16 



The Florists^ Review 



August 9, 1917. 



TOMATOES UNDER GLASS 



A Treatise on a Subject of Wartime Significance 



«i« ;iiii»««lt'HE»«»MJJJ 



siiliji'i't is one' -wliich it 

 nii^lit Ik' \\v\\ I'oi' iiiaiiy 

 Idiists 1(1 fou-^iilcr. The dc- 

 (•r<';isfil (Icinniiil ior ilowcrs, 

 (ir tli(' . Dnijijivativoly low 

 prices (iMaiiuil in order to 

 m't rill ill tlitiu, ;i ■ •,-oiiiiiarcd 

 ■\vlvii tlie (-(i-t oi" jirodiictioii. loiist niako 

 tiiouiilitl'ul men eoiisider wliiit is l)Ost 

 to do in order to keep operating their 

 greciiliouses, and at tlie same time make 

 it pay to do so. As flowers are more or 

 less a luxury, it follows that if this war 

 lasts lor any considerable time the 

 tendency will be that a further decrease 

 in demand for flowers must be the re- 

 sult. That lieing so, it follows that the 

 irrowers will be forced to shnt down 

 parts of their ranges, or grow something 

 else that is not ii luxury, for in these 

 days of higli ])rices of all foodstuffs 

 greenhouse tom.'itoes arc just as cheap 

 as most other things. 



I mak<» this jtlea, gentlemen, in the 

 hope that instead of closing down part 

 of your range yon will utilize that 

 sjiace. in so far as it is possible for yon 

 to do so. T fovl suri' that you will have 

 no cause for regret; on the contrary, 

 you will fe(d a great measure of satis- 

 faction in the fact that you are really 

 <loing war work, even though the profits 

 may not be so high as you have been 

 accustomed to in growing other crops. 



The Importance of Right Variety. 



The general public has acipiired such 

 a liking for tomatoes that the demand 

 for fhem tli(> year around is on Die in- 

 crease, .-tnd anything which the ])ublic 

 desiics tli.'it can be home grown is al- 

 ways much more ajiprccjated, not only 

 from a jiatriotic standpoint at this time 

 in our history, but also because it 

 reaches them in that fresh condition 

 which is so d(>siiabl(> in I'l-uits or vege- 

 tables. The "luestion which naturally 

 irises to one's mind .'is a grmvi r is, ^\'ill 

 it jiay to grow tliem.' The answer is 

 found in the deniand — :uiything that 

 there is ;i lU'inand for will snrely pay, 

 ]iro\iding the cro|» is grown ])ro[ierly. 

 Good ]>rices are obtained throughout the 

 ]>eii<ii| that it is ]mssibh> to have them, 

 and if proper attention is given to 

 every detail 1 lia\e no liesitation what- 

 ever in saving that tliev iiav, and imy 

 well. ■ ■ ■ 



The variety grown has nnich to do 

 ■\\itli whether they ]iay or not. The To- 

 lonto market, I nnderstand, cills for a 

 small fruit. when>as the Montreal 

 market is -applied with fruit of 

 good si/o. Aly e\]i(ii(Micc in testing out 

 Aarietii'N has ju'oven to my satisfaction, 

 at l<\'ist. that there ine f-w varieties 

 ^^orth i: ("w iiiL''. and fur the ^Montreal 

 iiiarlvet iiiil\- riie. namely, J^i\-ingston 's 

 <!l(die. This \ ariety lias an ideal lialdt 

 of growth, and the leaf stalks are far 

 enough apart, offsetting the necessity of 

 removing any of them to admit light, 

 Avhile the foliage itself is not too heavy; 



All iKl.lrcss by A. II. WiMkcr, of Manloiinld 

 rollc;,'!', (^iirliiT, (':iil., (Irlivi-i'i'il lit tlic CDIlVfll- 

 tioii nf the ('.■iiiMiH.-iii Hoi-liciiltiiral Assuciiilioii ;it 

 Mulitrciil, .\iiKMst S, li)17. 



and last, but not least, it is a heavy 

 cropjier, the fruit being most reguLar in 

 shape, with but few small fruits that 

 cannot be shi[)ped. "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 1 should say 

 that while I do not wish to appear 

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

 variety is so much better than anpther 

 and the same prices are obtained for 



The Editor is pleased vviien 

 a Reader presents his ideas 

 on any subject treated in 



-i^jEur 



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, siiolling and 

 grammar, Ihougli desirable, are not 

 necessary. Write as .vou would talk 

 H lien doing your best. 



WE SHALL BE CLAD 

 TO HEAR FROM YOU 



both, it is up to the growers, no matter 

 where they are situated, to grow the 

 \ariety that nets them the largest re- 

 turns, irres]iective of what the market 

 i-alls for. The markets will fall in line 

 when there is nothing else left for them 

 to do. 



Profits per Square Foot. 



l?<\garding the returns jier square foot 

 of ben(di area, I may say that records 

 were kept for several years at Mac- 

 donald College to ascertain the ]iroduc- 

 tiveness of varieties, and here again, 

 let me say, Globe led them all by a 

 handsome margin. Wc continued to 

 keep records from houses jdanted en- 

 tirely with Globe and found that one 

 house, producing two crops on the same 

 soil during the year, yielded a total of 

 over ;),6UU jiounds. The bench area 

 devoted to the crop was 71G square 

 feet: therefore the weight jur 

 sipi; re foot was over five i)Ounds. 

 The jirices obtained during the sea- 

 son lluctuated, 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 wliolesale prices obtained 

 ran from L'5 to 40 cents per pound, the 

 bulk realizing 25 cents, while the tail 

 end realized from 30 to 40 cnits. The 

 prices obtained for the spring and early 

 summer crop, of 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, 22V., 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 f<0 cents per 

 square foot. 



Now, gentlemen, I give you these fig- 

 ures to show the jjossibilities of tomato 

 growing, and I would like to add that 

 I know tliese figures can be im[iroved 

 upon by the commercial grower, as it 

 is his business to grow everything to the 

 highest ]>erfection. He puts his time 

 on the crop, wliile with men in my 

 ])Osition the growing is done amid multi- 

 tudinous daily interruptions. 



The Three Crops in Canada. 



Having dealt so far with the jiossibili- 

 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 e.\|)erience in h.andling this ])lant. 



\Vhile it is not advisable to attempt 

 to keej> up a supply of tomatoes the 

 year around for reasons I will mention 

 later, it is quite possible to supply the 

 market from Octolier 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 jdants 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 jiots 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, wIhmi the June- 

 sown plants are finished. These jilants 

 are removed, the benches manured, dug 

 over and reid.-iiited. Thus the house is 

 kept occupied by the first two sowiu'Ts. 

 The jilants t'rnni tl'c tl'ird sowing can 

 lie grown along in jiots until space is 

 a\ailalile; fur instance, after the \iolet 

 crop is finished. 



It will be iioticeil tjiat there is an in- 

 tei\;i] betwei-n the middle of January 

 and the end of A[irii during which no 



