3014. 
1T1 
DETAILS OF EARLY TOMATO GROWING. 
Part I. 
PRODUCING THE PLANTS.—Tomato growing is 
each year receiving more and more attention by South 
Jersey truckers. Practically every trucker grows 
this vegetable as one of the main money crops, few 
having less than 50 sash (enough for 8,000 to 10,- 
<00 plants) while many use 200 or more in produc¬ 
ing plants for their own setting. An idea of the 
enormous output of tomatoes from this section can 
he gathered from the size of the shipments from the 
main shipping point at Swedesboro. 
From there daily shipments 
1 mints of 20,000 to 30,000 crates are not 
at all exceptional during the height of 
the season, while nearby markets are 
supplied in proportion. 
ADVANTAGES OF EARLY CROP. 
—Growers specialize on the early crop 
and prices received are higher than 
for main crop tomatoes. Large profits 
depend on getting the hulk of the crop 
early; therefore all concentrate their 
energies toward getting early fruits. 
That they have succeeded is certain. 
Buyers have been attracted by the 
quantity and quality of tomatoes pro¬ 
duced and each season they are on 
hand ready to buy tomatoes when de¬ 
livered at the station. This avoids de¬ 
lays. loss in transit and the thousand 
and one troubles attendant upon ship¬ 
ping on commission and there is an 
absolute certainty as to the price re¬ 
ceived on each particular day. A good 
market of this kind is in part respon¬ 
sible for the extensive plantings but 
the success of the industry hinges mainly on the 
methods practiced by growers in getting tomatoes 
early. 
IIOW GROWN.—It is the purpose of these articles 
to set forth as clearly as possible just how the crop 
is grown and how we get them early. It must be 
remembered that, although fairly profitable if iate, 
the maximum profits are received only when an 
abundance of early fruits are secured. The variety 
grown is Earliana. This is used exclusively. Grow¬ 
ers select and save their own seed in order to avoid 
loss from seed untrue to name and also to improve 
their own particular strain of that 
variety. The work for the season com¬ 
mences the last of January or the first 
of February when the soil is put in 
the hothouses in preparation for sow¬ 
ing the seed. These hothouses are 
cheap and simply constructed green¬ 
houses built to utilize the ordinary hot¬ 
bed sash, and heated by one or two 
large wood stoves with the stove-pipe 
running beneath the raised benches to 
give some bottom heat. The houses 
are 15 to 18 feet wide and long enough 
to furnish the necessary space for 
starting the seedlings. One thousand 
fine plants can be grown to the sash 
without crowding. About two inches 
of fine well-rotted horse manure is 
placed in benches, then covered with 
an equal amount of rich sandy loam. 
A fire is started and the house and soil 
thorough warmed before seeds are 
sown. 
SOWING SEED.—The date of sow¬ 
ing seed varies with the season and the 
preference of growers, but February 
15 to 20 is about an average. The seed 
are sown thinly in wide furrows about 
four inches apart, and covered lightly. 
After sowing more heat is given in or¬ 
der to germinate the seed quickly but 
after seedlings come up a more mod¬ 
erate heat is maintained with no at¬ 
tempt to force growth. Plants are al¬ 
lowed to remain in the seed bed until 
March 20 or 25, when if weather per¬ 
mits and plants are large enough to 
crowd, they are transplanted to cold 
frames. There has been little tendency on the part 
of growers to transplant more than once. Working 
on so large a scale they believe that the added stout¬ 
ness and strength of the plant would not repay them 
for the extra work involved. That may or may not 
be true but nevertheless few practice it for by hav¬ 
ing plants growing thinly and without forcing, in 
the seed bed they are not at all spindling. 
GOLD FRAMES.—When it comes to handling 
plants in the cold frames our growers practice 
methods ahead of anything I know of as being used 
r HhC RURAL NEW-YORKER 
elsewhere; and therein lies the secret of intensive 
growing of early tomatoes on an extensive plan. 
Few truckers grow less than 8,000 to 10.000 plants, 
while many have 25,000 to 30.000; therefore paper 
pots, fiats, etc., are out of the question and even 
if practical would not be used, because the methods 
practiced give not only cheaper plants, but also 
better-grown plants, with less labor and more per¬ 
fect control of the moisture supply. Some of the 
cold frames are made double, most of them are 
similar to those used everywhere by gardeners, with 
slope to the south. The north side is boarded up 
to a height of 18 inches, and the south side is 
simply a 12-inch board stood on edge. Both sides 
are braced by posts set in the ground at distances 
of six to eight feet. The frames are made any de¬ 
sirable length, with the ends boarded up. The sash 
used here are 3 1 />x7 feet, so the frames are made 
(>y 2 feet in width, which is wider than for those cov¬ 
ered with the standard 3x6 sash. 
