Garden Crops Grown for Their Fruits 273 
Fic. 154. Tomato vines with barrel-hoop supports. 
Varieties like Tom Thumb and White Rice may be grown 
in the home garden. 
TOMATOES 
From 80 to 125 days are needed to bring the fruits of 
the tomato to ripeness. To secure early crops, it is 
necessary to have plants of good size reatly for trans- 
planting to the garden as soon as danger of frost is past. 
With proper care such plants can be had in from 6 to 8 
weeks from time of sowing seed. 
The tomato is a tender plant that quickly suffers from 
poor treatment, but it responds to careful handling and 
proper transplanting. There are many good varieties 
of tomatoes. For general table use those with medium- 
sized, well-formed, solid, red fruits are most desira- 
ble. 
In the North the early and late varieties are planted at 
the same time. In the South, where the plants grow 
