1913. 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
877 
Ruralisms 
POLLENIZING TOMATOES; STORING 
WINTER RADISHES. 
1. Will you tell me how to prune and 
pollenize tomato vines in order that the 
first blossoms will set fruit? My first 
ones blossom a while before they set to¬ 
matoes. 2. I would also like to know 
about the culture and storing of Winter 
radishes. M. j. s. 
1. The tomato is ordinarily self-polli¬ 
nating, as the anthers so closely clasp 
the stigma that pollen is quite certain to 
reach the sensitive surfaces of the latter 
as soon as freed without the aid of in¬ 
sects or other extraneous means. Under 
normal outdoor conditions the jar of the 
wind is all that is needed to effect polli¬ 
nation. Bees, or other large insects, 
rarely visit tomato blooms, and inter¬ 
change of pollen between blooms, if ef¬ 
fected at all, appears to be by means of 
minute crawling thrips which often feed 
on pollen and may carry it from bloom 
to bloom. Under glass-house protection, 
however, the air is usually too quiet to 
aid pollination and the ordinary practice 
is to jar sharply the cords or wires on 
which the tomatoes are trained about 
mid-day when the sun is brightest and 
the air as dry as possible, or to fillip the 
bloom clusters with a soft brush or rab¬ 
bit’s foot, striking from above down¬ 
wards so as not to injure the stigmas. 
When conditions are favorable a keen 
eye will note the pollen flying from the 
chinks of the anthers in little puffs and 
enveloping the stigmas. High feeding 
and the almost unavoidable moist air of 
greenhouses tend to reduce pollen and 
deform the stigmas of many varieties so 
that more artificial means are needed to 
induce a good set of fruits, for it is well 
understood that scanty pollination means 
poorly developed tomatoes or possibly 
none at all. The most practical means 
of collecting pollen appears to be to jar 
it from individual blooms into a watch 
glass or other small receptacle held close¬ 
ly under the flowers, and apply it with 
brush or finger tip to the stigmas of the 
blossoms that do not appear to possess 
any pollen of their own. If the variety 
possesses protruding stigmas—and these 
appear naturally best adapted for set¬ 
ting fruits under glass or other artificial 
conditions—the stigmatic surface may be 
dipped into the pollen accumulated in the 
watch glass with every prospect of good 
results. There is a time in the life of 
every normal bloom—about when the 
petals are fully developed—when the 
anthers dehisce and pollen is freely shed. 
Practice renders the operator expert in 
detecting this phase and he is soon able 
to make a limited pollen supply go a long 
way. 
Under outdoor conditions bloom-drop¬ 
ping or failure to set perfect fruits seems 
to depend more on excess of vegetative 
vigor than on deficient pollination. A 
rapidly growing plant rarely develops its 
lirst trusses of bloom sufficiently to en¬ 
sure fruiting, but is correspondingly 
more productive, other conditions being 
equal, when it does begin to bear. To 
encourage early setting a check may be 
necessary and this may be accomplished 
by growing dwarf varieties and keeping 
them in pots until the first cluster is set. 
Quarter Century, Dwarf Stone and 
Acme are excellent for this purpose in 
the order named. Plants may be grown 
in a frame and transplanted when the 
second pair of true leaves appear to four 
or five-inch pots of rich, light soil, taking 
care the drainage is perfect, and grown 
on until fruits are set and the time is at 
hand for transferring them to their per¬ 
manent quarters in the garden. The pots 
should be new, or at least very thorough¬ 
ly cleaned before using, to avoid loss ’of 
roots when plants are turned out for 
h' hl planting. Watering should be very 
carefully attended to, as undue drying 
may result in a lasting check to the de¬ 
velopment of the plants. If in a green¬ 
house it will, of course, be necessary to 
jnr the plants at blooming time or polli¬ 
nate artificially, but if in frames they 
may be exposed to the wind in fair 
"outlier with good chances of securing 
• n early set. Plants grown in this man- 
if well treated after planting in the 
hold, not only develop their first sets, but 
11 '‘"luce well for a long season. When 
'ho pot method does not appear advis¬ 
able plants of the right variety may be 
*«'t in rather poor soil in the field and 
fed up after setting by working in fine 
manure or truck fertilizer about the roots 
with frequent cultivation. 
If it is desired to cross-pollinate toma¬ 
toes artificially with the purpose of pro¬ 
ducing new varieties it will be necessary 
to remove the anthers before pollen has 
been shed, and cover the blooms with 
protecting material such as paper sacks, 
which may be pinned about the stems 
until the stigmas are fully developed and 
appear receptive. This may be judged 
by comparing them with other flowers of 
about the same age. The anthers may be 
pulled off with fine pointed forceps, or 
cut away with scissors or penknife, tak¬ 
ing care not to injure the stigma, which 
is not always as easy as it might appear. 
When the stigma is ready the sack or 
covering is removed and pollen from the 
desired variety carefully applied. The 
sack is again applied and retained until 
the bloom withers. Seeds from such 
crossed fruits are likely to produce plants 
combining to some extent the characters 
of both parents. 
