TOLMIEA 



ami witli the simie ^tyle of beauty. It is a iierenuial 

 herb 1-2 tt. liiijh. witli loose raceme-i cf small u'reeuisli 

 or piirplish Howers. The speeies seems t.. have been 

 eult. abroad, and twenty years ago ii was oHered iu the 

 eastern l'. S. for western eolleetors. Ii is probablv 

 hardy and tlotibtless requires some shade. 



Generic eharaeters : ealyx fnimelfonii. ,;;ihbons at. 

 base. 5-lobed. the t>il>e in age loiitritudinallv splittiim- 

 down one side ; petals ,".. threadlike. iiis,.,.j,i,i ;,, ,|," 

 sinuses of tlu' I'alxx. reenrved. persisteiir; siantens ;;: 

 ovary Moonleil. with L'-parietal [daeeiita'. This plant 

 has been deseribrd under Tiarella and lleuehera. wliieh 

 it resembles in foliatre and iurioreseem'e. It seems to 

 be the only plant of the Saxifrage tribe that has :i sta- 

 lueiis. 



Menziesii. Torr. A: Gray. Perennial herb. l-J ft. high, 

 with slender creeping rootste'cks and s.ant- summer 

 runners: Ivs. round-cordate, nu"'re or less k.beil and 

 crenately toothed, slender - stalked, all alternate, those 

 of the stem 2-4 in number: raceme ''i-l'.j ft. long: tls. 

 and capsule nearly }.2 in. long, greenish or tinged pur- 

 ple. Forests of Jleudocino Co.. Calif., to Puget Sound. 

 -Propagates naturally by adventitious btids, produced 

 at the apex of the petioles of the radical Ivs. and reet- 



TO.MATO 



1.S13 



ing when these fall to the grottnd. 



W. J[. 



TOMATO (Plate XLII). The Tonuito is I., i,;,jh >:•<;- 

 cnii esciiIuilK})! (which see), one of the sohiuum or 

 nightshade family and closely allied to the potato. In 

 fact, the potato and Tomato can be grafted on each other 

 with ease, althotigh they will not cross. Tlie graft pro- 

 duces no practical results, however (see Bull, til, Cor- 

 nell Exp. Sta. 1 . The Tomato is grown more extensively 

 in Xorth America than elsewhere in the world, and 

 the varieties ha\'e here reached a higher <ligree of per- 

 fection. The American standard or ideal is a To- 

 mato that is nearly globular, solid and "smooth" (that 

 is. not wrinkled). Figs. 2.31S-20. The flat angled 

 antl wrinkled Tonuitoes (Fig. 2.'2(> : ];{;U. Vid. II) ai->' 

 now little grown in this country. These forms are 

 little adapted to canning, to which use enormous (pian- 

 tities of Tomatoes are put, and they do not satisfy tin- 

 popular ideal or desire. The old-time pear, cherrv'. and 

 plum forms (Figs. 2521, 2522) of Tomatoes are still 

 grown for curiosity and also for the making of pieties 

 and preserves, but their field culture is relatively not 

 important. Tlie ctirrant Tomato, grown for ornament 

 and curiosity, is Lti'-npei-siciim phiiphieUiMhim (Fig. 

 2.523). It sometimes hvbridizes with the common spe- 

 cies (Fig. 1338, Vol. III". 



The Tomato reqtiires a warm soil and climate, a 

 sunny- open position, and along seas.:.n. The plants are 

 usually started in hotbeds or glass houses, being trans- 

 ferred to the ojieu as soon as settled weather comes. 

