THE TOMATO TEXT

out-of-doors. Comet is small, flattened, slightly corrugated about the stem, of fine even red color, very firm and solid, with few very thick walled cells. Other names are _Sunrise_, and _Lord Roberts_. Several American forcing strains have been developed with at least one parent of this group--_Ideal_, _Grand Rapids Forcing_, _Field Station Comet_, _Trellis_, _Michigan State Forcing_, _Lloyd Forcing_, _Blair Forcing_ and others. _King Humbert_ and _San Marzano_ represent the small Italian oblong tomatoes that are prized for their thick walls, fine color and suitability for puree, paste and soup. _Ponderosa_ is popular for home garden, a "beef-steak" tomato of very large size, irregular shape, flat, pink, with many small cells and of very mild sub-acid flavor. It is best grown to single stem. _Oxheart_ is large, heart shaped, pink and very meaty. Others of this general type may be had in red, yellow and orange flesh. In general, the whole group lacks in prolificacy. _Oddities._--Tomato fanciers often plant seed of Red and Yellow Pear, Cherry, Currant, Peach with its fuzzy skin, Plum and others. They are prized for preserves and for decoration. Ground Cherry or Husk Tomato is not a true tomato but belongs to a different genus (Physalis). It makes excellent preserves. Well do I remember sneaking off from the other kids for solitary plunder of the little row that was usually in Grandma's garden. Comprehensive descriptions of leading varieties of tomatoes have been published by the United States Department of Agriculture in Miscellaneous Publication 160, the result of statistical and verbal notations over several years at five widely scattered stations of the country. IV STRONG PLANTS FOR EARLY MATURITY AND HEAVY CROP One of the ways to make money from tomatoes is to mature them early, selling while the price is still high. There is a big difference between $.10 a pound and $.10 a basket. Shipped and ripened green wrap tomatoes cannot be very cheap on northern markets even though Southern growers may realize little for them. Another way to profit is to grow good plants to sell. Judging by the spindling, crowded, soft or over-hardened plants so common in stores, there should be great opportunity here and, as a matter of fact, many market gardeners do well in this business realizing welcome returns when other income is negligible. To market ten-cent-a-pound tomatoes from out-doors requires good plants--plants that have passed through their youth nearly or fully up to blossoming time with benefit of heat and shelter and that are ready to keep up vigorous growth in face of the demands of fruiting. A few scattering fruits matured early do not suffice. Even for cannery, good plants are required. In most regions, plants are not as good as they should be. All too often, outdoor seed bed plants are set where cold frame or at least cloth cover should be employed. Further north, cold frame plants or second run or other inferior plants are used instead of the best. That is why many canning companies have greenhouses and grow plants for their farmers. And in the home garden, the quality of vine ripened fruit along with the satisfaction of early maturity are goals worth striving for. Plant growing is a game of skill. It calls for keen observation, constant and faithful attention to small details, and a high order of workmanship in the various operations. Furthermore, when a considerable number of plants are to be grown, it calls for good organization and rapid work if costs are not to be unduly increased. A transplanter who makes three motions where two will suffice is likely to turn profit into loss, for the loss of a second when repeated thousands of times makes many hours. The grower who is producing tomatoes for first-early maturity wants a plant that will withstand the rigors of transplanting and of inclement weather which may follow, that will start immediately into growth, and that will mature fruit in good quantity at the earliest possible date. This usually means a plant about ten inches tall, with heavy, firm, dark-colored stem (though not over-hardened), a heavy body of dark, healthy foliage, and a cluster of blossoms, with possibly a fruit or two already set. If the buds in the axils of the leaves have begun growth, no harm will be done. Many growers are doubtful whether it is well to have fruit set on plants when they are transplanted in the field, as they claim that the little tomatoes are often lost and in any case the progress of the plant is retarded. Such plants must be handled with great skill. If they are severely checked when taken to the field, other and less advanced plants may do as well. There is danger in having plants too far advanced, and an unexpected delay in field setting may result in spindling and over-hardening that may prove disastrous. A vigorous and properly hardened plant that is younger will do better under such