TOMATO 



VEGETABLE GARDEN 



1137 



Early Puritan. — A fine American 

 variety considered superior to Early Rose 

 or Beauty of Hebron. It crops heavily, 

 and the tubers cook beautifully white and 

 floury. 



English Beauty. — This has roundish 

 tubers, is a medium grower, and a good 

 cropper on most soils. It matures early 

 and keeps well. 



Imperator. — This is a very vigorous 

 growing round variety, sxiitable for main 

 crops. It is very free and requires a little 

 more space between the rows than most 

 varieties. 



Jeannie Deans. — This is a, flattiah- 

 round, second early Potato of very fine 

 flavour and quahty. It crops heavily. 



Sutton's A I. — A distinct round white- 

 fleshed Potato suitable for early crops in 

 frames. Good quality. 



Magnum Bonum. — This is probably 

 the best known Potato in cultivation. It 

 is an excellent maincrop variety, and 

 very prolific. 



Reading Hero. — This is a seedling 

 from Magnuvi Bonum and Paterson's 

 Victoria. It has round tubers of excellent 

 flavour and quality, and is a fine maincrop 

 Potato. 



Ringleader. — An early kidney Potato 

 of good quality. The tubers are oblong 

 and white-fleshed, and may be dug in 

 June from a south border. 



Schoolmaster. — This is a very heavy 

 cropper, but has a very rough skin. Main- 

 crop. 



Snowdrop. — A handsome Potato with 

 shallow eyes and clean skin. It has a fine 

 flavour, and cooks white and floury. 



The Bruce. — ^A first-class maincrop 

 variety, and a very heavy cropper. 



Up-to-Date. — A choice maincrop 

 variety, producing heavy crops, and keeps 

 well. It is a good Potato for light soUs, 

 but is rather soapy on heavy ones. 



Vicar of Laleham. — A handsome and 

 distinct Potato with roundish purple- 

 skinned tubers, and a beautiful white 

 floury flesh "when cooked. It is a very 

 heavy cropper suitable for main crops. 



Windsor Castle. — A fine variety with 

 oblong tubers. It is a heavy cropper of 

 excellent flavour and quality. 



TOMATO (SoLANUM Lycopeesicum). 

 Within the past ten or fifteen years the 

 cultivation of the Tomato has increased 

 by leaps and bounds, and there are now 

 acres and acres of ground covered with 



glass throughout the country for its pro- 

 duction. 



The Tomato is a somewhat tender 

 annual, native of S. America, and very 

 closely related to the Potato in structure, 

 the edible portion corresponding to the 

 Potato Apple. If allowed to grow naturally 

 it forms a straggling or prostrate bush 

 with herbaceous stems, but as a rule only 

 the main stem is allowed to develop in a 

 cultivated state. 



Although essentially a fruit, the 

 Tomato is usually treated as a, vegetable, 

 and is used for making salads, sauces &c. 

 Of late years, however, owing to the 

 beauty, size, flavour, and attractiveness of 

 many kinds, it is being regarded with 

 increasing favour as a dessert fruit. The 

 smaller round and perfectly smooth varie- 

 ties are most in favour, as are also the 

 miniature varieties known as the Currant, 

 Cherry, and Pear-shaped Tomatoes. 



Outdoor culture. — Although mostly 

 grown under glass in the British Islands, 

 the Tomato will ripen well out of doors in 

 hot dry seasons like that of the past year 

 (1899). In cold wet seasons, however, 

 it is practically waste of time to grow 

 Tomatoes on a large scale in the open air, 

 except perhaps in the sunniest parts of 

 the south. 



The seeds may be sown in gentle heat 

 in March, in shallow boxes in a compost 

 of light, sandy loam and a little leaf soil. 

 If the seeds are placed about an inch apart 

 and slightly covered with soil, the young 

 plants will have plenty of room to 

 develop and become sturdy before they 

 need be disturbed. If sown thickly, the 

 seedlings must be pricked out into other 

 boxes, or singly into small pots as soon as 

 ever the first pair of true leaves have 

 been developed after the oblong seed 

 leaves. 



Soil. — On the whole a fairly rich and 

 sandy loam with good drainage is best for 

 Tomatoes. But any ordinary soil not 

 saturated with stable manure will grow 

 good Tomatoes. Indeed last season I had 

 excellent results from a soil consisting 

 chiefly of ashes and the old soil in which 

 Pelargoniums had been potted. The 

 trusses bore from 12 to 24 fruits each, but 

 this was in a great measure due to the 

 care taken in fertilising the flowers on 

 bright mornings. The only stimulant 

 the plants got was a dressing or mulching 

 of fresh soil when the roots began to 

 appear on the surface. Notwithstandmg 



4d 



