Crops for Fielding and Preserving. 
727 
per acre. When the plants are big enough, they are singled, 
and are kept clean by hoeing throughout the summer. When the 
crop is lifted, which must be before there is danger of frost, the 
roots are not cleaned or trimmed, but stored, with the 
earth adhering, in clumps or heaps, and protected from frost by 
substantial coverings of straw and earth. 
Tomatoes. — The great increase in the popularity of the tomato 
as an esculent has led to much attention being given to its 
growth during the last few years. 
The attempts to grow tomatoes in the open air have not 
always proved successful, owing to the uncertainty of the Eng- 
lish climate, which in average seasons is too cold, wet, or sunless 
to ripen the fruit. Occasionally, in hot years, like 1887, grati- 
fying results are obtained, leading to the planting of increased 
quantities in the succeeding year, but too frequently with disap- 
pointing returns. Though the open-air cultivation of tomatoes 
is often recommended, yet it is doubtful if great success can be 
relied upon until soiue cheap method is discovered for prevent- 
ing mildew. Marvellous results are occasionally obtained, and 
these are often taken as the basis of calculations as to the profit 
that may usually be relied upon; but my experience in special 
croppings has been that, as they have to meet limited markets, 
there shortly arrives a time when the margin of profit becomes 
very small, owing to competition. 
As I wished to get reliable information as to the prospect 
of success likely to be obtained by growing tomatoes in the open, 
I asked Mr. George Monro, of Covent Garden, to give me the 
names of the most successful growers he knew. He mentioned 
Messrs. C. Steel & Son, of Ealing, and Mr. M. F. AVatkinson, 
of Ealing Common, both in Middlesex. I accordingly wrote to 
them. In reply to several questions, Messrs. Steel kindly replied 
to the following effect : — They have grown tomatoes for twenty 
years in the open air, and their yearly cropping has been from 1 to 
9 acres. The crop is taken in rotation with other crops. 
The plants are raised under glass, and planted out in the last 
week of May ; but, except for the purpose of raising, none are 
grown under glass. Carter's Perfection and the Large Red 
have proved the most successful varieties. The tomato-disease 
appears to be very similar to the potato-disease. They consider 
that glass would be more profitable than open-air culture, and 
conclude by saying that the seasons these last few years have 
been, as a rule, so bad — although in 1887 they grew 10 tons 
per acre — that they think of giving up the practice altogether, 
and growing entirely under glass. 
