Vol. LXII. No. 2800. 
NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER 26, 1903. 
*1 PER YEAR. 
BEST EARLY VARIETIES OF TOMATOES. 
Why and How Growers Select. 
1 am growing tomatoes on quite a large scale, and 
would like to have large truckers name the most proflt- 
able early tomato. I would like to know reasons for 
selecting particular varieties, and also whether it is a 
general practice among tomato growers to save seed 
from select early specimens. r. l. w. 
Scalp Level, Pa. 
Earliana has given good satisfaction, because it has 
good size as well as early maturing to its credit. So 
many of the “extra earlies” are of small size, and will 
not sell after the larger and better sorts come on. We 
buy fresh seeds every year from the professional 
seedsmen. e. g. Packard. 
Delaware. 
I have a special variety of tomato; it is called the 
Belmont, and is a cross of the old Boston Market and 
Emery, both of which are very early. It is a great 
cropper and does not go to vine under a 
high state of cultivation. I select my seed 
from the early crop of the best specimens. 
I think the Lorillard for inside is one of 
the best; for outside late I use the Puri¬ 
tan, a very fine-shaped, dark red, solid 
tomato. w. w. rawson. 
Massachusetts. 
After trying nearly all the so-called 
early varieties of tomatoes in the last 30 
years, I am satisfied that Sparks’ Earli- 
ana is, at the present time, far and away 
the most profitable of any on the list. It 
demands rich soil, wide planting and con¬ 
stant spraying. The difficulty is to get 
seed from plants that have never known 
fungus troubles of any kind. The ten¬ 
dency of this variety to overbear is such 
that its vitality is greatly weakened; as a 
result of this weakness blight is apt to 
strike the crop. Chalk’s Early Jewel is a 
variety destined to win fame as a good 
second early, all-around tomato for can- 
ners’ use or market. As to the “general 
practice’’ among growers regarding seed, 
the conviction in my mind is a growing 
one that the “practice” in most general 
use is to buy from the man who has the 
showiest pictures, and the most forcible 
story. Nevertheless, there are still some 
old fogies who grow seeds of cabbage, 
celery, tomatoes, etc., the money crop of 
their grounds. Some of these old fellows 
are just exasperating in the way they fuss 
around one or two tomato plants, just be¬ 
cause those particular plants have ripe 
fruit a few days before the rest, and in¬ 
stances have been known where one of 
those old codgers actually went by a thou¬ 
sand or more plants quite heavily laden 
with ripe fruit, and discarded them all because he 
was so notional that he must have a particular plant 
that he finally stumbled on. It was early, it was rea¬ 
sonably vigorous, the fruit seemed nearly all to ripen 
at once, and the old man said: “They looked just as 
much alike as a pile of bricks.” And the way some 
men are wedded to an idea was shown by this old 
fellow’s treatment of his pet plant. Saving the seed 
wasn’t enough for him, my, no; he saved the seed of 
course, but he actually cut a whole lot of the new 
growth into little pieces, and with a smile as broad 
at Bret Harte’s Chinaman, he muttered something in¬ 
audible about soft-wood cuttings, just as though the 
country wasn’t full of enterprising seedsmen who 
have mammoth establishments and extensive trial 
grounds, together with educated experts in their em- 
plpv, who are so intensely interested in the welfare 
of the dear old farmers that they just lie awake 
nights trying to conjure up some improved method 
by which they can sell him—something, 
Pennsylvania. k. garrahan. 
ALL SORTS. 
Some Spraying Questions. 
Will you give me a recipe for spraying rose bushes to 
destroy the small parasites which Infest the leaves and 
tender sprouts like lice? Also, what will kill caterpillars 
on shade trees and not hurt the tree? c. w. 
Philadelphia, Pa. 
A solution of whale-oil soap three ounces to a gal¬ 
lon of warm water, sprayed on the plants, is quite ef¬ 
fectual in cleaning off insect pests. Tobacco infusion, 
made by steeping one pound of tobacco stems In a 
gallon of water is very obnoxious to lice or aphids 
that infest rose bushes. It must be sprayed forcibly 
so as to wet the under surfaces of the leaves. The 
Sulpho-tobacco soap sold by florists and seedsmen is 
very useful. Directions come with the soap. 
