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THE TILDBN AND OTHER TOMATOES. 



BY JAMES PERKINS, NEW MARKET, N. J. 



I noticed in your January issue, two articles re- 

 fering to the Tilden Tomato, one by James Holden, 

 of Hammonton, N. J., and another by J. C. John- 

 son. Now neither cf these gentlemen give us any 

 dates as to the time of the ripening of the fruit, 

 and just here let me say that, as a general thing, 

 dates are of the first importance to the market gar- 

 dener,for by it he determines at once the value of the 

 vegetable to be grown. 



I have made some test of the Tilden Tomato, and 

 compared it with other varieties, and with your per- 

 mission I will give the benefit of my experiments to 

 the public. 



In the early part of 18G6, I procured a quantity 

 of Tilden Tomato seed from^ J. J. H. Grregory, the 

 well-known and highly reputed seedgrower of Mar- 

 blehead, Mass. I planted these with the New York 

 Red, Bate'sEarly and Cook's Favorite, in the same 

 hot-led and on the same day, in the last week in 

 February, marking the location of varieties with 

 care. On the first of April I transplanted all of 

 them into a cold bed, previously prepared for their 

 reception, setting the plants about 8 inches apart 

 each way. Here they were allowed to branch and 

 blossom until the 20th of May, when all were set 

 out m the same field, about four feet apart each 

 way. The soil and position were favorable for an 

 early crop. They were fertilized with well rotted 

 horse-manure. 



Each variety received the same care and culture 

 as the others, and all grew equally well, except the 

 Tilden which out-stripped the others a little. In ri- 

 pening the fruit I obtained the following results ^ The 

 New YorkKeds gave me my first ripe fruit on July 

 lOtb. Bate's Early and Cook's Favorite gave me 

 one or two of each on July 13th and on the 23rd 

 of the same month I picked my first ripe Tilden, it 

 being 13 days later than the New York Bed and too 

 late to secure the best profits of a crop. 



So much for the tivie^ and now as to the manner 

 of ripening. I observed that the New York Bed 

 and Bate's Early, ripen uniformly, reddening up to 

 the stem, while Cook's Favorite is a little tardy and 

 one- quarter of the Tilden next the stem remains a 

 greenish-yellow after the other part appears per- 

 fectly ripe. 



In regard to their preserving qualities, I ma^^ say 

 it was a rare thing to find a rotten specimen of 

 either of the first two varieties, while the Tilden 

 generally specked where two touched each other or 

 the ground. 



By submitting each variety to a water test I found 

 the density of the New York Bed far in advance of 

 all others. About three-quarters of them would 

 soak to the bottom, while the Tildens would all float 



and a large majority of them one-quarter out of 

 water. I think the quality of the Tilden is as fa,r 

 inferior to the New York Bed, as it is lighter than 

 that variety. 



I have 'not grown the Tilden Tomato this year, 

 but I have been a close observer of it as grown by \ 

 others. Indeed in the early part of the ,'-eason I j 

 sold tomatoes to one of its victims, whose plants 

 looked equally well with mine and found his exper- | 

 ience with Tildens singularly like my own. 



From actual experiment and what I liave seen in | 

 the results of several trials, I have come to the very 

 reasonable conclusion that the Tilden Tomato is a 

 worthless variety and should never be put out to 

 deceive the people with its fine appearance. 



I have been very particular in saving the 

 seeds of the Tildens grown by me last year, and 

 would be most happy to furnish Mr. Tilden or any 

 person acquainted with the variety, a sample in or- 

 der that they may know whether lhave true Tilden 

 or not. 



[Ho^ does the " New York Bed " difi'er from the 

 Large Early Smooth Bed of the seed stores ? There 

 are so many new varieties now and lo us seem so 

 nearly alike, that the endeavor to identify, in our 

 mind the kinds we read about "bothers us some."] 



PRUNING^BARS. 



BY "palisades," near BALTIMORE, MD. 



The great interest taken in the cultivation of 

 Dwarf Pears all over the country by thousands of 

 amateurs, received many times a check by the indif- 

 ferent results, after years of expectation followed by 

 disappointment. To a part this may be traced to 

 the misunderstood rules of pruning, simple as they 

 are and which can be set down as two-fold, First, 

 Every dwarf pear tree ought to have by the pyra- 

 midal form one, and by the rose or bush form more 

 main leaders elongated the height of the tree, and 

 as many side leaders as there side branches of the 

 tree. These leaders must be left unchecked in spring 

 and summer, and tupped to one half more or less, 

 in the first part of August. 



All the up])er side shoots on these leaders are to 

 be transformed in fruit-bearing limbs or spurs during 

 spring and summer, as soon as they reach a length 

 of over 4 inches, by pinching the upper end of it to 

 about 2 or 3 inches. If that pinching is done to 

 early, or before the lower part of the shoots has got 

 so i:e hardiness, then the remaining ends w^ill dry 

 up and show next season little dry sticks, the dor- 

 mant eyes on the side of them will, most times 

 push out again in the following seasons, but in weak- 

 er shoots. The shorter shoots on the lower part of 

 of the leaders must be left untouched and will form 

 by themselves into spurs two years after. By this 

 way the fruit spurs are formed near the lower part 

 of tree and extend with the growth to the upper 

 part and outside, while by any other pruning the 

 pears will mostly be formed on the outside and the 

 top of the trees. By allowing the kaiers an un- 

 checked growth, the pinching-in of the side shoots 

 will not interfere with the healthy development of 

 the tree. Between standard pear trees, I found in 

 a plantation of six hundred, Seckel most affected by 

 blight, after that kind Dix, Tyson and Buftam, less 

 Bartlett and Clairgeau. 



