290 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
September  26,  1895. 
the  best  possible  results  in  hardy  fruit  production,  and  hence 
the  valuable  addenda  to  the  show  of  meetings  of  instruction. 
On  the  first  day  one  of  our  up-to-date  fruit  men,  Mr.  G.  Bun- 
yard,  will  endeavour  to  bring  others  up  to  date  too  on  the  question 
of  new  varieties  of  fruit,  and  it  is  hoped  he  will  be  as  free  in  his 
condemnation  of  any  which  he  has  found  to  be  inferior,  as  we  may 
expect  him  to  be  just  in  his  references  to  those  which  promise  to 
take  leading  positions  in  the  future.  The  undue  multiplication 
of  varieties  is  a  serious  matter,  at  the  same  time  it  is  important  that 
all  which  afford  evidence  of  being  decided  improvements  on  exist¬ 
ing  forms  should  be  made  widely  known. 
Then  on  the  second  day  Mr.  A.  H.  Pearson  ought  to  have 
something  very  practical  to  say  on  the  subject  of  pruning  fruit 
trees  that  are  grown  for  commercial  purposes.  It  is  sad  to  see  so 
much  thoughtlessness  and  recklessness  in  the  use  of  the  knife  in 
different  parts  of  the  country  ;  and  beyond  all  doubt  there  are 
numbers  of  persons  who  regard  themselves  as  smart  pruners, 
whose  proper  description  would  be  fruit  butchers.  It  is  delight¬ 
fully  simple  is  the  process  of  pruning  fruit  trees  with  the  object 
of  spur  formation  and  fruit  production  when  the  underlying 
principles  are  well  understood,  and  it  will  be  a  feather  in  Mr. 
Pearson’s  cap  if  he  can  make  them  clear  to  all  men. 
The  meeting  on  the  third  day  of  the  show  should  be  especially 
interesting  by  the  reading  of  a  prize  essay,  from  which  much  will 
certainly  be  expected.  Both  of  the  essays,  judging  by  the  writers 
of  them,  must  be  good,  though  not,  it  may  be  anticipated,  in  the 
same  way,  and  we  shall  not  be  surprised  if  one  is  found  to  be  to 
a  large  extent  a  complement  of  the  other. 
Thus,  in  one  way  and  another,  the  Crystal  Palace  will  during 
the  present  week  be  a  centre  of  interest  to  the  fruit  growing 
community.  No  doubt  all  who  can  do  so  will  visit  the  famous 
building  on  the  important  occasion,  and  most  of  them  may  possibly 
return  somewhat  wiser  than  they  came.  The  thirty  to  forty 
judges  assemble  at  10.45.  The  Lord  Mayor,  who  is  Master  of 
the  Fruiterers’  Company,  was  to  have  opened  the  show,  but  cannot 
do  so  ;  the  Sheriffs  of  the  City,  also  the  Master  of  the  Gardeners’ 
Company,  will  attend  at  12,30  on  the  26th  inst.,  the  date  of  the 
present  issue  of  this  Journal,  and  Sir  Trevor  Lawrence,  Bart., 
President  of  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society,  will  preside  at  a 
public  luncheon  at  1 .30  in  the  grand  saloon. 
OUTDOOR  TOMATOES. 
CoNSiDEP.iNa  the  extraordinary  impetus  that  has  been  given  to 
Tomato  culture  of  late  years,  owing  to  the  popular  palate  for  them 
having  become  educated,  it  cannot  be  a  matter  for  surprise  that 
the  varieties  have  increased  a  hundredfold.  A  few  years  ago  they 
were,  as  everyone  knows,  lightly  regarded,  but  now  that  they  are 
what  may  safely  be  termed  a  food  of  the  masses  their  growth  has 
extended  enormously.  Despite  this  increase  the  supply  does  not 
equal  the  demand,  more  especially  with  reference  to  English- 
grown  fruit.  This  may  be  largely  accounted  for  by  the  climatal 
conditions  of  our  country,  and  also  by  a  lack  of  knowledge  as  to 
the  best  varieties  for  market  purposes.  The  former  no  one  can 
alter,  but  the  latter  is  remediable.  In  some  seasons  the  weather 
is  luch  as  to  preclude  the  possibility  of  satisfactory  results  being 
achieved,  whereas  in  others  Tomatoes  are  very  profitable  indeed. 
