2 BULLETIN 290, TJ. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
October 15 to January 1. In southern California the tomato shipping 
season can be extended the year round, as the tomato grows there as a 
perennial. 
The Texas and Mississippi territories are followed by west Tennessee 
and New Jersey, the former overlapping the Texas and Mississippi 
areas, while New Jersey usually comes on the market when the 
shipping seasons close in these two States. Shipments from other 
States may be said in a general way to move over shorter distances 
and to be of importance in a smaller number of the large markets. 
Cuban, Mexican, Florida, and south Texas tomatoes ; as a rule, 
have been luxuries or semiluxuries. The first shipments from Mis- 
sissippi and northeastern Texas generally bring high prices, but when 
the shipments from these areas reach their height, tomatoes may be 
said first to come within the reach of the general purchasing public. 
METHODS OF CULTIVATION AND SHIPPING. 1 
The system of cultivation in practically all of the southern tomato 
districts is not calculated to result in the greatest possible production 
per acre, but is designed to hasten maturity and to give a crop of 
uniform smooth tomatoes which can be marketed within the shortest 
possible time. Plants are staked, trimmed, and topped, and the 
fruit even may be thinned to limit the quantity, hasten maturity, 
and perfect the appearance of the individual specimens. 
Large quantities are wrapped individually and packed very 
carefully in what the consumer would call a perfectly green state. 
The producers, however, consider a tomato "mature" when it has 
reached full size and appears smooth and well filled out. They are 
called "ripe" when they show the first tinge of pink or reddish color. 
Green wrapped stock is shipped long distances under ventilation 
without refrigeration; but nearly all ripe stock, whether wrapped 
or not, is shipped under refrigeration. The last of the southern crop 
frequently is wasted because it does not sell to advantage in competi- 
tion with locally grown northern tomatoes. The latter are larger, as 
a rule, than those grown in the South, where varieties are selected 
for early production and smoothness rather than for the size of the 
fruit. 
METHODS USED IN COMPILING DATA. 
In this publication an effort has been made to list largely by rail- 
road stations the actual shipments of tomatoes for table use in 1914. 
Practically all of this information has been obtained from, or checked 
by, transportation companies, and while this tabulation may not be 
complete, it is believed to approximate very closely the actual car- 
load movement. 
1 Farmers' Bulletin 642, "Tomato (.'rowing in the South," by H. C. Thompson, 1915. 
