14 BULLETIN 392, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
Pruning: Prune the plants to one or two main stems. Remove 
all shoots that grow in the axils of the leaves; that is, between the 
leaves and main stems. To keep the shoots pinched off, go over the 
plat once every week or 10 days. 
Cultivating: Give the tomato plants frequent shallow cultivation 
to keep down weeds and maintain a soil mulch to prevent evapora- 
tion. Cultivate as soon as the soil is sufficiently dry after each rain. 
Do not allow a crust to form. A small-tooth cultivator is suitable 
for tomato cultivation. By the use of the hand hoe keep the soil 
loose and the weeds between the plants down. 
Study questions : What materials are used for stakes ? Are frames 
used? How are they made? What points are to be gained by 
pruning plants to one or two stems and supporting them to stakes ? 
Does the fruit mature earlier? Is the fruit larger? Are the plants 
and fruits as subject to disease when trained in this way? What 
are the shoots that develop in the axils of the leaves ? When do the 
fruit stems develop ? What is a " mulch ? ' ' What is a " soil mulch V 
How produced ? 
References.— Farmers' Buls. 220, pp. 8, 9, 16; 642, pp. 7, 8; 255 
and 647. 
Practical exercises. — Preparing stakes, making frames, setting 
stakes or frames., pruning plants and cultivating the plat provide 
work for 'the members of the class with tomato plats as home or 
club work. 
Correlations. — Written work is provided by copying in the note- 
book answers to "study questions." 
Drawing: Make sketches of a frame; a properly pruned and staked 
tomato plant. 
Arithmetic: Find the cost of material and labor in staking a tenth 
of an acre of tomatoes. Find the cost of material and labor in 
making frames for 200 tomato plants. 
LESSON TEN. 
TOPIC: PESTS— DISEASES AND INSECTS. 
month: may. 
Lesson outline. — Diseases: Among the principal diseases of toma- 
toes are blossom-end rot, leaf spot (leaf mold), fruit rot, wilt, and 
root-knot. To prevent diseases practice a rotation course extending 
through three or four years and not including tomatoes, eggplants, 
and peppers more than once in this period. Fertilize and cultivate 
the plants well to keep them in a thrifty condition. Avoid the use 
of fresh manure. Pull up and burn all diseased plants when disease 
first appears. Begin spraying the plants with Bordeaux mixture as 
soon as they are set out and keep this up at intervals of 10 days for 
five or six applications. Fruit rot is combated by pruning and 
training, together with the destruction of diseased fruits. Rotation 
