VEGETABLES DESCRIPTION AND CULTUKE. 435 



sheltered spot, water with tepid water iii dry weather, 

 shield them with a mat or box in cold nights, and thin 

 the plants while young to three inches, and carefully 

 transplant these, when ready, with a trowel and ball, 

 into their final situation. In the Gulf States another 

 sowing or two should be made, to keep up a full succes- 

 sion in the long summer. 



As soon as the lower fruit is half grown, cut off the 

 upper part of the plant above the larger fruit, that its 

 growth may be stopped, and the fruit below will be larger 

 and several days earlier. Ninety per cent, of the fruit 

 grows within eighteen inches of the ground, but a large 

 portion of the vines grow above that height. Tomatoes 

 like the soil about them well hoed, and free from weeds. 

 Plants grown in the open air are more abundant in bear- 

 ing than those forwarded under glass. In well-trenched 

 ground they will continue bearing until frost. 



To Save Seed. — Select the largest early fruit, mash with 

 the hand, and wash the seed from the pulp; spread out 

 upon plates and dry in the shade; when dry, put them in 

 paper bags. 



Use, — Few vegetables are prepared in as many differ- 

 ent forms as the tomato. It is pickled when green, and 

 preserved when ripe; it is eaten raw or cooked; it enters 

 into soups and sauces, and is prepared in catsups, marma- 

 lades, and omelets. The French, and the Italians, near 

 Rome and Naples, raised them by the acre long before 

 they were used by other nations, and, it is said, prepared 

 them in an almost infinite variety of ways. There are 

 very few preparations into which it enters which are not 

 improved by the addition. A good supply should be pre- 

 pared when in season by stewing and putting up in 

 patent cans for winter use. On account of the acid of the 

 fruit, earthen or glass jars are best. 



