The Dwarf Tomato and the Small Garden— By Stephen N. Green, 



GETTING THE MOST FROM THE GARDEN — SOME VERY GOOD REASONS WHY THE DWARF 

 TYPE IS THE BETTER FOR THE HOME GARDEN — A COMPARISON OF ACTUAL YIELDS 



THE most un- 

 ruly member 



J^ 



^^t 



Dwarf and ordinary to- 

 mato plants at trans- 

 planting time 



^^ JRK.^ in the average 



jPfokT garden is the 



V^ tomato. Indeed 



young stocky 

 plants set in 

 rows beside'beets, 

 radishes and corn 

 look fine for a 

 time, but soon 

 the tomato gets 

 its roots into the 

 rich soil and be- 

 gins to "grow." 

 Oh, yes, it grows! 

 It falls over and 

 blocks cultivation and is a tangle of vines 

 extending four to six feet each way. Very 

 few seem to have the patience to stake, tie 

 and prune the vines. It takes time and 

 skill and is not the most pleasant job to 

 properly train the tomato and so it is 

 usually a disgrace to the otherwise well 

 kept garden. It is in the small home 

 garden that the dwarf tomato shines. 



The dwarf tomato is of very recent 

 origin. The original plant is supposed to 

 have been found as a "sport" in a field of 

 vining tomatoes near Chateau de Laye, 

 France, in 1862. From this one plant, by 

 selection and crossing has descended all 

 our present varieties of dwarfs. Quoting 

 Prof. Bailey, "This curious race came sud- 

 denly, without premonition, and the same 

 thing has not originated a second time." 



The dwarf tomato listed by our seeds- 

 men to-day may be divided into two groups, 

 classed according to size of fruit, into 

 "small" and "large" kinds. The former 

 type may be represented by the old Dwarf 

 Champion and the later by the Dwarf 



The cluster of fruits on the large fruited dwarf is 

 full and compact 



Stone or Giant Dwarf. These large fruited 

 sorts (which will soon be catalogued in all 

 colors and kinds of foliage) mark a new era 

 for the dwarf tomato. The dwarf is now 

 a rival to the old standard tomato. The 

 small fruited sorts may well be classed as a 

 curiosity for amateurs to experiment with, 

 but the large fruited dwarf, equal in every 

 respect in size and other good qualities of 

 the tall tomato, makes it worthy of con- 

 sideration by the up-to-date gardener. 

 Then to, the dwarf has quite a number of 

 points of excellence above the older kinds. 



If you should ask the average gardener 

 how to grow the dwarf tomato, his reply 

 would doubtless be — "just like any other 

 tomato." This is partly right; but this 

 kind of an answer does not satisfy the care- 

 ful gardener, because there is such an ap- 

 parent difference in their growth, and this 

 alone should make considerable difference 

 in their cultivation and management. 



The advantages of the dwarf plant are 

 many, and more apparent as they are care- 

 fully studied. The moment the dwarf 

 appears above the ground in the seed box, 

 it attracts attention by its sturdy stocky 

 growth. This growth allows closer plant- 

 ing of rows and longer standing in the seed 

 box without injury. Dwarf plants are 

 much easier to handle when transplanting ; 

 and again, in the transplanting bed, may be 

 set closer and allowed to stand longer than 

 is possible with tall varieties. This saving 

 of space and allowing more latitude in sea- 

 son is very important to greenhousemen 

 and there is less danger of injury to the 

 plant from neglect that it usually receives 

 from the small grower. 



This attractive plant growth has created 

 a special demand for the dwarfs, so that 

 you can now find them on sale by the most 

 progressive growers. I know of a gardener 

 who grew nice potted dwarf plants and 

 retailed them at 25 cents each, seemingly on 

 the strength of their splendid appearance. 

 The small grower will find a ready market 

 for such a novelty and will be able to add 

 considerably to his profits by its sale. 



The dwarf plant fits perfectly into the 

 scheme of the village or city garden or small 

 farm, where space is valuable and rows are 

 placed close together. The dwarf plants 

 stand upright until heavily loaded with 

 fruit while the standard tomato begins at 

 once to vine and soon clogs up the narrow 

 row and gives the garden an unsightly 

 appearance unless considerable expense 

 and labor is taken to train them up. 



Even in the usual field culture the large 

 fruited dwarf is being grown by some of the 

 largest commercial growers and as soon as 

 its special advantages are known its plant- 

 ing will, I am sure, become general. The 

 dwarf plant carries better in "transplanting, 

 not wilting down so soon and its upright 



239 



compact growth allows cultivation to be 

 begun at once and extend longer than with 

 the vining sorts. 



On an average soil the dwarf plant can 

 be planted as close as (if not closer, than) 

 2 2 x 3l f ee t where the usual distance of 

 4x4 feet is given the tall sorts, this allow- 

 ing nearly double the number of plants to 

 the acre, or a ratio of 8.73 to 16. This 

 point of close planting is very important 

 when growing dwarfs is considered. What 

 this means in total yield is best shown in the 

 following table which gives actual yield of 

 the Dwarf Giant as compared to the average 

 of six of the best tall kinds in a careful field 

 test where every precaution was taken to 

 insure accuracy. 



Yield Plants Yield 



per plant per acre. per acre. 



"Dwarf Giant" 5.9 4978 585 bu. 



Aver. 6 best tall varieties 8.1 2722 440 bu. 



Gain in total yield per acre in favor 



of Giant Dwarf 145 bu. 



This plainly proves that the total yield 

 of a plant may be less but the total yield 

 from an acre can be greatly increased by the 

 use of the large fruited dwarf tomato and 

 no loss in size or appearance of fruit. 



Close planting is the secret of success 

 with dwarf tomatoes. The additional cost 

 of plants and their setting is far over- 

 balanced by the greater total yields. As 

 land becomes higher prices the gardener 

 must get greater returns. 



In general the cultivation of the dwarf 

 is the same in the field as the tall sorts. 

 Thorough cultivation is one of the secrets 



j! 





You can comfortably plant dwarf tomatoes in pots. 

 Note the relatively large si2;e of the fruit 



