The Canadian Horticulturist. iS' 



TOMATOES BY THE ACRE. 



Tomatoes yield the best crops in heavy loam, that will not pack or bake. 

 The plants, except for early planting, can be raised better out-of-doors, in garden 

 beds. The ground should have a dressing broadcast of 800 bushels to the acre 

 of good, well rotted barn-yard or hog-pen manure, well and thoroughly plowed 

 in and harrowed down. When the season is well settled, harrow the ground, 

 and furrow out five feet each way ; and put in plenty of fine, well-rotted manure 

 at the crossing of the furrows, using about eight hundred busiiels to the acre in 

 the hills. Tread down well and cover with soil about three inches deep. Set 

 the plants well down in the ground, pressing the soil well up to them. It is 

 best to wet the roots when setting, as the soil adheres better. Keep the ground 

 clean and loose with the cultivator and the hoe, drawing the soil or hilling them 

 at each dressing. 



Tomatoes are marketed by packing in crates holding a strick or Winchester 

 bushel, made of two ends and one middle piece, each three-quarters of an inch 

 thick, eight inches wide and fourteen inches long ; with the slats nailed on three 

 inches wide, 22 inches long, and three-quarters of an inch thick. Good heavy 

 mason's lath will answer for slats, leaving a space of one inch for ventilation 

 between them. For a long distance from market they should be picked just as 

 they begin to show a red tinge at the blossom end : but for near-by they must be 

 riper or so they will be ripened when they arrive in the market. Care should be 

 taken not to pack any cracked or wormy ones, as they spoil the rest, and injure 

 the sale of the whole. For Philadelphia market they are usually shipped in five- 

 eighths stave peach baskets, covered with cloth, which are returned to the ship- 

 per. — American Agriculturist. 



How TO GROW Tomatoes in Perfection. — Because the generous nature 

 of the tomato yields bountifully with seemingly little care, the general impressioii 

 prevails that the plant requires but little attention. This is a sad mistake, for 

 there is not a vegetable in the garden that is so gross a feeder, nor one that so 

 readily pays for all the food and care given as the tomato. To grow it to the 

 greatest perfection, the hills should be dug out to the depth of two-and-a-half 

 feet ; at the bottom there should be a half bushel of well-rotted manure ; above 

 this let the soil be an equal mixture of loam and manure thoroughly mixed. 

 The hills should be at least six feet apart. Let the situation be open, warm 

 airy. When the fruit begins to set, mulch with clean straw or very small brush. 

 Under these conditions six plants will furnish sufificient tomatoes for a family of 

 twelve persons. Whatever variety may be planted in this manner, the result will 

 show specimens for size, smoothness, and esculent properties, unknown to the 

 variety> when grown in the ordinary manner. — American Agriculturist. 