circumstances. Some growers protect themselves by having plants of more than one sort. Open-bed Plant Growing With favorable conditions and careful methods, good plants can be grown in open beds but they must be grown and used where the season is long or be grown in the south and shipped north. Soil should be free of disease and nematodes, of good physical character, full of humus and nutrients. Seed may be sowed a week or two after "average date of last killing frost" which may be learned from county agent or weather bureau. Further south planting times are gauged by the time tomatoes are to be set and by experience as to safe or reasonably safe sowing dates. Rows are usually a foot apart, more or less. Good plants call for sowing thinly, 6 to 12 seeds per foot, but several seeds per inch are not unusual. One may expect a million plants per acre with close planting or 40,000 plants per pound of seed. Southern Plants Many millions of tomato plants are grown in open fields in the south to be sent to home gardeners in small parcels on seedsmen's orders, to be sold to commercial growers or to be delivered on contract to canners. A suitable climate and soil, good seed, freedom from disease and insects and good handling and packing are all required for satisfactory results. In far too many cases, these requirements have been sadly neglected and a good deal of distrust has been engendered. Here, as in buying seed, one must discriminate among good and poor growers. Canners who order in millions can send men south to investigate and supervise with good results. Georgia now has a certification service for plants that helps greatly to build up and maintain high standards. Growing Early Plants in the North Varied programs of plant growing are in vogue in the temperate and cooler regions. A simple cold frame with or without transplanting may be employed. Seedlings may be started in hotbed or greenhouse and then transplanted to cold frames to finish the job. Some sow seed early, transplant once in the greenhouse at 1-1/2 or 2 inches each way and then again to cold frame with wide spacing say, 4 x 4 inches or using pots or dirt bands. For this method, as much as twelve weeks may be allowed but if space permits, excellent results may be achieved in seven or eight weeks transplanting but once to pots or to 4 x 4 inches in flat or bed. [Illustration: FIGURE 11.--A good small greenhouse for plant growing.] The Place to Grow Plants For northern climates, greenhouses are practically required. Canneries or other large growers, have wide houses similar to those used for winter maturing crops. A market gardener may have a little house of 10' x 20' to 20' x 60' or larger as needed. If one does not object to some inconvenience and discomfort, a hotbed may be used--heated with hot water or electricity, or as in years past, with fermenting manure. Cold frames may be covered with glass sash as in the case of hotbeds, or cloth may be used. There are also materials consisting of wire cloth filled with cellulose film. Special mats of straw or of quilted burlap may be used for extra cover and large growers often employ coarse manure, straw or marsh hay. Many a tomato gets its start in life in a small flat in a kitchen window--perhaps, in a cigar box. Such seedlings may then be carried forward in hot bed or cold frame. Beds, Flats and Pots Growing plants directly in ground beds in the greenhouse and directly in the soil in the hotbeds or cold frames, is rather common. However, the use of flats or plant boxes in plant growing offers a number of advantages as compared with planting in the bed. Transplanting can be done at benches under conditions of comfort and convenience which make for efficiency. Moisture can be more precisely controlled and flats can be shifted if some plants grow faster than others. Plants can be moved with more dirt on the roots, and this is a great advantage when plants are sold and hauled some distance, though, of course, pulled plants are handled more cheaply. On the other hand, the first cost, and the maintenance and storage of the flats must be considered. Flats may be set on the ground in the greenhouse without use of benches. Flats are of many dimensions, ordinarily six to ten per sash or about 18 x 22 inches or 13 x 18 inches outside measure. They may be made of lumber from used boxes, but they ought to be uniform in size and made to fit beds without loss of space. The more durable kinds of wood, cypress or chestnut are preferred. Some growers make the bottoms of the flats of square-mesh galvanized screen (hardware cloth), about five or six meshes to the inch. This allows roots to penetrate the soil of the beds, permits root pruning by shifting, and there is no wooden bottom to rot. Some growers use clay pots for plants which are receiving special care. Their cost is an obstacle though they are used repeatedly. Such pots also hold less soil for the area occupied than flats or square dirt bands. [Illustration: FIGURE 12.