HOME VEGETABLE GARDENING 
TOMATOES 
I F THERE is one vegetable that deserves the title 
“y ear-aroun d vegetable,” it is the tomato. Three 
hundred and sixty-five days in the year it plays an im- 
portant part in our daily menu. Whether we use it raw, 
cooked, stewed, canned, as a seasoning in sauces or as a 
relish, it is always palatable and nourishing. 
The rise of the tomato within the last fifty years from 
the stage of a weed thought to be poisonous to the front ' 
ranks of garden plants is one of the most striking examples 
of horticultural progress in this country. Nearly five 
hundred differently named sorts confront the home 
gardener of to-day, making the selection of sorts best 
suited to individual requirements most difficult. 
Fortunately, the different sorts of merit have very 
pronounced characteristics. They are either early or 
late, purple, scarlet, or yellow, flat or round, and dwarf or 
tall in habit of growth. How to choose and grow the 
different sorts is told in the following chapters. 
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