TOMATO

Lycopersicum esculentum





The taste for Tomatoes often begins with a little antipathy, but it is

soon acquired, and not infrequently develops into decided fondness for

the fruit both cooked and in its natural condition. As a necessary

article of food the call for it in this country is no longer limited to

a select circle of epicures, for the value of its refreshing,

appetising, and corrective properties is now widely recognised, and its

advance in public favour has been accelerated by the improved quality,

enhanced beauty, and increased variety effected by expert raisers.



The Tomato is a tender, but not a tropical plant, and it requires a

moderately high temperature, free access of air, and above all a full

flood of solar light to bring it to perfection. The necessary heat is

easily managed in any garden equipped with ordinary forcing appliances;

so also is a current of air in properly constructed buildings; but the

deficiency of light during the darker months renders the task of

producing fruit in midwinter less easy than at other seasons. By the

introduction of varieties possessing increased powers of crop-setting,

however, the difficulty of winter fruiting has been largely overcome, so

that, with efficient management, it is now possible to send Tomatoes to

table throughout the year.



Almost every imaginable glass structure can be employed for growing

Tomatoes, from the small suburban greenhouse to the vast span-roof,

hundreds of feet in length, devoted to their culture in the Channel

Islands. And it is not essential that the crop should be grown alone.

Potatoes, French Beans, Strawberries, and Vines may be forced in the

same building, provided there be no obstruction to light and air, nor

any interference with the conditions which experience has proved to be

imperative for sustaining the plants in vigorous health. For winter and

spring gathering there must be a service of hot-water pipes, but as the

season advances it is easy to ripen fruit in cool houses, and later on

plants outdoors will in favourable seasons yield an abundant return

without artificial protection of any kind.



INDOOR CULTURE--Sowing and Transplanting.--Seed may be sown at almost

any time of the year, but the most important months are January to

March, August and September. In gardens favourably situated in the South

of England and furnished with the most perfect appliances, seed is sown

in all these months, and in others also; but in smaller gardens sowings

are generally restricted to February and March. Whenever a start is made

sow thinly and about half an inch deep, in pans or boxes, and do not

allow the seedlings to remain in them for an unnecessary day.

Immediately two or at most four leaves are formed either prick off into

other pans or boxes, or transfer singly to thumb pots, and as a rule the

pots will be found preferable. The soil for these pans or pots should be

stored in the greenhouse a few days in advance of the transfer, so that

the compost may acquire the proper temperature and save the plants from

an untimely check. In small houses place the plants near the glass that

they may remain short in the joint, but on cold nights they must be

taken down to avoid injury from fluctuations of temperature. In large

houses, where the light is well diffused, there is no need to incur this

trouble, for the seedlings will do equally well on the ground level. In

due time shift into six-inch pots, from which they can go straight to

borders, or into a larger size if they are to be fruited in pots. About

fourteen weeks will be required to prepare the plants for borders in the

winter season, but a shorter period will suffice in spring and summer.

Plants from an August or September sowing will not mature fruit in much

less than six months, while a March sowing will yield a return in four

months or less. A great deal depends on the character of the season, and

more on skill and attention. Those who sow in January or February should

sow again a fortnight later, and onwards until the end of April,

according to requirements. For winter supplies a first sowing may be

made in June, in a cold frame, and prepared for transfer to fruiting

pots in September.



Treatment of Soil.--In the first instance there need be no anxiety

about soil. Any fairly good sandy loam will answer for the seed-pans,

and if too stiff it may be freely mixed with sharp sand or the sifted

sweepings from roads and gravel walks. A fibrous loam, cut from a rich

pasture, and laid up in a heap for twelve months, will, with an addition

of wood ashes and grit, make an ideal soil for pots or borders. As the

plants advance, leaf-mould or thoroughly decayed manure in moderate

quantity should be supplied; but, instead of incorporating it with the

loam in the usual way, it will be found advantageous to place the manure

immediately above the crocks, and the roots will find it at the right

time. But the quantity of manure must not be overdone, especially in the

earlier stages of growth, because excessive luxuriance neither promotes

fruitfulness nor conduces to early ripening. After the fruit has set, a

mulch of decayed manure will aid the plants in finishing a heavy crop.

Manure which is only partially fermented will not do at all. The ammonia

it liberates exerts so deadly a power that the plants are quickly

scorched.



In its demand for potash the Tomato closely resembles the Potato, and of

the two the former is the more exacting. So quickly does this crop

exhaust the soil, that in small houses it is usual to take out the earth

to a depth of fifteen or eighteen inches every second or third year, and

replace it with virgin loam. Others grow the Tomatoes alternately in the

bed and in pots, but this is only a partial remedy. Constant dressings

of farmyard or stable manure result in the formation of humus, which, as

it becomes sour, has to be sweetened by the solvent influence of lime.

The chief objection to the use of stable manure, however, even when well

rotted, is that it induces a free growth of foliage instead of promoting

an early development of fruit. The most enduring method is that which is

based on chemical knowledge of the constituents of the soil, and the

relation which the plant bears to it. One of the most successful growers

for the London market almost entirely avoids the use of stable manure,

and he is able, by applications of nitrate of potash, dissolved bones,

and the occasional use of lime, to grow splendid crops in the same

houses year after year.



All the conditions which answer for border work are applicable to pots,

and a limited number of plants brought forward in succession will supply

the requirements of a small household from early spring until near

Christmas. The pot system is conducive to free setting and to early

ripening, and for these reasons it is worth attention. The plants should

be kept short in the joint by frequent shifts until the twelve-inch pot

is reached, and this size will accommodate two cordons or one plant

having two branches, each of which will require a separate stake for its

support. Plunging the pots can be adopted to save labour in watering.



