September 25, 1890. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
275 
from about la. 6d. per lb. in May to 4d. per lb. in August and 
September, though since the widespread prevalence of disease, 
and whenever outdoor crops fail, 6d. is the lowest figure reached 
for the best fruit. What are wanted to produce heavy crops 
during the months named are fairly roomy, light, airy, and well 
heated structures, as no dependence whatever can be placed on any 
houses that do not admit plenty of light and are not well heated. 
Span-roofed houses will be found the cheapest and best in the long 
run, and these may be of any dimensions, though experience has 
taught us that there is greater likelihood of combating disease if 
the structures are of medium size rather than extra large. A good 
length would be about 60 feet, and suitable heights and widths are 
14 feet and 25 feet respectively. Above all would I advise that the 
sides be of a good height, or fully 6 feet above the level of door 
sill, and the less brickwork there is the better. The plants being 
grown all over the body of the house, and trained up either stakes 
or strings, it follows they must have good head room, and unless 
abundance of light is admitted the growth may be soft and un¬ 
fruitful. All the wood, preferably red deal, required can be bought 
at wholesale rates, nearly or quite ready for putting together, this 
including the light rafters—which also must act as sash-bars—and 
what fittings may be necessary. Yery little skill is needed in 
putting these together, and seeing that glass can also be bought 
very cheaply and of any size, the glazing is another simple matter. 
Any attempt to adopt the plan of sliding the glass in grooves, or to 
butt the squares together in any way, usually proves disappointing 
m the end, and the plan most generally adopted is rabbeting the 
rafters, bedding the glass in putty, and finishing oft neatly, no top 
putty being used, but only a good coating of paint. Top putty in 
time gets loose and admits moisture to the under side, whereas a 
smooth paint-covered surface holds good for many years. Ample 
front and top ventilation ought to be provided. 
It is my firm belief that winter crops would pay well, the start 
being made with young plants in August or early in September, 
and the crops set early in the autumn. A long succession of fruit 
would ripen during the winter, and an equally good crop could be 
set and ripened in February, March, and April, or long before the 
majority of growers have any ready for the market. Well ripened 
fruit, available during the winter and early spring months, ought 
to fetch on an average 2s. per lb., and would pay well even if sold 
rather cheaper. Unfortunately, the large high structures previously 
alluded to will not answer for these midwinter crops, as the plants 
fail to set fruit freely unless grown near the glass, or say are 
trained up the roof about 10 inches from the glass. We have 
had the roof of a house covered with leading growths about 
0 inches apart, furnished with clusters of fruit at every second 
joint, and that, too, in December. It is the low span-roofed houses, 
of the style usually erected for Cucumber and Melon culture that 
answer well for winter crops of Tomatoes, and during the summer 
these might, with advantage, be devoted to the growth of either 
Melons or Cucumbers, for both of which there is usually a good 
demand. With regard to heating Tomato houses, I can only 
briefly point out that it is possible to purchase really good boilers 
that require no deep stoke-hole, and but little setting, and that the 
expansion joints for the hot-water pipes are both the best and the 
most simply connected by an ordinary labourer. 
The Most Profitable Varieties. 
Not a little depends upon the choice of suitable varieties for 
any particular crop. Some growers swear by the ribbed section, 
the most popular of which is the Large Red, while others pin their 
faith on the Perfection type, or those with smooth, rich, red round 
fruit. The former are much the most free-setting, but are not 
so attractive in appearance or heavy weighing as the more solid 
Perfection, Hackwood Park Prolific, Ham Green Favourite and 
Chemin Red. I would, however, strongly recommend the beginner 
to rely principally upon a good stock of Large Red, and which he 
could easily get by purchasing a few fruit at a market stand or of 
a fruiterer. Most undoubtedly the Large Red is by far the best 
for the winter crops, and on the whole it is perhaps the most pro¬ 
fitable for all seasons of the year. What it lacks in weight and 
loses in competition with more showy sorts it more than compen¬ 
sates for in bulk, the smooth, round fruited forms very rarely 
setting so freely even under the most favourable circumstances. 
