. 82.-Pepper. Qnly ^ ^ ornamenta l p l an t and 



for medicinal purposes. Italy was first to recognize its 

 value as an edible fruit. Later 

 France and England used it for food 

 extensively. 



Tomatoes are grown out-of-doors 

 in nearly all parts of the* United 

 States and Canada. In the extreme 

 North where the summers are too 

 short to insure the ripening of the 

 fruit, the tomato is not grown com- 

 mercially. Tomatoes are produced 

 commercially in the South, in the 

 middle states, and in some of the 

 western states, especially California. 

 Florida supplies the winter market. 



As the tomato requires warm 

 weather and a long season, in the 

 North the plants are first grown 

 from seed planted in hotbeds or in 

 flats in the greenhouse. The seedlings are transplanted 



FIG. 83. Tomato trained on 

 a stake. 



