1280 Tur VecETaBLe InpusTRY IN New York State 
only adds plant food to the soil in a readily available form but 
also improves its physical condition. 
Not many growers of greenhouse crops use commercial fer- 
tilizers, most of them holding the opinion that by trenching 
manure enough plant food is added to the soil to maintain fer- 
tility. Probably commercial fertilizers would prove beneficial, 
especially for certain crops. Some form of phosphorus would be 
very beneficial to cucumbers and would hasten the maturity of 
the fruit. Potash should be applied to tomatoes, since it is known 
that the tomato plant demands large amounts of potash, and a 
sandy soil usually is low in this element of plant food. 
LIME 
Greenhouse men lime their soils every year, applying at the 
rate of five to eight pounds of air-slaked lime to every one hundred 
square feet of area. Lime improves the physical condition of 
soil and sweetens it. 
GENERAL CROPPING PLAN 
During the past few years, many of the Irondequoit growers 
have attempted to raise cucumbers and tomatoes as well as lettuce, 
radishes and parsley, in their greenhouses in fall. In many cases 
these growers have failed with their fall crops of cucumbers and 
tomatoes, chiefly because the houses were neglected in fall, most 
of the growers devoting their time to celery harvesting instead of 
remaining in the greenhouses. Cucumbers and tomatoes need 
constant care and attention. Especially is this true in the fall 
of the year. One grower near Elmira, N. Y., has been very 
successful with fall tomatoes, and the secret of his success is con- 
stant and unceasing care and attention to the plants. It is practi- 
cally an impossibility to raise cucumbers successfully in the green- 
houses of New York State in the fall of the year on account of 
the dark, gloomy weather prevailing in at least most sections of 
the state at this time. Under proper care and management, 
tomatoes can be successfully grown in this state in fall, but they 
will need a great deal more attention than in spring, and one 
cannot expect nearly so large a crop, but prices are usually better 
in fall than in spring. 
