THE TOMATO. 



339 



A few ripe fruit may be had from these com- 

 paratively early-raised plants before they are 

 wanted, but the bulk will ripen more slowly 

 and keep a long time after they are ripe, 

 whereas later -raised plants will not only pro- 

 duce lighter crops, but will also very probably 

 become badly diseased before much of the fruit 

 has ripened. 



Tomato plants can be propagated from cut- 



tings as well as from seed, but few nowadays 

 adopt the former practice, seedlings proving 

 quite as productive, or even more so, than 

 plants raised from cuttings; they are also less 

 liable to be affected by disease. 



When pot-plants are to be prepared in the 

 open, use the 10-inch size with one plant in 

 each, and arrange them 14 inches apart in 

 rows about 3 feet apart on a hard bottom, 



Fig. 1116.— Tomato— Peachblow. 



placing a bamboo or other stake 4 feet high 

 to each. Give a rich top-dressing after the 

 soil is well filled with roots, and keep well 

 supplied with water and liquid manure. No 

 side-shoots should be allowed to form, and the 

 one leading growth must be secured to the 

 stake. 



Late in the summer some of the lower older 

 leaves should be reduced to about half their 

 size, and when the plants are carefully trans- 

 ferred to the house or houses, they may be 

 stood rather more closely together than for- 

 merly, or even between or among older 

 Tomato plants that have been cleared of their 

 lower clusters of fruit and leaves. Those 

 planted under glass early in July may either 

 be treated similarly to earlier batches, plant- 

 ing them in rows across the house or houses, 

 or the roofs of small houses may be covered 



with them. A few plants might be allowed 

 to spread over a roof, the extension system 

 answering well for these late crops. Some 

 that have already borne good crops are some- 

 times roughly pruned, and a number of side- 

 shoots laid in from them in an irregular 

 fashion. These leading growths should not 

 be allowed in their turn to form any side- 

 shoots, but ought to be trained thinly, or 

 about 12 inches apart, clusters of fruit form- 

 ing on them to their entire length. The 

 greater portion of old plants from the borders 

 or ridges should be removed; a top-dressing 

 with some rich compost and applications of 

 liquid manure are good for these old plants, 

 whilst young ones put out thickly ought not to 

 be starved. 



Late Tomatoes are also grown in boxes on 

 the back shelves of vineries, and fruited down 