--Plants for the early crop. 1. Shows plants in paper bands of excellent proportion and thrift but not yet in bloom. 2. In blossom but fruit has not yet set. 3. Similar to 2 but a little further advanced and has actually set fruit.] Paper pots are used to some extent. Organisms decomposing the paper may use and so render unavailable some of the nitrogen of the soil thus hindering the growth of the plants. This may be corrected by seeing that abundant nitrogen is present in the soil either when made up or by later application of nitrate sowed upon the soil while plants are dry or applied in solution in watering. Dirt bands of veneer are used and are very satisfactory. Blocking as practiced by many growers is a cheap and effective way of attaining much the same results. The Blocking System When the cold frame is prepared for the last transplanting, two inches of fairly well-rotted manure is laid down and two or three inches of prepared soil is placed on top. Plants are set about four inches apart each way. About a week before field setting, a butcher knife, or a hoe which has been straightened and sharpened, is run between rows both ways. This cuts the roots whereupon the plant at once begins to form new feeders within the block thus reducing, to some extent at least, the damage which might be caused by transplanting. The method is also used with flats. Soil Soil for plant growing should be free of disease and nematodes, friable, not readily forming a crust, receiving and retaining moisture well, but drying off quickly on the surface after watering and well supplied with nutrients. A sandy loam base with good humus content is desirable. It may be prepared, beginning a year or two ahead by growing and plowing under well fertilized green manure crops. Or a compost heap may be prepared with successive layers of soil and manure or other humus making material. In either case, it is usually mixed a time or two by shoveling over or by passing through a shredding machine or a coarse screen. If trouble is likely to be experienced from damping-off fungi, the soil may be heated to 200 deg. F. and held there for an hour, using oven or electric or steam sterilizer. Seed may also be treated with red copper oxid or semesan. Seed and Seed Sowing Tomato seed runs about 125,000 to 150,000 per pound. An ounce of seed is usually depended upon for plants for an acre. For growing seedlings, seed may be sowed up to 100 or more per foot of row. For a maximum number of strong seedlings from a small amount of seed, thinner sowing is desirable. Rows are usually about two inches apart, and a quarter of an inch is sufficient cover. The seedlings break ground in a week or ten days. [Illustration: FIGURE 13.--Tin can prepared for sowing tomato seed.] Uniformity of depth of rows and of covering is important. Otherwise, seedlings will come up unevenly and there will be considerable waste. Care of Seedlings Water and heat should be provided to permit a steady and moderate rate of growth in plants. Over-watering and high temperature yield soft and spindling plants and also plants that are overgrown and that are liable to severe checking before field setting. Under-watering and low temperature give stunted plants. The thermometer at the earlier stages of growth may well stand around 70 to 75 degrees by day and 10 degrees lower at night. A reasonable range of temperature and moisture gives opportunity for the skillful grower to forward or retard his plants as seems best. Great care should be exercised to water evenly. It is necessary to watch the plants constantly to detect the slightest variations in growth. The watering may then be modified and even progress insured. Ventilation finds its chief significance as a means of controlling temperature and humidity, though actual change of air may be a factor. High soil moisture, high humidity, high temperature, and faulty ventilation, all favor the ravages of the various damping-off fungi mentioned above which cause little plants to rot off near the ground. Transplanting The main advantage of transplanting plants before they are set in the field is to give them increased space, or, in other words, to conserve space in greenhouses and frames. Other advantages have been claimed, but in many instances the gains have resulted from more space rather than from the actual shift. Transplanting checks growth through breakage and disturbance of the root system. Loomis[14] finds that "the immediate effect of transplanting is a reduction in the water supply, and the immediate and long-time results are dependent upon the severity and duration of such reduction." Transplanting has little effect upon very young plants and a shift at the age of six or eight weeks checks the plant about as much as two earlier transplantings. The tomato falls in the group of plants that stand transplanting well, roots being