330 



THE GARDENER'S ASSISTANT. 



length, straight, smooth, thick, dark-green in colour, neck 

 short; quality excellent. Plant robust and very pro- 

 ductive. Succeeds well in either house or frame. Fine 

 for exhibition. 



Model. — Fruit 18 inches to 24 inches long, ribbed, 

 smooth, dark -green in colour, neck short. Strong grower, 

 fairly productive. Good exhibition variety. 



Fig. 1106.— Cucumber— Peerless. 



Peerless (fig. 1106). — Fruit about 18 inches long, thick, 

 smooth, dark-green in colour, and of excellent qualit} r , 

 neck short. Strong grower, and a heavy cropper. A 

 handsome variety. 



RochforoVs Market. — Fruit 15 inches long, thick, ribbed, 

 with few spines, colour dark-green, and quality superior. 

 Sturdy, short-jointed in growth, and very productive. A 

 great favourite with market -growers, and also one of the 

 best for frame culture. 



Royal Osborne. — Fruit 15 to 20 inches in length, very 

 even, smooth, light-green in colour, and of excellent 



quality. Tapering neck. Plant short-jointed and pro- 

 ductive. Good for exhibition. 



Telegraph. — Fruit 15 inches to 18 inches long, thick, 

 slightly ribbed, few spines, colour dark-green; quality 

 excellent. Plant fairly robust and very productive. An 

 old favourite, good for either summer or winter culture. 



Tender and True. — Fruit 24 inches to 30 inches in 

 length, of medium thickness, few spines, dark-green in 

 colour, and of superior quality. Plant fairly robust and 

 prolific. Another old favourite. 



Ridge Cucumbers. 



Best of All. — Fruit 12 inches to 15 inches in length, 

 straight, few seeds; quality good. Plant hardy and pro- 

 lific. 



King of the Ridge. — Fruit 12 inches to 16 inches in 

 length, straight, smooth, and of good flavour. Plant 

 hardy, vigorous, and productive. 



Short Prickly (Gherkin). — Grown principally for pick- 

 ling purposes. 



Stockwood (Long Prickly). — Fruit 9 inches to 12 inches 

 in length, thick, prickly, and the quality fairly good. 

 Hardy, vigorous, and free-bearing. An old favourite. 



[W. I.] 



CHAPTER XXIII. 



THE TOMATO. 



Origin — Cultivation in the Open Air — Market- 

 growers' Methods — Under Glass — Pot-grown 

 Plants — Soil — Temperature — Successional Sup- 

 plies — Manures — Training — Autumn and Win- 

 ter Crops— In Pits and Frames — Diseases — 

 Insect Pests— Varieties. 



The Tomato, or Love Apple (Ly coper sicum 

 esculentum), is a tender annual, a native of South 

 America, and some say of Mexico as well. It 

 is now very extensively cultivated for its fruit, 

 which forms the principal ingredient of various 

 sauces, but is more valued as a salad, immense 

 quantities being eaten in an uncooked state, 

 with condiments varying with the tastes of those 

 who eat them. Tomatoes are also cooked and 

 served in a variety of ways, and very excellent 

 soup is made with their aid, while the green 

 fruit is made into pickles and otherwise utilized. 

 Apart from having become almost indispensable 

 as a daily article of diet, they also possess 

 medicinal properties which render them par- 

 ticularly desirable as a remedy for affections 

 of the liver and other organs where calomel is 

 prescribed. This ever-increasing demand has 

 led to the establishment of a very important 

 industry in this and other countries, thousands 

 of workers now being almost solely occupied 

 in producing the requisite supplies. Extensive 

 trials of Tomatoes are held periodically in the 

 Royal Horticultural Gardens at Chiswick, and 

 the reports published in the Journal of the 