Good Strawberries Are Wanted. 
I have a piece of sandy soil, bottom land, which I 
think of planting to strawberries next year. It is now 
planted to corn; cultivated for the last time and sown 
with Crimson clover. Will some one tell me how best 
to proceed with it? The land has been under cultivation 
for about six years; that is, since It was sod, and is 
fairly good by manuring every year. g. l. w. 
Kingsley, Pa. 
The best possible preparation of this soil would be 
to broadcast about 25 tons or more of good stable ma¬ 
nure to each acre next Spring, plow it under and har¬ 
row thoroughly before setting the plants. Or, as the 
Crimson clover, if it succeeds, will bring in consid¬ 
erable nitrogen, broadcast after plowing 400 or 500 
pounds each dissolved South Carolina rock, or better. 
fine ground bone, and muriate of potash. The land 
should then be marked out In rows three feet apart 
and plants of the desired varieties set 12 to 14 inches 
apart in the rows, using about 10,000 plants to the 
acre. During June or July, when the established 
plants are growing vigorously, nitrate of soda may be 
strewn along the rows at the rate of 200 pounds to the 
acre, and cultivated in. If good stable manure is used 
as directed there should be little need of the nitrate 
of soda for the first year at least. 
Clover That ''Smothers Out." 
I would like to ask about letting the second crop of 
clover go back on the ground. I let a piece go back last 
year, and it all smothered out; this year I have 30 acres 
of It, and it is good, too. I have bams full of hay, too, 
and plenty of all kinds of grain. w. E. 
Ripley, N. T. 
There is danger of smothering when a heavy growth 
of clover Is allowed to remain uncut, or if cut and not 
removed. If the land is to be plowed, the 
full manurial value will be retained. 
In this case there seems to be a surplus 
of forage or a dearth of live stock. If 
the clover is to be used for manure, I 
would suggest cutting and hauling to 
some land not productive of such a luxur¬ 
iant growth, plow under this Fall, har¬ 
row, and in the Spring, if the sod is part¬ 
ly decayed, plow again. If not harrow 
thoroughly with a heavy disk harrow, 
cutting the sod and the clover, and mix¬ 
ing with the soil. This land will be in 
prime condition for corn; 200 pounds of 
acid phosphate will balance the lertiiity. 
Other grasses are materially Injured by 
cutting close in the Fall, but clover, when 
growing thriftily, does not seem to lose 
any root power, and at once begins a new 
growth. In fact, a healthy clover plant 
abundantly supplied with available plant 
food will never cease growing at any time 
when the temperature is above 40 de¬ 
grees. The growth of course will be slow, 
but the plant will not stand idle. When a 
heavy growth is left on the field the air is 
excluded and the plant fails to breathe 
even in the cold weather, and so dies. 
When mowing, cut high; this gives pro¬ 
tection in many ways. The crown of the 
plant is not Injured, the high stubble 
holds snow, and high stubble always 
builds a thicker sod. A thick sod is valu¬ 
able because chemical changes take place 
rapidly under a mulch. This decaying 
stuff also furnishes vegetable matter, and 
the careful observer will assert that a 
thick sod will stand drought far better 
than a thin one. Notice a closely grazed 
pasture; how quickly the thin sod burns 
out in dry weather. The most profitable market, 
however, for such a fine growth of clover is 
a dairy cow giving from 25 to 50 pounds of milk daily, 
and so arrange that the droppings may be returned to 
the farm, not upon the field where removed neces¬ 
sarily; that will usually have decayed roots enough to 
grow another crop. Draw to some field not prolific 
in clover growth, assist nature in restoring an equili¬ 
brium, and profit thereby. h. e. c. 
Blackberries from Cuttings. 
I would like to know how to start blackberries from 
cuttings. j. M. m’k. 
Golden, Col. 
Blackberry root cuttings are mads by digging up 
the roots of two-year blackberry plants, lying in bun¬ 
dles and cutting in lengths of about two inches. Roots 
about the size of a lead pencil are preferred, and nur- 
'rOMATD PEPPER’S PROLIFIC. Fig. 3.52. See Rurai.isms, Page (578. 