It  might  be  inferred  from  this  that,  given  suitable  varieties  and 
weather,  anyone  can  grow  Tomatoes.  Such,  however,  is  not  the 
case,  nor  will  it  ever  be  until  points  of  primary  importance  are 
always  kept  to  the  fore.  For  example,  some  people  put  out 
spindly  plants,  destitute  of  even  a  suspicion  of  flowers.  These 
cannot  be  satisfactory  ;  on  the  contrary,  they  are  much  more 
likely  to  end  in  failure.  Stout-stemmed  little  specimens,  with  one 
truss  of  fruit  already  set,  are  what  are  required,  and  with  these  it 
is  not  difficult  to  grow  a  good  crop  of  Tomatoes  in  England,  at 
least  two  or  three  seasons  out  of  every  five  or  six,  and  to  insure 
fair  results  in  the  remainder. 
The  present  year  has  been  in  every  way  favourable  to  this  crop, 
and  English  grown  Tomatoes  of  fine  quality  have  been  procurable 
at  reasonable  prices.  Could  we  be  sure  of  such  weather  every 
season  the  area  under  Tomato  cultivation  would  become  even  more 
extended,  the  prices  have  a  downward  tendency,  and  the  proba¬ 
bilities  are  that  the  foreigner  would  be  practically  ousted  from  our 
markets  so  far  as  this  crop  is  concerned.  This  is  easily  accounted 
for  by  the  superiority  of  home-grown  over  imported  fruits  both  in 
respect  of  flavour  and  appearance.  The  continental  varieties, 
together  with  those  from  America,  are  very  numerous,  but  as  a 
rule  under  trial  they  prove  inferior  in  one  of  the  above  points  if 
not  in  both.  It  is  true  some  of  the  Americans  may  lay  claim  to 
the  very  doubtful  advantage  of  size,  as  from  such  sorts  as  Ponde- 
rosa  and  its  synonyms  fruits  weighing  over  a  pound  may 
frequently  be  gathered,  but  of  what  tise  are  they?  The  taste  for 
Tomatoes  is  not  for  the  coarse  and  ungainly,  but  rather  for  the 
refined  shape  and  medium  size  of  several  of  our  English  varieties, 
of  which  the  fruits  go  from  four  to  six  to  the  pound.  Besides 
good  quality  and  appearance  the  Tomato  of  to-day  that  is 
going  to  make  its  way  must  be  suitable  alike  for  outdoor  and 
indoor  culture,  be  of  strong  constitution,  very  prolific,  ‘and  not 
particularly  liable  to  the  inroads  of  any  of  the  various  pests  by 
which  Tomatoes  are  attacked.  Even  as  the  crop  depends  largely 
on  the  culture  in  the  early  stages  so  also  does  this  liability  to 
disease,  more  especially  perhaps  under  glass,  for  it  stands  to  reason 
that  the  strong  plant,  well  and  hardily  prepared  in  its  early  youth, 
will  be  less  susceptible  of  baneful  visitations  than  one  that  has  been 
indifferently  grown  in  all  its  stages. 
