16 



The Florists^ Review 



August 9, 1917. 



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TOMATOES UNDER GLASS 



A Treatise on a Subject of Wartime Significance 



TOn? 



IW I WB I U i WIW** 



HE subject is one which it 

 might be well for many- 

 florists to consider. The de- 

 creased demand for flowers, 

 or the comparatively^ low, 

 prices obtained in oroer to 

 get rid of them, as compared 

 with the cost of production, must make 

 thoughtful men consider what is best 

 to do in order to keep operating their 

 greenhouses, and at the same time make 

 it pay to do so. As flowers are more or 

 less a luxury, it follows that if this war 

 lasts for any considerable time the 

 tendency will be that a further decrease 

 in demand for flowers must be the re- 

 sult. That being so, it follows that the 

 growers will be forced to shut down 

 parts of their ranges, or grow something 

 else that is not a luxury, for in these 

 days of high prices of all foodstuffs 

 greenhouse tomatoes are just as cheap 

 as most other things. 



I make this plea, gentlemen, in the 

 hope that instead of closing down part 

 of your range you will utilize that 

 space, in so far as it is possible for you 

 to do so. I feel sure that you will have 

 no cause for regret; on the contrary, 

 you will feel a great measure of satis- 

 faction in the fact that you are really 

 doing war work, even though the profits 

 may not be so high as you have been 

 accustomed to in growing other crops. 



The Importance of Bight Variety. 



The general public has acquired such 

 3. liking for tomatoes that the demand 

 for them the year around is on the in- 

 crease, and anything which the public 

 desires that can be home grown is al- 

 ways much more appreciated, not only 

 from a patriotic standpoint at this time 

 in our history, but also because it 

 reaches them in that fresh condition 

 which is so desirable in fruits or vege- 

 tables. The question which naturally 

 arises to one's mind as a grower is, Will 

 it pay to grow them? The answer is 

 found in the demand — anything that 

 there is a demand for will surely pay, 

 providing the crop is grown properly. 

 Good prices are obtained throughout the 

 period that it is possible to have them, 

 and if proper attention is given to 

 every detail I have no hesitation what- 

 ever in saying that they pay, and pay 

 well. 



The variety grown has much to do 

 with whether they pay or not. The To- 

 ronto market, I understand, calls for a 

 small fruit, whereas the Montreal 

 market is supplied with fruit of 

 good size. My experience in testing out 

 varieties has proven to my satisfaction, 

 at least, that there are few varieties 

 worth growing, and for the Montreal 

 market only one, namely, Livingston's 

 Globe. This variety has an ideal habit 

 of growth, and the leaf stalks are far 

 enough apart, offsetting the necessity of 

 removing any of them to admit light, 

 while the foliage itself is not too heavy; 



An address by A. H. Walker, of Macdonald 

 College, Quebec, Can., delivered at the conven- 

 tion of the Canadian Horticultural Association at 

 Montreal, August 8, 1917. 



and last, but not least, it is a heavy 

 cropper, the fruit being most regular in 

 sh«pe, •v'kth but few small fruits that 

 cannot be shipped. "With other varie- 

 ties tried out, the amount of waste in 

 this respect was altogether out of pro- 

 portion, even with so-called good forcing 

 varieties. On this point I should say 

 that while I do not wish to appear 

 ''Kaiseric," it seems to me that if one 

 variety is so much better than another 

 and the same prices are obtained for 



The Editor is pleased wiien 

 a Reader presents iiis ideas 

 on any subject treated in 



As experience is the best 

 teacher, so do we learn 

 fastest by an exchange of 

 experiences. Many valuable 

 points are brought out by 

 discussion. 



Good penmanship, spellins and 

 grammar, though desirable, are not 

 necessary. Write as you would talk 

 when doing your best. 



WE SHALL BE GLAD 

 TO HEAR FROM YOU 



both, it is up to the growers, no matter 

 where they are situated, to grow the 

 variety that nets them the largest re- 

 turns, irrespective of what the market 

 calls for. The markets will fall in line 

 when there is nothing else left for them 

 to do. 



Profits per Square Foot. 



Eegarding the returns per square foot 

 of bench area, I may say that records 

 were kept for several years at Mac- 

 donald College to ascertain the produc- 

 tiveness of varieties, and here again, 

 let me say, Globe led them all by a 

 handsome margin. We continued to 

 keep records from houses planted en- 

 tirely with Globe and found that one 

 house, producing two crops on the same 

 soil during the year, yielded a total of 

 over 3,600 pounds. The bench area 

 devoted to the crop was 716 square 

 feet; therefore the weight per 

 square foot was over five pounds. 

 The prices obtained during the sea- 

 son fluctuated, according to the 

 time of year and due to the influence 

 that imported southern fruit has on the 

 market for a few weeks, but, notwith- 



standing this, good prices are obtained. 

 For the fall and winter crop this year, 

 commencing the second week in October 

 and lasting until the second week in 

 January, the wholesale prices obtained 

 ran from 25 to 40 cents per pound, the, 

 bulk realizing 25 cents, while the tail. 

 end realized from 30 to 40 cents. The 

 prices obtained for the spripg and early 

 summer crop, pf which we usually ship 

 from the end of April until well into 

 July, usually start at 25 cents, which 

 price holds well until the southern fruit 

 comes in, when the price drops to 20 and 

 even 15 cents for a couple of weeks, 

 then soars up again to 20, 22 1^, 25 and 

 27 cents. 



At these prices the gross earnings 

 per square foot of bench for the two 

 crops will be $1 or over. Deduct from 

 this ten per cent commission, express at 

 35 cents per hundred pounds, the cost of 

 crate, baskets and wrapping paper, and 

 you still have from 75 to 80 cents per 

 square foot. 



Now, gentlemen, I give you these fig- 

 ures to show the possibilities of tomato 

 growing, and I would like to add that 

 I know these figures can be improved 

 upon by the commercial grower, as it 

 is his business to grow everything to the 

 highest perfection. He puts his time 

 on the crop, while with men in my 

 position the growing is done amid multi- 

 tudinous daily interruptions. 



The Three Crops tn Canada. 



Having dealt so far with the possibili- 

 ties of tomato growing, I will now en- 

 deavor to outline the actual growing, for 

 the benefit of those who have but little 

 or no experience in handling this plant. 



While it is not advisable to attempt 

 to keep up a supply of tomatoes the 

 year around for reasons I will mention 

 later, it is quite possible to supply the 

 market from October until the middle of 

 January; then again from the end of 

 April until the end of August. In order 

 to do this, three sowings are made. 

 The first sowing is made June 25, the 

 second October 25 and the third on or 

 about December 20. The plants from 

 the June sowing will continue in fruit 

 from October until January, as before 

 stated. In the meantime the plants from 

 the October sowing are being grown 

 along in pots and as the growth is slow 

 at that time of year these plants will 

 average ten inches in height by the 

 second week in January, when the June- 

 sown plants are finished. These plants 

 are removed, the benches manured, dug 

 over and replanted. Thus the house is 

 kept occupied by the first two sowings. 

 The plants from the third sowing can 

 be grown along in pots until space is 

 available; for instance, after the violet 

 crop is finished. 



It will be noticed that there is an in- 

 terval between the middle of January 

 and the end of April during which no 