PREPARING FRAMES.—Rafters are used be¬ 
tween the sash, so they can be pulled down from the 
top for ventilation, or if need be pulled off alto¬ 
gether. Rafters are useful in saving labor, for by 
A HIGH CLASS AFRICAN GANDER. Fig. 68. 
using them it is possible for one man unaided to give 
the necessary attention to beds, thus permitting the 
time of a second man or helper to be spent in other 
work at a season when help is hard to get and 
wages high. They also prevent sash from sagging 
in the middle. Neither sash or rafters, however, are 
placed on the frames until beds have been made to 
receive the tomato plants. In making the beds three 
inches of finely turned stable manure or stable and 
hog manure mixed is spread evenly over the bottom 
of the frame. A 3x3 inch piece of frame stuff six 
feet four inches long is a good aid in getting the 
manure on evenly. Commencing at one end of the 
frame measure off two feet and lay the three-inch 
gauge across the bed; fill this space with manure, 
using care to keep it level, and putting no more than 
will come to the top of the gauge. Then move the 
gauge two feet farther along and repeat. After re¬ 
peating a few times the gauge can be moved for 
greater distances and finally, as one becomes ac¬ 
customed to the work, will hardly be required at all. 
After the manure is in, the bed is ready for the soil. 
Growers use as good rich sandy loam as they can 
secure and place an even layer two 
inches deep immediately above the 
manure, using a gauge as for the man¬ 
ure. This completes the making of the 
cold-frame bed; sash and rafters are 
put on and everything is in readiness 
for the plants which are put in on the 
first nice day after March 20 or 25. 
TRANSPLANTING.—When pulling 
plants from the hothouse they are first 
loosened at the roots by running a 
trowel below and lifting both soil and 
plants. Then by taking plants from 
the loosened soil, the whole root sys¬ 
tem is left intact and there is less wilt¬ 
ing than if plants were pulled. Two 
to four hundred are pulled at a time 
and taken immediately to the cold 
frame, where everything should be 
ready to receive them. Transplanting 
is done by the aid of a “spotting 
board” operated by two men. The 
spotting board (see illustration) is 
simply a board one foot wide; long 
enough to reach across the bed, about 
six feet four inches, and fitted with 
three rows of pegs, four inches long, spaced as far 
apart as plants are desired to stand in the frame. 
At either end pegs extending beyond the sides serve 
as guides. The popular distance for setting in the 
cold frame is 4% to five inches each way. Com¬ 
mencing at one end of the frame the spotting board 
is placed crosswise of the bed, pegs down. The men 
then step in on it, their weight pressing the pegs 
down in the soil. They then get off, lift the board 
carefully: shift it farther up the bed, with the two 
guide pegs in their corresponding holes on the out¬ 
side row just made. They step on again, but before 
making a second shift, set plants in 
each of the holes made the first time. 
After plants ai-e set the board is again 
moved and plants set in the holes just 
made. The spotting board not only 
serves to make the holes for the plants, 
keeping the rows straight, even and of 
uniform distance apart but also fur¬ 
nishes a place upon which the men can 
work when setting plants across the 
bed. If soil in the cold frame is dry 
it is best to moisten slightly a few 
hours ahead of transplanting, so that 
the peg holes made by the spotting 
hoard will not fill up. When moist 
enough to keep open the plants will 
not need water when set. Should 
plants he short the pegs need not he 
forced down their full length. The 
object is to set plants down to the 
seed leaves, and the depth of holes can 
lie regulated accordingly. After drop¬ 
ping plants in the holes the soil 
is pressed about the roots with 
the fingers. Experienced men are se¬ 
lected if possible to do the transplant¬ 
ing, as it requires judgment in sort¬ 
ing the plants, so that only the stout¬ 
est and best will be set, and great care 
needs be exercised in pressing the soil 
firmly about the roots so that it really 
will be firm. However, if experienced 
hands are not available it is easy to 
learn, and rapid progress can be made 
with this method even by a beginner. 
The time required to set plants varies 
with the individual, but two men can 
easily set 10,000 a day and move their 
own sash. 
CARE OF PLANTS.—Plants need considerable at¬ 
tention during their stay in the cold frame. They 
are kept watered and ventilated as seems proper 
in the judgment of the grower; sometimes hoed to 
hasten growth and finally well-hardened off by with¬ 
holding water and ventilating freely. The sashes 
are covered with a thick layer of hay (salt hay is 
fine for this purpose) on every cold night, so as to 
retain the heat and avoid loss from frost. 
New Jersey. 
TRUCKER JR. 
