Plants grown to stake and pruned to only three stems will bear more and better fruits than untrained plants 



Ideal Tomatoes for the Home Garden — By Adolph Kruhm, o^ 



TEN VARIETIES THAT ARE REALLY WORTH WHILE, HAVING REGARD TO EARLINESS, YIELD, 

 QUALITY, AND TABLE USE— WHY THE STANDARDS FOR HOME USE AND MARKET DIFFER 



[Editors' Note — This is the second vegetable article in Mr. Kruhm's series of critical analysis of varieties from the standpoint of the home garden. 

 Nothing of so searching a nature has yet been published. The author takes you into his confidence and tells you exactly how he measures your needs, and helps you 

 to determine just what type or variety will best suit your individual requirements.] 



NEARLY five hundred differently 

 named sorts of tomatoes may be 

 counted by gardeners interested in Ameri- 

 can seed catalogues. Making due allow- 

 ance for renamed sorts, strains offered in 

 different parts of the country under dif- 

 ferent names, and slight variations pro- 

 duced in the strains under the influence of 

 different ciimes and soils, this vast number 

 can be sifted down to about sixty. De- 

 ducting from this about a dozen odd and 



Magnus, 



A favorite for the South. Note the heavy 

 foliage 



small fruited sorts which are not considered 

 in this article, leaves about fifty distinct 

 standard sorts worthy of serious study in 

 connection with our gardening problems. 



Many years of intensive observation 

 have made the analysis =• of these fifty 

 comparatively easy. There are pink, or 

 purple sorts, bright red or scarlet sorts, 

 and yellow or golden sorts among the large 

 fruited tomatoes. Add to these promi- 

 nent characteristics the latest achievement 

 — the evolving of a perfectly round tomato, 

 and we have four distinct classes requiring 

 consideration. Yellow or golden tomatoes 

 are comparatively little grown. To pick 

 out from among the red and the purple 

 sorts those ten that would make an ideal 

 home garden collection for many parts of 

 the country, seems well worth while. 



Tomatoes differ in merit (quality and 

 productiveness) according to the soil and 

 climate which produce them, the purpose 

 for which they are grown, and the use for 

 which they are intended. Some sorts 

 thrive well in light, sandy soils; while 

 others require loam or clay for good de- 

 velopment. Some sorts are good for market 

 purposes, while others are good for the 

 home garden only, because their skins are 

 too tender to permit shipping. The shape 

 of some tomatoes makes their economical 

 handling and packing impossible. Modern 

 tendencies stamp waste as a crime. Con- 

 sumers are learning to look for tomatoes 

 of improved shape (deep through from stem 

 to blossom end) because their use is an 

 economy. A well-shaped tomato of moder- 

 ate size, say not to exceed 3^ inches in 



350 



diameter, offers less problems in prepara- 

 tion for use than a large, overgrown speci- 

 men of which half is usually unfit for use 

 on account of indenture at stem end, green 

 core or rough skin. Very large fruits are 

 unwieldy in use, but some growers like 

 the satisfaction of immensity. For all 

 such there are the giant fruited Ponderosa 

 and Beefsteak, good in flavor, productive- 

 ness and solidity. 



The foregoing factors, together with some 

 reasons of minor importance, will be con- 





V 



■* 



Dwarf Stone. A reliable kind for the small garden 



