TO:\rATOES FOR MARKET AND CAXXIXG 



103 



Mr. Cook: I think they would. Good seed is very essential. 

 At this time last year, there were seven thousand pounds of tomato 

 seeds shipped into the United States from France that were sold at 

 six cents a pound in France — the refuse of canneries. The same 

 firm has twenty-two thousand pounds more of the same seed for 

 which they hope to get seven cents a pound this year. 



SAVING SEED 



Question: When you collect your own seed, what method do 

 you use? 



Mr. Cook: We collect the seed and put them in a barrel and 

 smash them right up with a two by four, having a little water in the 

 barrel. Then we wash them right out. You can let them stand if 

 the water is warm, wash them through two or three waters, and you 

 will be able to get most of the pulp out. Then take your seed and 

 re-dry it in flats, stirring once or twice. 



Question: Do you select a particularly good quality of toma- 

 toes.^ 



Mr. Cook: Select only good tomatoes for this purpose. It is 

 not advisable for a man to pick them haphazard. A man can save 

 enough seed in one year to last four or five years if properly cared for. 



EARLY PLANTS 



Question: What is the price paid for greenhouse plants? 



Mr. Cook: Last year we made a contract with one grower to 

 grow so many hundred thousand at four dollars and three and one- 

 half dollars per thousand. This year we are going to pay more for 

 the growing of tomato plants. We expect to pay four dollars, four 

 dollars and a half, and five dollars. The growers have come to 

 realize that good plants count for a great deal in making a good crop 

 of tomatoes. A grower who wishes good, strong, early plants ex- 

 pects to pay five dollars. 



Question: What size paper pots are the plants set from into 

 the field? 



Mr. Cook: Four inch. The bottom is torn out and paper taken 

 away from the side. 



Question: Have the plants you buy been transplanted? 



