240 TOMATOES. 



Et^i^nd New York by contract for canning. For this 

 p"rpose the matter of earliness is not so important, 

 and a couple of himdred plants may be put in a trans- 

 planting bed. The canning companies usually pay 

 from forty to fifty cents a bushel, and growers do 

 well at these prices. 



Soil. — The Tomato is one of the few plants grown 

 by market-gardeners for profit that will pay better 

 when planted in a poor than in a rich soil. I do not 

 mean a barren soil, but such as a gardener would 

 look iipon as poor. Before planting, the ground 

 should be thoroiighly and deeply ploughed and mel- 

 lowed. Then the furrows should be marked out 

 with two horses and a plough four feet each way. At 

 each intersection throw a small handful of Peruvian 

 guano. Then carefully lift the plants from the 

 frames, each one having a ball or square piece of 

 earth attached to the roots. For this purpose use a 

 long-bladed knife, making a cut on the four sides of 

 the plants, which are then placed in a barrow or 

 spring wagon and taken to the field. The plants 

 are set in place on top of the guano or other stimu- 

 lant, some soil is drawn around the ball of earth, 

 which is pressed firmly by the hands of the operator, 

 and so on until the field is finished. Wlien the 

 plants have had plenty of room in the frames, then 

 lifted as described above, they are not checked by 

 transplanting in the open ground. The roots will 

 very soon come in contact with the guano ; this 

 will force the plants forward more rapidly than any 

 other treatment witli which we have experimented. 

 When Tomatoes are planted in strong, rich ground, 