2. The most popular commercial Win¬ 
ter radishes appear to be Stuttgart, 
M hite Vienna, Chinese Rose, Winter and 
Black Spanish about in the order named. 
Sakura Jima and White Mammoth are 
varieties of enormous size, but have not 
found favor in most markets. Seeds are 
sown from the middle to the last of 
July in rows, two or more feet apart, 
in light, well-enriched soil. The plants 
are thinned to stand four inches apart 
when of sufficient size and given clean 
and frequent cultivation until the leaves 
interfere. Just before hard frosts the 
roots are pulled and topped like turnips 
and stored in the same way, either in 
pits protected by straw and earth lining, 
or in a moist, cool root cellar where 
there is little danger of hard freezing. 
V. 
Tomato Figs. 
Can little yellow tomatoes be dried to 
put tip like figs? If so, give recipe. 
Maryland. r. s. s. 
I have never heard of the small yellow 
tomatoes being used for that purpose. 
The red peach and the red and yellow 
pear-shaped varieties are very nicely 
adapted for making tomato figs, being 
just the right size. 
l’our boiling water over the tomatoes 
to remove the skin, then weigh them and 
place them in a stone jar, with as much 
sugar as you have tomatoes by weight, 
and let them stand two days. Pom off 
the syrup and boil and skim until no 
scum rises. Pour the syrup over the to¬ 
matoes and let them stand two days, as 
before. Then boil and skim again. After 
the third time they are fit to dry if the 
weather is good, if not, let them stand in 
the syrup until drying weather. Place 
them on large earthen plates or dishes, 
and put them in the sun to dry. which 
will take about a week, after which pack 
them down in small wooden boxes, with 
fine white sugar between layers. K. 
Endive Culture. 
Please give me some advice about the 
culture of endive, how and when to plant 
and how to cook. r. s. 
Maryland. 
Endive is grown chiefly for late Rum¬ 
mer and Autumn salad. Seed should not 
be sown before middle of June and at 
intervals of 18 to 20 days up to August 
1. Seed can be sown in the seed bed 
and transplanted to their permanent po¬ 
sition in the garden, or sown in drills 16 
inches apart and thinned to 10 inches 
apart in the row. It requires no special 
soil or manure. Keep the plants clear 
from weeds by hoeing and hand weeding 
until the plants have attained full size, 
when the process of blanching should be¬ 
gin. It is unfit for use until it is 
blanched, as it is harsh and quite bitter 
in the green state. The blanching is ac¬ 
complished by gathering all the outside 
leaves up and tying them together over 
the heart; in a week or 10 days it will 
be ready for use. To keep up a continu¬ 
ous supply a few plants should be tied 
up every few days. Do not tie them up 
when the leaves are wet or they will 
soon decay. Another method of blanch¬ 
ing is practiced to considerable extent by 
those who grow it for market. It con¬ 
sists in covering the plants while grow¬ 
ing with boxes, boards, or anything suit¬ 
able for excluding the light. As a salad 
it is considered very wholesome. Use 
only those leaves that are nicely blanched 
and crisp; dress with mayontaaise dress¬ 
ing. 
Stewed Endive. — Wash and free 
the endive thoroughly from insects, re¬ 
move the green part of the leaves, and 
put it into boiling water slightly salted. 
Let it remain for 10 minutes; then take 
it out, drain it until there is no water 
remaining, and chop it very fine. Put it 
into a stew pan with broth; add a little 
salt and a lump of sugar and boil until 
the endive is perfectly tender. When 
done, which may be ascertained by squeez¬ 
ing a piece between the thumb and finger, 
add a thickening of butter and flour and 
one tablespoonful of lemon juice. Let 
the sauce boil up and serve. Time—10 
minutes to boil, five minutes to simmer 
in the broth. k. 
The Chesapeake Strawberry. 
The strawberry crop down here was 
rather shorter than usual, owing to the 
May freeze, but the prices held up won¬ 
derfully, and the growers are all well 
pleased with the result of the season’s 
sale. You ask for a strawberry that will 
beat Marshall in hills. Did you ever try 
the Chesapeake? I have never tried it 
in hills, but, as my neighbor, W. F. 
Allen, who grows every variety of straw¬ 
berry, says in his catalogue, “If there is 
a better berry I have never seen it.” I 
believe that the Chesapeake will do well 
in hills, and its very uniform smooth and 
conical shape, with no coxcomb berries 
makes it an attractive fruit. It is not 
an early berry, but here, on sandy land, 
takes the place of the Gandy, which 
thrives best on the black swamp soils be¬ 
tween us and the ocean, w. F. MASSEY. 
Maryland. 
R. N.-Y.—We have tried Chesapeake. 
It is a fine berry, one of the four we ad¬ 
vise for family planting. It does not 
give as high-colored or high-flavored ber¬ 
ries as Marshall, but is a heavier yielder. 
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