Temperatures.--No advantage is to be gained by attempting to force

Tomatoes in a higher temperature than is consistent with healthy

progress, although in winter there is great temptation in the direction

of overheating. Full time for development in moderate heat will bring

stout joints, and impart a vigorous constitution that materially aids

the plants in resisting the insidious attacks of disease. The waning

autumn and dull winter days are the most troublesome periods of

management, and it is remarkable that of two days equal in duration and

apparently in other conditions, the autumnal appears to be less

favourable than the spring day. But if, on the one hand, a high

temperature is injurious, a low temperature must be avoided; although

for a time it may not appear to be harmful. A temperature of 60 deg. or 65 deg.

suits the seed-pans, and after transfer to pots and the roots have

become established, the thermometer should not register less than 55 deg.

during the night. It may rise 10 deg. by means of fire heat in the daytime,

and during bursts of sunshine another 10 deg. or 15 deg. will be quite safe,

always assuming that the roots are not dry, and that the plants have

free ventilation.



Watering.--The judicious administration of water forms an important

feature in the culture of the Tomato. The plant is too succulent to

endure drought with impunity, and it is mere folly to toy with the

water-can. Saturate down to the roots, and then leave the plants alone

until more water is wanted. No hard and fast rule can be stated as to

frequency. It depends on the condition of the soil, the period of the

year, and the age of the plants. Borders and soil for pots should be

made sufficiently moist in advance, so that watering will not be

necessary immediately after the plants are transferred. The prevalent

opinion that excessive watering generates disease is not confirmed by

our experience. Of course the watering should not be excessive for many

reasons, but the diseases which are often attributed to over-watering

are the result of atmospheric mismanagement.



General Treatment.--Authorities are not agreed as to whether branched

plants or simple cordons yield the better results. In our judgment the

single stem deserves preference, and it is now more extensively grown

than any other form, although plants having two branches are almost

equally popular. Certainly the cordon can be managed with extreme ease;

it is admittedly the earliest producer, and there is a general consensus

of opinion that the fruit it produces is unsurpassed in size and

quality. The doubtful point is quantity, but even here the difference,

if any, is too trifling to be worth the consideration of private

growers. Cordons are formed by removing the laterals as fast as they

appear, and when the fruit has set, or the requisite height is attained,

the top is also pinched out.



The space allowed for each plant varies greatly, especially among

growers for market. Under glass every branched Tomato should be allowed

at least three feet each way. For cordons we advocate a distance between

the rows of three feet, and a space of two feet in the row is not too

much. The stems require support of some kind, and stakes are preferable

to string; but of course the stems may be secured to wires whenever it

is convenient to run the plants immediately under the glass.



Another point upon which authorities differ is the extent to which

Tomatoes should be denuded of their foliage. Some growers condemn the

procedure entirely; others reduce their plants to skeletons. Both

extremes are objectionable, for when all the leaves are permitted to

remain there is delay or partial failure in colouring the fruit, and the

almost entire removal of foliage checks the root action injuriously. In

practice it answers well to wait until the fruit has set, then by

pinching out the leading point of each leaf, commencing at the bottom,

ripening and colouring are promoted, and the health of the plant remains

unimpaired.



In dull weather, and especially in short days, a difficulty is sometimes

experienced in setting the fruit, particularly the first bunch. After

fruit has begun to swell on one bunch, the remainder set with

comparative ease. A rather higher temperature than usual combined with

free movement of the atmosphere is generally sufficient to insure

fertilisation. If assistance is necessary, however, water the plants

early in the afternoon, and close the house rather before the usual

time. The warm atmosphere will develop plenty of pollen, and a gentle

shaking of the flower bunches with a slight touch from a hazel twig will

liberate visible clouds, which will effectually set the fruit. Another

method is to lift a flat label or paper knife against the flowers. The

label becomes covered with pollen, and by gently touching each flower

with a slight upward pressure a great number can be fertilised in a few

minutes. A soft brush passed over the flowers daily has the same effect.

Plants in the open ground need no such attention if they are in good

health and the season is at all genial. When a bunch of flowers contains

one that is fasciated or confused, the flower should be pinched out to

prevent the formation of large and ugly fruit. The remainder of the

bunch will be the finer for its absence.



OUTDOOR CULTURE.--For the open ground it is important to choose a

variety that ripens early. The plants should be vigorous, and they must

be carefully hardened before they are put out. Sow the seed in heat in

February or March, and when large enough transfer the seedlings to

single pots until wanted. Every effort should be made to avoid giving

the plants a check, and if room is available they may be potted on to

the six-inch size and allowed to form one truss of bloom before planting

out, thus saving valuable time. The end of May is usually the right time

for transfer to the open, but Tomatoes will not endure a keen east wind

or nipping frost. During the prevalence of unfavourable weather it is

advisable to wait a week or more rather than risk the destruction of the

plants. When the temperature appears to be fairly reliable, put them

into holes a foot deep and eighteen inches across, filled with light

soil not too rich. For a few nights until the roots take hold slight

protection should be at hand to assure safety; Sea Kale pots answer

admirably, and are easily placed in position. In addition to beds all

sorts of places are suitable for Tomatoes, such as under warm palings or

walls, on sloping banks and in sheltered nooks, where they will thrive

and yield valuable fruit. Stout stakes are required and should be

promptly provided. Pinch out the lateral shoots, and as soon as the

fruits commence to colour some of the largest leaves may be partially

removed. Early in August nip out the tips of the leaders in order to

encourage ripening. Thus in the open garden a supply of this delicacy

may be insured for part of the year equal in quality to fruit which is

grown under glass. (See also page 181.)



The diseases of the Tomato are dealt with in the chapter on The Fungus

Pests of certain Garden Plants.