In  these  notes,  however,  it  is  not  proposed  to  go  into  the  details 
necessary  for  the  good  and  successful  cultivation  of  this  popular 
esculent,  but  rather  to  find  out  the  varieties  well  suited  to  either  or 
both  purposes.  Obviously  such  a  selection  could  not  be  made  unless 
a  large  number  of  them  could  be  examined  that  had  been  treated 
in  precisely  the  same  manner  throughout  their  existence.  Many 
readers  of  the  Journal  of  Horticulture  will  know  where  such  is  to 
be  found ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  several  may  not,  and  it  cannot 
be  otherwise  than  advantageous  for  these  latter  to  be  told  that 
Messrs.  Sutton  &  Sons,  Reading,  have  precisely  such  a  trial  in  their 
nurseries  in  the  centre  of  that  town.  All  the  seeds  were  sown  on 
the  same  date  (March  13th),  and  all  the  plants,  having  in  the  mean¬ 
time  been  subjected  to  similar  treatment,  were  put  out  of  doors 
on  the  same  date,  which  was  as  soon  as  it  was  considered  safe 
to  do  so  toward#  the  end  of  May.  Practically,  no  risks  were  taken 
in  this  respect,  as  it  might  naturally  have  been  expected  that  no 
serious  frosts  would  occur  after  that  date.  The  plants  then  had 
every  chance  from  the  first,  and  a  visit  made  at  the  end  of  last  week 
proved  that  these  most  praiseworthy  efforts  had  been  crowned 
with  unqualified  success.  Those  persons,  and  they  will  be  many, 
who  have  visited  these  trials  will  bear  out  the  statement  that  the 
effect  is  extraordinary,  and  such  as  would  make  the  most  cautious 
rush  wildly  into  Tomato  culture  as  an  easy  means  of  making 
money. 
The  value  of  such  experimental  work  as  that  referred  to 
cannot  be  over-estimated,  and  thanks  are  due  to  its  promoters 
for  their  efforts  towards  the  improvement  of  the  Tomato,  and 
for  rendering  it  possible  for  a  grower  to  see  at  a  glance  which 
variety  is  earliest  to  ripen  its  fruit,  which  is  the  heaviest  cropper, 
and  also  to  determine  what  forms  are  quite  distinct  from  all 
others.  When  it  is  said  that  170  varieties — at  least  twelve  plants 
of  each — all  supposed  to  be  distinct,  are  grown,  some  idea  of  the 
magnitude  of  the  trial  will  be  conveyed,  though  it  must  be  seen 
to  be  thoroughly  appreciated  and  understood.  Each  row  is  3  feet 
from  its  nearest  neighbours,  and  the  plants  in  the  rows  have  an 
average  distance  asunder  of  12  inches. ,  It  does  not  require  a 
very  great  amount  of  calculation  to  show  that  if  there  are  twelve 
plants  of  170  sons  the  total  number  will  be  upwards  of  2000. 
There  are,  however,  considerably  more  than  even  this  total,  as 
from  four  to  six  dozens  of  some  varieties,  each  representing 
different  stocks,  were  planted.  The  differences  of  some  of  the 
varieties  and  the  resemblances  of  others,  teach  a  lesson  such  as 
cannot  fail  to  be  instructive  to  even  the  most  educated  in 
Tomatoes,  as  everything  is  placed  before  the  examiner  in  the 
readiest  form  for  comparing  shapes  and  sizes,  habit  of  growth, 
and  in  fact,  every  necessary  detail  for  a  complete  scrutiny. 
Let  a  stroll  now  be  taken  between  the  serried  rows  of  plants 
and  note  be  made  of  the  best,  the  standards  of  productiveness, 
flavour,  form  and  habit  being  always  borne  in  mind.  It  comes 
natural  in  commencing  to  find  Sutton’s  Earliest  of  All  in  the  premier 
position,  and  that  it  deserves  its  name  will  be,  with  those  who 
know  it,  an  undisputed  fact.  Within  6  inches  of  the  ground  is  the 
first  cluster  of  fruits,  following  at  intervals  by  two,  and  sometimes 
three  other  bunches,  the  plants  being  stopped  at  a  height  of  about 
3  feet,  which  is  indeed  the  top  of  the  stake  to  which  each  plant  is 
grown.  The  fruits  are  slightly  corrugated,  of  excellent  flavour, 
very  freely  produced,  and  fit  for  use  well  in  advance  of  every 
other  variety  in  the  trials.  For  gardeners,  amateurs,  and  market 
growers  this  must  be  one  of  the  best  Tomatoes  in  commerce,  provided 
a  true  stock  is  procured,  for  which  purpose,  of  course,  it  is  best 
to  go  direct  to  the  fountain  head.  As  an  immediate  successor  none 
better  than  Magnum  Bonum  will  be  found.  In  form  and  quality 
