224 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



May, 1906 



flavored, with few seeds." It will stand a 

 rainy season better than some kinds and one 

 fall was the mainstay for canning, a long 

 fall rain having rotted the ordinary sorts. 

 Green peach tomatoes are excellent for 

 pickles, because they are so firm and chop 

 well, and because the vines are generally 

 loaded when picking time comes. 



THE HUSK-TOMATO FAMILY 



An odd, fruitlike vegetable, to which has 

 been given the name of "tomato," is the 

 physalis, sometimes called ground cherry, 

 husk tomato, cape gooseberry, strawberry 

 tomato, Chinese lantern plant and other 

 names, according to the variety or locality. 

 I have raised the common yellow-fruited 

 garden sort (P. pubescens) and cooked the 

 berries like preserves. They are very good 

 eating. It is claimed, too, that they make 

 excellent pies. The plant seems to be not 

 particular as to soil, although rich and sandy 

 ground gives the best results; for it grows 

 very easily and comes up each year from self- 

 sown seed. The season can be lengthened 

 by starting indoors. The fruit will keep 

 till the holidays if stored in a cool dry place 

 with the husks left on. It is recommended 

 for putting into cakes, when dried like figs. 

 The red-husked sort (P. Alkakengi) makes a 

 showy Christmas decoration, if picked with 

 long stems and dried carefully. II is a 

 troublesome plant in a flower garden, how- 

 ever, as it spreads by underground stems and 

 soon overruns its own space. 



ECONOMY OF THE SEED 



A package of seed of each of these va- 

 rieties of tomato is not at all an expensive 

 investment and will repay amply for all the 

 attention of raising the seedlings. You do 

 not have to sow all the seed at once, either. 

 It is long lived and can be relied upon to pro- 

 duce plants for several years. The ordinary 

 packet will contain a great deal more seed 

 than one is likely to need in one year. 



A sufficient quantity of tomato plants to 

 supply an ordinary family can be started in 

 one ten-inch flower-pot in a sunny kitchen 

 window. Young seedlings must not be 

 overwatered, but full-grown plants in the 

 open garden call for a good supply of moist- 

 ure. Ours were started in a sunny window, 

 on various dates, from March ist to April 



nth, and were set outdoors when safety 

 from frost was assured. For succession 

 crops we had some self-sown plants that 

 ripened fruit the first part of September. 

 Some seeds were sown in the open ground 

 the first of May and the plants began to 

 yield just four months later. On July 4th as 

 an experiment we planted some seed for a 

 pickling crop which gave us green tomatoes 

 over eight inches in circumference in Octo- 

 ber. As a usual thing the earlier plants will 

 provide all the green tomatoes wanted for 

 pickles, but in case of a belated garden it is 

 better to sow a few seeds than to depend on 

 an uncertain grocer for green tomatoes. As 

 we did not attempt to raise an extra early 

 crop, the bearing season was shortened to 

 two months, the season might as well have 

 been even three times as long, by starting 

 some plants with a view to extra early bear- 



The so-called husK tomatoes are Rinds of physalis. 

 They maKe an excellent fig-HKe preserve 



ing, and then at the end of the season bring- 

 ing plants and picked tomatoes under shelter, 

 where they would have ripened till the holi- 

 days. In other years we have thus length- 

 ened the season from October to the first 

 week of January. 



The first pruning and training were given 

 about the middle of July, and after that there 

 was no rest ; for the plants grew so fast that 

 we could not catch up with them. 



STARTING INDOORS 



Seeds should be sowed indoors six or seven 

 weeks before planting-out time, and the 

 young plants not put outside until all danger 

 of frost is past ; nor should the work be done 

 during cold, dry, windy weather. Two or 

 three weeks from sowing, the seedlings may 

 be set into other boxes indoors, three or four 

 inches apart. Repeated transplanting and 

 pruning back will not give the best results in 

 the long run, if plants are wanted for pro- 

 ducing throughout the season. One trans- 



planting when very small, and after that a 

 constant and steady growth, is the best 

 treatment for tomatoes in the home garden. 

 The best ground for a tomato patch is soil 

 that has been richly manured the previous 

 year, but, if it is necessary to fertilize it the 

 season of planting, be sure that the added 

 material is very thoroughly mixed with the 

 soil. A commercial fertilizer containing ni- 

 trogen and potash (less of the former than is 

 required by potatoes) will agree with the to- 

 mato. This may be worked into the ground 

 when setting out the plants, reserving a third 

 of the supply to work in a month later. Ma- 

 nure must not touch the plants, but the 

 ground must be rich enough or they will not 

 give the best results. On the other hand, an 

 oversupply of nitrogen will show in a growth 

 of vine at the expense of fruit. I think, too, 

 that excessive drought results in irregular 

 and wrinkled fruits. Tomatoes require an 

 open spot, exposed to the sun, and warm soil. 



SPECIAL POINTS FOR AMATEURS 



The amateur should grow the plants on 

 some sort of support rather than let them 

 spread over the ground. It means earlier 

 fruit of better size and color. Training to a 

 single stem is recommended by the best au- 

 thorities for "fancy" results, but, as the 

 pinching and pruning will be almost con- 

 stant, an otherwise busy gardener will prob- 

 ably be satisfied with some less strict method. 

 A leaning trellis or rack to support the vines 

 above the ground will be found to help the 

 development of the fruit and reduce liability 

 to rot. A steady growth from seed to har- 

 vest is desirable as any check affects un- 

 favorably the quantity and quality of the 

 fruit. 



If training to a single stake, watch the 

 plant for the first bunch of blossoms and 

 prune off all side branches starting below it. 

 Above the blossoms the plant will divide and 

 these two main stems, or only o ne, as pre- 

 ferred, can be left to grow. They must be 

 tied frequently, as the growth increases, to 

 keep the plant upright and all later lateral 

 branches must be cut offs. To avoid disease 

 plant in a well- drained oil. 



Cultivate early and often, so that the 

 plants will have the mellowest soil possible. 

 Begin this treatment the day after the young 

 plants are set out and keep it up till they 



Diadem red with yellow splashes. The sKin adheres tightly to the flesh 



Golden Sunrise, i large, yellow ..[-fruit is excellent &s a salad 