The time is not far distant when the Tomato will figure as a 
dessert fruit. I have met numerous lovers of this “ fruit vegetable ” 
who eat them in their raw state with even greater avidity than 
they would either an Apple or Pear, and if tempting fruit were 
placed before them in the way of dessert they would be fully 
appreciated. It should be the market grower’s aim to foster this 
love for Tomatoes, and this can best be done by growing varieties 
both tempting in appearance and good in quality. Extra large 
fruit are not to be recommended at any time, and are certainly not 
the most calculated to tempt anyone to eat Tomatoes much as 
they would an Apple. What should be grown are the compara¬ 
tively small, smooth, round fruited varieties, such as Horsford’s 
Prelude, and the improvement on this, The Conference, either of 
which present a very tempting appearance in small punnets and 
are really good to eat. The Peach, another comparatively new 
variety, is very distinct in every way, and is one of the best that 
can be grown for selling in punnets. The fruit are produced in 
long clusters, are somewhat small, ruby red in colour, prettily 
veined, carry a bloom like the Peach, and are of a pleasing 
flavour. Nor ought the yellow fruited forms to be lost sight of. 
These, though attractive in appearance, are unfortunately some¬ 
what wanting in acidity, the principal exception being the Blen¬ 
heim Orange. If the latter is eaten before it is “dead ripe ” the 
flavour is decidedly distinct and pleasing, and it may yet become a 
favourite. Golden Sunrise may be briefly described as being a 
yellow form of Perfection, and it is of very attractive appearance. 
Those growers especially who get rid of their Tomatoes in their 
own vicinity ought to make a point of supplying fruit well ripened 
and of the best quality, and in time they will earn a reputation for 
the same, and obtain better prices accordingly. Fruit that has to 
be sent a considerable distance ought not to be very ripe when 
packed, but at the same time it should be well coloured, or it will 
fetch no better prices than foreign Tomatoes. 
Cultural Hints. 
Without going into minute details I shall yet venture to offer a 
few hints that may prove acceptable to some of my hearers. 
Where so many have erred is in forming a too rich border for 
Tomatoes, looseness also being a condition of soil that ought to be 
avoided. What is wanted is a moderately rich root run, and this 
ought to be rammed, rolled, or trampled as hard as a road. A 
loose, rich root run promotes a rank unfruitful growth, firmness 
having the effect of causing a hard, short-jointed, and fuitful habit, 
or just what is wanted. If a depth of about 18 inches of fresh 
loamy soil, if turfy so much the better, can be provided that is all 
needed for the first season, and this can be renewed by the addition 
of fresh loam and bonemeal or some kind of special manure for 
the next year or two. A free use of animal or solid manure ought 
to be avoided. When a good crop is set, or if the plants present a 
very starved appearance, liquid manure or a surfacing of some kind 
of phosphatic manure may be given with advantage occasionally. 
If these conditions are observed the plants are less likely to suffer 
from overcrowding. Some growers arrange their plants 2 feet 
apart each way all over the house, others dispose them nearer 
12 inches apart in rows 2 feet apart, in every instance training or 
confining each to a single stem, and if the border is very firm the 
latter distances answer very well, the crops in the aggregate being 
the heaviest. Instances have come under my notice of 8 lbs. of 
fruit being taken on an average from each plant in a high span- 
roofed house, but the greater distance mentioned was given, and of 
course disease was absent. 
The cheapest way of training these plants is to place a string to 
each, fastening this from a peg in the ground to the roof, coiling 
the stems round them as they advance. The more common prac¬ 
tice, as before stated, is to give each a tall stake, none of the plants 
in either case being topped before the roof is reached. Many 
succeed in growing strong healthy plants, but fail badly in effect¬ 
ing a good set. Much may be done towards correcting this 
unfruitful habit by withholding water from the roots for several 
days together, plants that flag badly in the sunshine owing to 
dryness at the roots not unfrequently setting much the best crops. 
A plan adopted by friends at Lewisham in Kent, and at Bath, is 
well worthy of a trial. This consists merely of going over all the 
plants in flower towards midday, or as soon as the pollen has been 
dried either by means of fire heat and air, or sunshine and air, and 
smartly tapping each bunch of bloom with a Hazel twig. This dis¬ 
lodges the pollen grains in a cloud, sufficient of this becoming attached 
to the moist pistils to effect a good set. I have seen plants thus 
treated furnished with large clusters of fruit from the ground up 
to the roof, there being no failures in the house. I would here 
add that open air crops are far from being generally satisfactory 
this season, but those who have a quantity of small green fruit 
on their plants, and which will not ripen, ought to convert these 
into a good hot pickle and market it. Such pickles, if well 
made, would soon become popular, and I venture to opine that 
the day is not far distant when there will be a good demand for 
small green Tomatoes. 
Drawbacks in Tomato Culture. 
There would appear to be no pleasures or profitable occupation 
without drawbacks of some kind, and unfortunately the Tomato 
grower has rather more than his share of them to contend with. 
As far as open-air culture is concerned, this has always partaken 
somewhat of the character of a lottery, but it is only of comparatively 
