November 24 1887. ] 
JOURNAT OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTaGE GARDENER. 
441 
TOMATOES FOR MARKET. 
OREIGN fruit is at a discount when well-grown 
home produce can be had at a reasonable 
price. Early in the season the former may be 
in demand, because it can be retailed for less 
than the wholesale price of English fruit. 
This will not be the case long, for the increased 
accommodation that is being provided for the 
culture of the Tomato will augment the supply, 
and'the price will be lower as a natural consequence. 
Corrugated fruit is also losing favour. The Large Red and 
its varieties have too much the appearance of foreign 
produce, and this may be one of the main reasons the 
public have against them. Intending growers for market 
must also bear in mind that large fruits, such as we are 
in the habit of seeing on the exhibition table, are not 
appreciated by the public. Purchasers prefer about four 
fruits to the pound to those that weigh 8 to 12 ozs. each. 
Sixpence or eightpence seems too much for one Tomato, 
and they say so freely, while no complaints are made when 
they get four or five for the same money. What is wanted 
is a smooth variety of moderate size that will set freely 
and crop heavily. 
Where early fruit is desired the plans for its produc¬ 
tion should already be matured, and a start made at once. 
Plants from cuttings are the best for early work, because 
they are hardier and fruit sooner than those raised from 
seed. If cuttings can be obtained now they will root 
readily if inserted singly in small pots and stood on a 
shelf in a temperature of 60° to 65°. Most of our plants 
for early fruiting were raised from seed sown near the end 
of September and kept cool. This method was adopted 
because we had not cuttings in sufficient quantity of the 
varieties needed. Seed may be sown at once, and the 
plants raised will be hardier and in advance of those 
raised from seed sown in January. They will grow slowly, 
and should be kept on a shelf where the night temperature 
ranges about G5°. A strong yet sturdy, and even woody, 
growth should be induced for early bearing. To insure 
this they must not be kept too warm, close, or moist: full 
light is essential, and a free circulation of air. Too much 
soil must not be provided, nor do. Tomatoes need rich 
mixtures. Any ordinary fertile garden soil that would 
grow a good crop of Potatoes without manuring will grow 
Tomatoes well. This year I have seen excellent crops in 
houses, that were formerly devoted to plants grown on the 
beds, in 2 or 3 inches of old Melon soil forked into the 
ashes that filled up the beds, a thin layer of manure being 
given after the fruit was set. This convinced me that 
these plants need considerably less soil than is generally 
given them. A large bulk of rich soil encourages soft 
growth and only half a crop of fruit. A moderately dry 
No. 387.—Ton. XV., Third Series. 
soil and atmosphere will insure firm growth and a good 
set of fruit. Ibis accomplished, the crop can be pushed 
forward under warmer, closer, and moister conditions, 
both in the atmosphere and at the roots. While rqoening 
drier treatment should be resumed. 
Some market growers during the past few years have 
practised a system of pinching the main shoot just beyond 
each bunch of flowers. This season we tried this method 
on one side of a house, while those on the opposite side 
were allowed to grow without pinching. Hackwood Park 
was the variety tried, and it is one of the best. Nothing 
was gained by pinching the plants, although a heavy crop 
can be obtained for half or three parts of the way up the 
roof. If Tomatoes are grown under suitable conditions 
and in firm but not rich soil they will produce a bunch of 
fruit every third joint along the stem. The quickest way 
of perfecting a crop of fruit is to allow the plants to set 
five or six bunches of fruit, and then keep them pinched 
until they are ripe. Although Tomatoes will bear any 
amount of pruning it is a great mistake to take off much 
growth at one time, and it tells perhaps more than anything 
against the flowers setting freely. The easiest and quickest 
way of managing the plants in this respect is to examine 
them about three times in a fortnight until they have set 
the crop that is desired. When this method is practised 
the knife is not needed, for the leaves and laterals can be 
pinched with the thumb and finger, without the slightest 
risk of checking the plants or interfering with their setting. 
As to varieties, Orangefield is entirely superseded by 
Suttons’ Earliest of all. It is a dwarf sturdy grower, and 
carries a heavy crop of well-coloured, moderately sized, 
rather fiat fruits, slightly corrugated, but not to be objec¬ 
tionable for market purposes. It is rightly named, for 
although it does not commence colouring before Hack- 
wood Park, Mayflower, and some others, it ripens the 
whole of its crop sooner than any, and for early market 
work I shall grow it largely in the future. Hackwood 
Park is the heaviest cropping variety I have grown this 
year, but a little care is needed in the removal of a few 
of the first fruits which grow too large and coarse. Acme 
is a gem for colour, a good cropper, and just the right 
size for market. Mayflower has produced some beautiful 
fruit of the right size, but has not cropped quite heavily 
enough for market purposes. Hathaway’s Excelsior is 
still one of the best, although it does not colour so well 
as some others, or ripen so quickly, and by allowing the 
plants to extend freely fruits of the right size can be 
obtained. Trentham Fillbasket is a great trusser, and 
colours beautifully. Four or five fruits of this make a 
pound. This variety appears to be well adapted for grow¬ 
ing on the extension system, and by laying in a fair num¬ 
ber of the lateral growths a heavy crop of fruit can be 
obtained.— Wm. Bardney. 
ROSES AND REVIEWS. 
At this time of year, when the horticultural world is 
gone Chrysanthemum mad, and the queen of flowers 
hardly obtains a short paragraph, it is satisfactory to meet 
with the Rose article in the “Quarterly.” No other flower, 
at any rate, that I know of has been thus distinguished, 
and the article has been written by one who knows well 
his subject. It might not be difficult to guess at his 
name; that, however, is not my business. I wish to call 
attention to the October “ Quarterly.” The article there 
is founded on a notice of Rivers’ “Rose Guide,” 1837; 
Reynolds Hole’s Rose book (10th edition!), and the 
No. 2043— Voi. L XXVII., Old Series. 
