294 



NOTES FROM A IVOMA.YS GARDEX—MAY. 



crisp and brittle sort we know of is the Parisian pick- 

 ling, in which the spines are exceedingly small. 



J^ETTUCES should be divided into two classes, accord- 

 ing to the method of use. If to be served with oil or 

 similar dressing, the leaf should be thick, brittle and 

 crisp rather than tender, and should have a decided 

 flavor — may even have, when first picked, a decided bit- 

 ter taste, this disappearing when served. Most lettuces 

 iif this c'ass form distinct heads, and the same sugges- 

 tions as to the proper form of plant and leaf which were 

 given in cabbage will apply here. In the second class, 

 the lettuce is cut up with vinegar, sugar, etc., and here 

 tenderness is the great consideration and outweighs all 

 others. No bitterness is admissible, and as a rule there 

 is but little flavor. It is a disadvantage for lettuces of 

 this cla^s to form a distinct cabbage-like head, as the 

 thin tender leaves loose all their crispness and beauty of 

 color when crowded into a dense head. A cluster of 

 large leaves is much more desirable. 



Tomato. — This is the queen of vegetables, and one in 

 which there is as wide a difference between the good 

 and the bad as between a "frost" pear of the hedge 

 row and a well-grown Seckel. The ideal tomato may 

 vary somewhat in shape. For myself I like them to be 

 nearly round or apple-shaped, but others prefer that 

 they be flattened, oval. Whatever the shape, there 

 should be no deep corrugations or seams, the fruit being 

 nearly smooth, although a slight depression along the 

 line of natural division is not objectionable. The stem 

 should always be relatively small and set in a very shal- 

 low basin. When the stem is large and set deeply into 

 the fruit, it is accompanied by a large pithy core ex- 

 tending into the fruit and ruining it for slicing or for 

 canning. The stem end of the fruit should be nearly 

 flat or slightly rounded. When there are any marked 

 projections here they will be sure to be imperfectly ri- 

 pened at the time the rest of the fruit is in the best con- 

 dition. As to color, tastes differ; but I have never yet 

 found a tomato of the purple tint of the old Fiji, which 

 was not of a sha:p, hard, metallic-like acid, very much 

 less pleasant than the mild, fruit-like acid of the true 

 red or scarlet tomato ; and I am quite certain that, were 

 we to select ten of the best varieties, quality to rule, 

 eight at least — and I believe more likely nine or all of 

 them —would be found to be clear, bright red, with little 

 trace of purple. Of the interior of the fruit, the general 

 opinion as to what constitutes merit is certainly at fault. 

 Most people only ask for a solid, seedless, pulpiest flesh. 

 Fortunately, the fruit is too good to develop any such 

 worthless variety as is thus called for. If you will care- 



fully examine a tomato you will find that the greatest 

 amount, and by far the finest flavor is found in the 

 pulp surroundmg the seed, and that the flesh surround- 

 ing the fruit next to the skin is quite different, and 

 greatly superior, to that in the interior divisions, which 

 many people value as making a solid fruit. Often these 

 interior divisions are made up of perfectly flavorless, 

 hard, but corky tissue. This is the case in an exceed- 

 ingly large-fruited sort which I have grown for several 

 years for comparison, but have not considered worthy of 

 a name or of general cultivation, although I am certain 

 that this variety can be made to produce the largest fruit 

 having the smallest proportionate weight of seed and 

 the largest proportion of dry matter of any of the hun- 

 dreds of sorts I have tried ; and yet I have seen the 

 Mikado recommended as the best variety, because it 

 stood first of any the writer had tested in these respects. 

 My ideal tomato, as far as interior is concerned, is one 

 in which the outer circle of flesh next to the skin is very 

 thick, the thicker the better ; the interior divisions few 

 and consequently comparatively large, and each com- 

 pletely filled with pulp. Seeds are of themselves a dis- 

 advantage, but as we never have pulp except surround- 

 ing seeds, we shall have to have a fair quantity of them 

 in order to get the desired pulp. This pulp should be 

 as thick as possible. We sometimes find fruit in which 

 it is very thin, and in such cases it is usually quite acid. 

 The pulp should be as thick or solid as may be, while 

 the flesh, both of the outer circle and of the inner divi- 

 sion, should be as soft and juicy as possible, thus mak- 

 ing the fruit as nearly uniform in consistency as it can 

 be made to grow. I would be as critical as to the flavor 

 of the fruit as of that of a pear or apple, and insist that, 

 to be good, it must have a distinct, fruit-like, sub-acid 

 flavor. Lastly, the entire interior, except the seeds 

 should be in color as nearly like the deep, rich red of 

 the outside as possible, making a fruit which is a delight 

 both in color and flavor. 



In what I have said I have referred to table qualities 

 only. There are many other qualities, as of earliness, 

 size, productiveness, keeping, ability to stand rough 

 treatment, etc., all of which should be considered in 

 making up our judgment of a variety. Often a sort 

 which will be the best of any for one set of circum- 

 stances will be worthless under other conditions — and 

 no one can say, " off hand," which is the best bean or 

 tomato, any more than he can say which is the best 

 apple or pear, or which of a hundred women would 

 make the best wife. — W. W. Tracy, before Michigan 

 Horlictiltural Society . 



NOTES FROM A WOMAN'S GARDEN— MAY. 



BY DINT of much teasing we are allowed to 

 have the garden plowed during the first 

 week in May, though the captain thinks it 

 would be much better to wait until the fifteenth. 



It is a bright warm day, and we all go out to see the 



important work well begun at least. The garden has, 

 of course, been thoroughly dressed. We are "great," 

 for using all kinds of fertilizers. ' ' Such a reckless waste 

 of manures was never seen," says the captain. Levi 

 attributes the quantities of cut-worms and other un- 

 pleasant ' ' varmin " to the undue preponderance of what 