rapidly replaced. Transplanting breaks roots and so results in the growth of branches which are shorter than the members of the old system. The new system is accordingly less severely damaged in later transplantings. To insure efficiency, the work of transplanting merits careful attention. Carelessness as to details means loss through unevenness of plants. For example, if soil is not carefully packed at the edges and corners of the flats, irregular water supply and irregular growth result. If much transplanting is to be done, it pays to divide up the work, as is done in a factory. Have a good place for doing the work--a warm, light, and comfortable room. Tired workers are not efficient. Spotting boards are of service if properly made and correctly used. Soil should always contain just the right degree of moisture to allow holes to stand open. Care must be taken that the workers in setting plants do not double the roots or close the holes at the top leaving the roots dangling in an open space below. It is said that a good worker will prick out 10,000 plants per day, though everything must be convenient to accomplish this and many growers regard 6,000 plants as a good day's work. Pruning Young Plants Pruning of tops injures rather than helps the plant, for it destroys leaves which are the machines that make carbohydrates, the principal material for growth. Pruning to cure legginess is bad. Proper management of time, temperature and water will provide adequate control and if plants should become leggy, it is better to plant them by laying them down in a trench with a few inches of top above ground than it is to prune them. Nipping out the growing point with the first cluster of flower buds is sometimes practiced to encourage branching and a heavier yield of early fruit. If this is done, ample space and nutrients must accompany careful management. Otherwise, the plant finds itself with inadequate resources to do a big job. Hardening Tomato plants cannot be made frost proof, but low temperature, reduced moisture supply, partial starvation, and crowding all tend to make plants more resistant to cold, to drying winds, to heat, to mechanical injury such as breakage of leaves and stems, and even to cut-worm attacks. Plants can be hardened appreciably in a short time--say a week. It is now generally accepted that moisture control is more useful than reduced temperature as a means of hardening. Starving and crowding are not desirable methods. Plants can be kept on the dry side if glass or other water-shedding cover is available. Great care must be exercised to avoid over-hardening of tomato plants, for in this way a check in growth is incurred from which they recover slowly, and perhaps never fully. Much study has been given to the changes in plants which underlie the hardening process, and papers by Harvey, Rosa, Loomis, and others should be consulted in this connection. [Illustration: FIGURE 14.--Plants that have been crowded and overgrown, probably undernourished and over-hardened. Plants like this are very often set in the field. They are definitely slow in starting growth.] Watts[15] has shown that adverse conditions, especially low temperature and water deficiency prevailing at the time when fruit clusters are barely beginning to form, commonly occasion the development of misshapen fruits. Faithful spraying or dusting with Bordeaux in the plant bed has proved a useful means of forestalling destructive leaf blights which often devastate whole fields. V GOOD CULTURE FAVORS GOOD RETURNS The tomato is not especially exacting as to care after it has been set out-of-doors. It will do business if given half a chance. At the same time, much can be done to favor earliness, good yield and high quality. Time of Planting In general, tomatoes are set in field or garden as soon as danger of frost is reasonably past. Suppose May 1st is average date of last killing frost. Growers would make general plantings from May 18th to 25th though, in rare instances, frost might occur as late as May 28th or 30th. The last week of May is planting time over a vast area of the North. Venturesome souls will set home garden plants as early as May 10th, standing ready to replant if necessary. There is little gain in rushing the season too much, however, for the tomato is not only sensitive to frost but it does not thrive under what people call "raw, mean, chilly weather." Such conditions may also be responsible for misshapen fruits. A grower for local market not infrequently risks a share of his plants before safe setting time in the hope that warm weather may give the crop a good start toward early ripe fruit to sell at high prices. Delayed planting and use of plants that do not start quickly into vigorous growth is the cause of heavy losses in the north, especially among cannery growers. Better quality and heavier yields are attained if the bulk of the crop matures before cool weather in