October 12, 1892 ] 



Garden and Forest. 



487 



Cultural Department. 



Tomatoes as a Summer Greenhouse Crop. 



■\ 7ERY many garden crops are suitable to greenhouse culti- 

 ^ vation, but the commercial grower is limited to those 

 which will pay, and the decision of this question depends very 

 largely on locality. In our large cities Cucumbers, Tomatoes, 

 Caulitiower, and even other vegetables, can be grown with 

 profit, but tlie kind of crops and their succession must depend 

 on various circumstances. A recent bulletin of the Ohio Ex- 

 periment Station, which is situated at Columbus, explains why 

 they find it necessary to adopt a course which is quite different 



the same is true of Beans. Cauliflower would not pay at the 

 prices which can be obtained, but Asparagus, Pie-plant and 

 Dandelions, although they do not command large money re- 

 turns, can still be grown to advantage, because they utilize the 

 space under the benches. Mushrooms, too, can be grown un- 

 der the benches where there are no pipes, and this is a profit- 

 able crop. 



This cultivation of Tomatoes in the greenhouse for spring 

 and summer is not altogether novel, but it is not very widely 

 practiced, and therefore we condense from the bulletin alluded 

 to the report of Mr. E. C. Green, the assistant horticulturist of 

 the station, which details the methods of cultivation. It seems 

 probable that the system could be adopted in other places 









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Fig. 83. — Live Oak (Queicus Virginiana) in St. Augustine, Flor:"da. — See page 483, 



from that followed in other cities. The Lettuces which are 

 most profitable there are Simpson's and Grand Rapids, both 

 belonging to the non-heading class. 



Two crops of Lettuce are taken from the beds, and the 

 houses are then occupied by Tomatoes late in the season, 

 when Lettuce cannot be grown profitably. The Tomatoes, if 

 forced in winter in large quantities, cannot be sold to advantage, 

 but in late spring and early summer they will bring prices 

 almost equal to those which rule in midwinter, and the houses 

 are occupied when they would yield nothing more valuable. 

 It may be added here that Cucumbers can be grown in the 

 place of Tomatoes, but they are less profitable. The quick- 

 growing Turnip- rooted Radishes are fairly remunerative, and 



near medium-sized city markets with profit. The house which 

 is used for Tomatoes is occupied in the winter by other plants, 

 while the Tomato-plants are kept in as small a space as possi- 

 ble. As a rule, vegetable houses are empty about the middle 

 of May, when the last crops of radishes and lettuce are taken 

 off, and after this time they can be used with a nominal cost 

 for fuel, and no extra expense for filling benches with soil, so 

 that altogether they make a rather inexpensive crop. 



It has been the experience of Mr. Green that these house- 

 grown Tomatoes have been in constant demand. In the midst 

 of the strawberry and raspberry season tomatoes sold at fif- 

 teen or twenty cents a quart, which is twice the price of ber- 

 ries. When tomatoes began to come from the south it did not 



