175 SOLANACEOUS 
CROPS 
if it does not get frost. We have proved by ex- 
periment that the yield is greatly increased by 
early transplanting. There is a profit in that. 
Tomatoes give earlier and better results where 
the vines are trained, but that is only possible 
in small gardens. Where the plants are grown 
for canning, little attention is given them after 
transplanting to the field. Losses from rot are 
of course much larger there, but this cannot well 
be avoided. 
In small gardens they are pruned to a single 
stem. Strong stakes are driven into the ground 
and cords are stretched between them horizon- 
tally at top and bottom. From these horizon- 
tal cords you may run perpendicular strings, to 
one of which each plant is tied. Plants pruned 
and tied up in this way, may be placed as close 
together as 18 inches, while if left to spread 
they require from three to four feet of space. 
By pruning is meant the pinching out of each 
side branch as it appears, compelling the plant 
to put all its growth into one parent stem. 
Some growers even go so far as to cut off the 
tops of the plant as soon as three clusters of 
‘fruit are formed. I have cut off whole branches 
where the vines were too thick, without apparent 
injury. All this decreases the quantity of fruit 
that each plant will produce, but it greatly in- 
