298 VEGETABLE FORCING 
to place a layer or two of paper on top of the excelsior, 
before packing the tomatoes. Lids may be used or the 
baskets may be wrapped in paper and securely tied 
preparatory to shipment. 
Yields and returns.—Yields of greenhouse tomatoes 
are extremely variable. Late fall and winter crops are 
the lightest and spring crops the heaviest. Two pounds 
per square foot is considered a satisfactory yield, though 
this amount is often exceeded. The following yields have 
been reported by prominent growers in the various sec- 
tions indicated: An Irondequoit (N. Y.) grower 
averaged 12 pounds to the plant one season, with Peer- 
less as a spring crop in a 30 by 180-foot house; seven rows 
in the house, 120 plants in each row, or 840 in the house, 
about 10 clusters on each plant, and an average of six 
tomatoes per cluster. This grower usually averages about 
10 pounds to the plant. A Cleveland grower harvested 
Fig. 97.—A unique way of packing a number of small boxes of tomatoes. 
4,000 pounds of Globe and Magnus from 400 plants, 18 
to 25 tomatoes to the plant. A New Castle (Pa.) 
grower averages about 10 pounds of Globe to the 
plant. A Boston grower picked 13,860 pounds of fruit 
from 1,670 plants set 15 inches by 3 feet. Eight pounds 
