430 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Nos. 1, 8, and 9 were good, strong, healthy plants, and pro- 

 duced a full crop of fruit. These plants were very similar in 

 condition to others that were supplied with diluted liquid 

 manure from the stables and shippons, but in the end the latter 

 produced the most satisfactory results. It may be observed that 

 sulphate of ammonia alone produced better results than when 

 combined with muriate of potash. Potassic manures have long 

 been considered the best for Tomatos, and yet when muriate of 

 Potash was applied by itself it proved to be a failure. 



The plants grown in 1896 were raised from seed sown in the 

 previous December, and the first ripe fruits gathered on the 

 following May 4. It was thought that by sowing earlier, and 

 having large and strong plants, the ripe fruit could be produced 

 earlier in the season. Consequently seed was sown at the end 

 of August, and the young plants were established in pots five 

 inches in diameter before winter set in. The result was not 

 quite satisfactory. Ripe fruit was gathered a fortnight earlier, 

 but the yield per plant was considerably less from these early 

 sown plants than from others of the same variety sown at a 

 later period of the year. The fruit set quite freely, but failed to 

 attain a useful size. This we attribute to a deficiency of pollen 

 during the winter season, as the fruit produced from flowers 

 opening in the spring was of the normal size. The small fruits 

 contained very few seeds, and when they reached maturity were 

 quite agreeable to the taste, differing but little in flavour from 

 normal fruits, except that they appeared to contain more sugar. 



Experiments in Manuring in the Year 1897. 



It should be mentioned that no natural or farmyard manure 

 was mixed with the soil, as we believe it has a tendency to 

 produce gross shoots that are more subject to the attacks of 

 disease. Artificial manures were not applied until the plants 

 exhibited signs of having used up all the available food in the 

 soil. With a view to ascertaining the most beneficial manure 

 three sets of plants were selected, the plants in each set 

 growing under exactly similar conditions. 



In each case the manure was crushed fine, and when more 

 than one kind was given, they were thoroughly mixed together. 

 Each kind or mixture was applied, at the rate of one-eighth of 

 an ounce to each plant, on the surface, and watered in. A fort- 