 The plants are usually set from i-5 feet apart each wa\- 

 and are allowed to grow as they will, finally covering 

 the ground. For home use, however, the plants are 

 often trained, in order to forward their ripening and 

 to secure larger ami better colored fruits. The best 

 method is to train to a single stem, as recommended 

 for forcing below. The stem is supported Ijy a stake or 

 perpendicular wire or cord (Fig. 25241; or sometinu^s 

 if is tied to the horizontal strands of a tndlis. This sin- 

 gle-stem training requires close attention, and if the 

 time cannot be spared for it, the vines may be allowed 

 to lie on an inclined trellis or rack. This rack traiiting 

 keeps the plants from the ground and thereby allows 

 the individual fruits to develop perfectlv and also 

 checks the spread of the fruit-rot; but it lisually does 

 not give such perfect fruits as the single-stem training, 

 since the number of fruits is limited in the latter. The 

 most serious general difficulty in Tomato growing is 

 the rot of the fruit. This usually causes most damage. 

 following close, wet weather when the fruit is ripening. 

 It is apparently worst on plants that cover the ground 

 thickly with foliage and do not allow it to become dry 

 on the surface. I'sually it does not seriotisly lessen tlie 

 crop beyond a few pickings; and it the plants are 

 brought into bearing early and are kept in thrifty con- 

 dition for subsequent bearing, the percentage of total 

 iniury is greatly reduced. Tlie Tomato is^tender to 

 frost. The green fruit remainitig when frost kills the 

 plants may be ripened in tight drawers or cupboards. 



if it is nearly or quite toll giciun. Tlie 'I'oniat.i is pr..b- 

 ;ibly a slH.rf-lived pereiilii.d ; Ion in cold rUnialos il is 

 grown as au anntutl fiom see. Is t tt .. 



General Advice on Tomato Culture. - Tlic Tomato 

 comes troin tropical Aniriir;i and in ils natural habital 



II oiiditions of tclli|ioi-ature and m.dsture during \hr 



cnlire growing se;isoti are <'oiisl;in1 ly f a\-orable foi' its 

 ra|.id devcdopuieiil. The |ilanL is ad'aj.ted to siudi con- 

 ditions, anil if we are lo li;ive tlie best ]iiissilde results 



with it umbo' i-ultivat ion w o iiinsi |o'o\-iiie them :ind s, o 



jlo The modern tv pe of large ruund 

 " smooth" Tomato 



that it has a steady and unchecked growth from the 

 germination of the seed to tli,. ripening of the fruit. It 

 is true that the plant will live through considerable 

 degrees of cold, wet. droui;bt ami other untowanl con- 

 ditions, and often seemingly recover from their ill ef- 

 fects and make a vigorous growtli. But we believe it is 

 true that any check in tlie growth of a Tomato (dant. 

 (larticularl) if it occurs wlini the plant is young, will 

 surely lessen the qntiiitify tmd lower the quality of the 

 fruit produced. This is a strong statement, but we are 

 ronvinced of its trutli liy scons of experiences like the 

 following : Two adjacent fields of similar character 

 were set with plants from the same coldframes. Those 

 in om:^ field were carelessly set out .iust before a cold, 

 dry wind-storm and received a check in transplanting, 

 the effect I'f w^hich was evident for at least ten da>-s; 

 (iiif the plants tiltimately bectime as large as those in 

 the second field, which htid been kept in the coldfranie 

 during the storm and were set otit rather more caia- 

 fully than the first lot, but six days later. They suf- 

 fered sctifcely perceptibly from the transidanting. and 

 actutdly commenced a new growth sooner than flios^. 

 set six days earlier. The subsec|uent treatment of the 

 two fields was as nearly identical as possible: bttt the 

 second field yielded over Inn bushels per acre more 

 fruit than the first and it was so superior in quality 

 that, sold by the same man in the same market, it 

 lirought an average of nine cents per package more 

 moiiev. We were familiar with the fields and their 

 treafmeut, and know of no reason for the dift'crence 

 iu results except the check that one lot received tit 

 transplanting. All our experience with Tomatoes con- 

 vinces us that the first and great essential to the best 

 results is a steady constant growth frofu start to finish, 

 but more especially when the plant is }'oung. This 



