336 



THE GARDENER'S ASSISTANT. 



ing and fruiting them on a trellis fixed from 

 9 inches to 12 inches from the glass. They 

 can also be grown at the ends, but do not 

 fruit so freely in such positions. Many more 

 plants could be grown in a house, however, 

 if the pots were arranged nearly as close as 

 they will stand in cross rows 3 feet apart, 

 and staked upright. Or they could be set 

 on the back staging of lean-to houses and 

 trained upright, a row of plants also being 

 arranged along the front and trained up the 

 roof as far as they can be taken without detri- 

 ment to the other plants. 



In each and every case keep the plants to 

 a single stem, pinching out all side-shoots as 

 fast as they form, and training the leaders up 

 the roofs or stakes till three or four good 

 clusters of fruit are set on them, when they 

 should be stopped and not allowed to extend 

 any farther — unless the attempt is made to 

 fruit them continuously as long as they pay 

 for the trouble. Avoid unduly mutilating the 

 leaves. If they are so thick as to conceal the 

 fruit, cut away a portion only of each leaf so 

 as to expose the fruit. Directly the soil is 

 well occupied by roots, give a top-dressing of 

 loam and horse -droppings in a Warm state, 

 and do not be misled by the condition of this 

 when watering, as the fresh soil may be quite 

 moist, while that which is full of roots is far 

 too dry for the good of the plants. Also give 

 frequent doses of liquid manure, or else occa- 

 sional surfacings of nitrate of soda and super- 

 phosphate in equal quantities, one ounce to 

 each plant. Yet another top-dressing might 

 be given with advantage, especially if strips of 

 zinc were used for keeping the soil together 

 and facilitating watering. 



Temperature. — Whether the crops shall be 

 heavy or light largely depends upon the main- 

 tenance of a dry, buoyant atmosphere, the fruit 

 failing to set when the plants are grown under 

 conditions most suitable for Cucumbers. Allow 

 enough fire-heat to keep up a temperature of 

 about 55°, increasing to 60° and 65° in the day- 

 time. A chink of top air should be left on 

 whenever the nights are mild, and top air be 

 given more freely in the daytime whenever 

 this can be done without appreciably lowering 

 the temperature. 



Tomatoes thus treated are not likely to 

 become diseased, and thus one hindrance to a 

 good set will be avoided, while the flowers will 

 open more naturally and pollen be more abun- 

 dant than is the case when more heat and 

 moisture abound. Nothing should be left to 



chance. In order to be certain of a good set, 

 go over the plants, when in flower, towards 

 noon every day, and smartly tap the stems of 

 the bunches with a padded stick; this effectually 

 distributes the pollen, a portion of which lodges 

 on the moist stigmas and effects a perfect 

 fertilization. When grown strongly the central 

 flower of each bunch is nearly always mis- 

 shapen, having fasciated pistils, and these^ if 

 left, are followed by equally misshapen fruit. 

 These flowers should therefore be removed, and 

 the rest of the bunch will produce stronger 

 flowers and finer fruit. 



Successional Supplies. — Early Tomatoes and 

 I successional crops can be grown in boxes in- 

 stead of pots, and in narrow ridges of soil 

 arranged along the fronts of houses, rather 

 less water being needed in both instances. 

 The great bulk of fruit grown for the markets 

 is, however, obtained from plants in a variety 

 of houses with a clear inside border largely 

 or wholly devoted to this profitable crop. In 

 most instances nothing else is grown, and this 

 admits of full justice being done to the Toma- 

 toes, but they also succeed well in vineries till 

 such times as the Vines cover the whole of the 

 roof. It is useless to attempt growing them 

 under Vines, and, besides, the Vine roots must 

 have a fair share of the border, as they fare 

 badly when they have to compete with hungry 

 Tomatoes. 



At the outset the ordinary garden or field 

 soil over which the houses are built should 

 be broken up or bastard trenched two spits 

 deep, taking care not to bring any poor clayey 

 subsoil to the surface. This is usually quite 

 rich enough to give the Tomatoes a good start, 

 surfacings of special manures being washed in 

 and mulchings of short manure serving to 

 sustain the plants in a healthy, productive 

 state till the end of the season. In the follow- 

 ing and future years some extra preparation 

 of soil is needed, Tomatoes being great im- 

 poverishers of the soil. Trenching should be 

 resorted to each winter, and if during the 

 second operation the subsoil is freely manured, 

 a complete reversal of the spits may be carried 

 out during the third winter, thereby placing a 

 fresh supply of fertile soil within easy distance 

 of the roots. 



A light, non-retentive soil would be greatly 

 improved by a liberal dressing of pulverized clay 

 or clayey soil, which ought to be well mixed 

 with it. No one should start Tomato-growing 

 over a very heavy clayey soil, as to get this 

 into a finely divided state and keep it thus 



