204 



VEGETABLE GARDENING. 



to buy the plants, as they require delicate handling. The plants 

 are set in rows three two feet apart, after 

 the ground is well warmed up, which is seldom 

 before the 10th of June. 



The fruit attains marketable size by the 

 last of August. The plants are ver\^ liable to 

 the attacks of the potato beetle. The best 

 variet}^ is the New York Purple, but the variety 

 Figure 103 — Egf §^^0^^^^ Long Purple is somewhat earlier. 



Plant. 



TOMATO. (Lycopersicum esculentum.) 



Native of South America. — Perennial, but generally treated 

 as an annual. — The tomato is a branching plant, generally with 

 flexible stems that require support to grow erect. Its flowers are 

 yellowish and grow in loose clusters on the stem, opposite or 

 nearly opposite leaves, not axiliary; fruit, a true berry, red, 

 pink or yellow in color; seed, kidney-shaped, flat, with a rough- 

 ened surface. In many parts of this^ section, the tomato can be 

 successfully grown as a market crop, and there is no place 

 where it cannot be grown in sufficient quantities for home use. 

 The cultivation of this vegetable for canning purposes is already 

 occupying the attention of farmers in a few localities in this sec- 

 tion, and it is an industry that is destined to greatly increase in 

 the future. It is one of the easiest and surest crops to grow, 

 providing one has good plants to start with. 



Growing the Plants. — It is especially important to sow the 

 seed before the first of April, and the middle of March is thought 

 about the right time by most growers. The seed grows easily 

 but needs considerable heat and rich soil to do its best. The 

 plants should be transplanted after they have their second leaves 

 and again when they get crowded, so that they may become 

 stocky and strong. The seed may be started in greenhouses or 

 hotbeds; it is also easily grown in window boxes. If too close 

 together, they grow weak and poor. It is very important that 

 the plants should be well hardened off before they are set in 

 the open ground. 



The land preferred for tomatoes is a rich, retentive sandy 

 loam, but they will do fairly well on almost any well drained 



