TOMATOES FOR MARKET AND CANNING 



105 



Mr. Cook: It would depend on what else you could grow in 

 your frames. If you had a market for lettuce, for instance, you 

 would have to take that into consideration. If you had no market 

 for any such crop, perhaps growing tomato plants might be one of 

 the most profitable things you could go into. 



NITRATE 



Question : Is nitrate of soda commercially profitable for canning 

 tomatoes? 



Mr. Cook: I don't think much nitrate of soda is used for the 

 canning tomatoes. I think perhaps it would pay, however. They 

 usually depend on a good, strong soil, well fertlized with 2-8-10, or 

 if the soil is a little deficient in humus, 4-7-8. Barnyard manure is 

 very good, but I would rather use it on the light, sandy soils, and on 

 the clay loam use fertilizers. I think better results would be obtained 

 by the use of fertilizers on strong soils. 



Mr. Bronson: What is the rotation in general farming? 



Mr. Cook: We sometimes use after tomatoes field beans, or 

 you can grow green beans for the canner. A great many canning 

 crops are grown there, and as a rotation, they follow with beans, or 

 some growers will seed down to clover. Sod ground with good 

 drainage has been found to be the very best when plowed in the fall 

 for the growing of late tomatoes. ' 



trimming 



Question: Do you trim the tomato vines? 



Mr. Cook: We have never practiced staking and trimming. 

 I have never found any advantage. We get a much heavier crop by 

 allowing the vines to fall on the ground, especially for the late crop. 



A Member : I would not grow a tomato unless it was on a stake. 



Mr. Cook: I have staked tomatoes and had them turn yellow. 

 We have tomatoes in our section on which I do not think the stake 

 man could beat us on earliness. 



EARLINESS 



Question: How early do you set in spring? 



Mr. Cook: About the fifteenth of May many times, but with 

 some risk. W^e never consider we are safe till after the twentieth. 



