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842. QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. [1 May, 1900. 
tomato produces such a superabundance under good cultivation I never allow 
the leaves to crowd each other, and even take some away altogether. When = 
the plants have made good progress, and have five or six bunches of develops | 1 
tomatoes on them, the important question of manuring and feeding comes *~ 
MANURING. i 
The time has now arrived to give the plants a heavy mulch of thoroughly 
rotten manure available as immediate plant food. ‘The roots will very speedy 
come for this manure, and eventually fill it with a regular network of roots 
It should be laid on 8 or 4 inches thick; and as more and more tomatoes 2 
produced, this manure will be of the greatest possible value. Should the plants” 
become in any way dryish, give a good soaking of water, or better still we® | 
liquid manure, and have the manure slightly trodden at the same time in ord! | 
that the goodness may be squeezed out; and should the weather continue 
rainless, the plants may be watered once a week in a similar way. Treated 8 
this way the manure immediately becomes available for the fruit, and practically | 
that alone; and this method will be found far superior in results to heavy!) 
manuring the ground in the first place, which is mainly proyocative 0 a 
rampant growth that serves no purpose, but on the contrary produces 1oMs 
jointed growth, and demands a great deal of extra pruning. These are the Bt 
great factors in successful tomato culture—namely, a rigid system of prunits 
and strict confinement to main stems, and powerful manuring expressly 
solely for the benefit of the fruit as distinguished from the plant itself; an 
this method, moreover, the fruit ripens in regular order, commencing from 3 ia 
bottom, and continuing upwards until the plants become no longer profitab: i 
A most important point is to see that the manure is of real value and si 
thoroughly decomposed. In proportion as it is, so will be seen its effect on 1° 
character of the fruits. 
A CALCULATION. 
Now, estimates are proverbially dangerous things—like prophecies very ; 
much; but I am going to venture on a modest one. that is for certain wit d 
the practicable, provided this method of culture is faithfully carried out; a 
we will carry the quoted example through: a plot of land 50 by 100 feet ; plan a 
or single stems, total number 1,600 at 3 by 1 foot planting; five seers of tomatoe, 
per plant—and all of the finest quality be it noted ; five by 1,600—8,000 seers © 
tomatoes—at 4 annas per seer, gives 2,000 rupees. But I have in mind that” 
readers are not ready-made experts. There is much of routine only poss!) | 
from keen enthusiastic experience, and so I’ll reduce this estimate for 
planter and the amateur by 50 per cent.—that is, the yield—and call it 23 8° ; 
per plant at 1,000 rupees. Now, I am absolutely at a loss to know how tH" 
grower is going to spend 500 rupees by way of expenditure on this culture an 
everything connected with it to the sale of the produce, but it is conceivabl@ a 
may do so, Still he has cent. per cent. profit, and that should satisfy the ei 
exacting. This is exclusively applicable to the plains. _I would here war? Mt 
hill gardener against any heavy speculation in tomatoes, because he has to 8° 
through the monsoon season, and that is quite another thing, as I happe? 
know to my own cost very dearly. 
ers 
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EXAMPLE, all 
In 1897 I was going to make a small fortune, and had 4,000 plants, fi 
grown as detailed here. They got through the rains pretty well, until nearit 
the end of September, and hung like ropes of onions, to the extent of ve as 
many maunds; hundreds of the fruits weighing over 1 lb. each, of fault Pe 
shape, and with the colour just developing in all directions. Then there con 
quite unexpectedly over 1 foot of rain in twenty-four hours, and I was iy 
gratulating myself on how well they had stood the downpour, when, lo! 02 i ‘i 
third day, black spots appeared; on the next day it had developed 50 per cen i 
and ere a week was up the entire crop was an absolute mass of disease— 
total failure and a alent loss, aS 
