The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Tomato, by Paul Work
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Title: The Tomato
Author: Paul Work
Release Date: November 18, 2011 [EBook #38051]
Language: English
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THE TOMATO
THE TOMATO
_By_ PAUL WORK
_Professor of Vegetable Crops, Cornell University_
_Editor of Market Growers Journal_
_ILLUSTRATED_
[Illustration: Printer's Logo]
NEW YORK ORANGE JUDD PUBLISHING COMPANY, INC. 1945
COPYRIGHT, 1942, BY ORANGE JUDD PUBLISHING COMPANY, INC.
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
_This book or any part thereof, may not be reproduced without
permission of the publishers, except by a reviewer who wishes to
quote brief passages in connection with a review written for
inclusion in a magazine or newspaper._
Copyright Under the Articles of the Copyright Convention of the Pan
American Republics and the United States August 11, 1910
[Illustration: FREDERICK J. PRITCHARD
1874-1931
_Originator of tomato varieties of improved type and resistant to
disease_]
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
INTRODUCTION 11
I. THE TOMATO IS A GREAT FOOD AND CROP PLANT 13
II. CHOOSE THE SOIL AND FEED THE PLANT 25
III. THE BEST IN SEED IS NONE TOO GOOD 38
IV. STRONG PLANTS FOR EARLY MATURITY AND HEAVY CROP 53
V. GOOD CULTURE FAVORS GOOD RETURNS 71
VI. TO TRAIN THEM UP OR LET THEM SPREAD 79
VII. THE ETERNAL BATTLE WITH INSECTS AND DISEASES 85
VIII. SKILLFUL SELLING CROWNS THE ENTERPRISE 93
IX. OPERATING IN THE RED OR IN THE BLACK 116
REFERENCES 119
INDEX 133
ILLUSTRATIONS
F. J. Pritchard _Frontispiece_
FIGURE
1. The tomato is the leader among greenhouse vegetables 19
2. The tomato flower 22
3. Long section of tomato flower 23
4. How nitrate nitrogen affects tomato growth 27
5. Effect of omission of phosphorus from complete fertilizer 33
6. Cultivating and side-dressing tomatoes 36
7. Types of tomato interiors 43
8. The Earliana tomato 45
9. Marglobe plant 48
10. Marglobe fruit 49
11. A good small greenhouse for plant growing 58
12. Plants for the early crop 61
13. Tin can prepared for sowing tomato seed 64
14. Plants that have been crowded and overgrown 69
15. Tomatoes pruned and trained with post, wire and twine 80
16. Fine clusters on trained plants 81
17. Resistance to fusarium wilt 87
18. Diseases of the tomato 89
19. Packing tomatoes on a farm 99
20. A California packing house 101
21. Puffiness is a common defect in tomatoes 102
22. The lug box 104
23. Lug boxes as loaded in car 105
24. The square braid basket 106
25. The Connecticut half bushel box 107
26. Repacked tomatoes 108
27. Cellulose film is used for repacked tomatoes 109
INTRODUCTION
Why should there be a book on tomatoes? The world is full of
bulletins of experiment stations, of articles in periodicals and of
general books on vegetables which include discussion of tomatoes.
An incomplete set of tomato bulletins includes over 350 documents.
Many of these are no longer available. Many are of no great value
but contribute this or that small item.
The task of a book like this is to offer between two covers, a
summary of what seem the most significant facts and opinions about
the third most important vegetable crop in the United States.
The tomato is one of the most rewarding crops for the home garden. A
little space yields heavily, from half a peck to a peck per plant
without difficulty. It grows well practically everywhere in the
States, affording high nutritional values whether used fresh or
canned. And people do like tomatoes, whether as salad, cooked
vegetable, or condiment.
Competition among growers and among districts makes three elements
necessary for commercial success:--quality in the goods, economy in
production, and effectiveness in marketing.
The grower must know his plant, what it is like and how it behaves
under various conditions and treatments. Then, he needs an
understanding of the economic factors that surround his enterprise.
Conditions in various sections and production for various purposes
are so diverse that dogmatic statement and general advice are
precluded. The aim is rather by means of available information to
help the reader to an understanding that will enable him to answer
his own questions for his own conditions and this far better than
any broad prescription could possibly do. Principles, possible
practices and examples of field programs are offered as guides for
self-help for home, school, hobby as well as commercial production.
A person who studies on this basis will not be thwarted by a sudden
shift of weather or market but will have at hand the necessary facts
and ideas to adjust his plan to changed conditions.
No attempt has been made toward complete citation of reference.
Those given will lead to others making possible a full survey of the
extensive literature.
The Tomato
I
THE TOMATO IS A GREAT FOOD AND CROP PLANT
Vegetable, Fruit or Berry,--what is the tomato? A standard query
this is and many an argument has raged about it. The answer is easy.
It is all three. By culture and use, it is a vegetable; botanically
it is a fruit and among the fruits, it is a berry being indehiscent
(non-shedding), pulpy, with one or more seeds that are not stones.
And they say the tomato is more truly a berry than the raspberry.
But that doesn't make much difference. The thing that matters is
that people like the tomato. It is easy to grow and nearly every
home garden has it. It is good to look upon--shapely, colorful and
of glossy sheen. A trained single stem plant with ripening fruit is
a genuine ornament in the garden. It is most gratifying to the
palate, fresh or cooked; soft and grainy, smooth and juicy in
texture, sweet and tart and with an appealing flavor all of its own
that few fail to relish. As juice or cocktail, adding color and
flavor to soup, as condiment or as side dish with the entree, as
salad freshly sliced or in jell, it is welcome with almost every
course and some ingenious chef or, more likely, some clever
housewife will, one of these days, fashion from it the dessert
supreme.
Nor have we exhausted the list of forms in which the tomato may be
served. In addition to its simplest cooked form, stewed or turned
hot from the can, it may also be baked, stuffed or not, or it may be
escalloped and cooked with rice, spaghetti or other foods. Fried,
before fully ripe, and served with brown gravy, it is most popular
in many a home.
Ketchup or catsup is one of our most widely used condiments and
chili sauce many like even better. Green tomato pickles, chow chow,
piccalilli carry the piquant tang of the tomato to enliven the
winter table. And tomato juice, plain or dressed up with spices,
vinegar or lemon juice has become a great staple of our groceries, a
standard send-off for any meal from breakfast snatched on the
morning sprint to work on through to the most elaborate of
banquets.
The tomato, by reason of its natural acidity, is readily sterilized
and so can be preserved easily in glass or tin. It ranks first among
the "big three" canned vegetables; the other two being sweet corn
and peas. By far the great bulk that goes to the factory is put up
with the addition of nothing more than salt. In addition to the
condiments, puree and paste are manufactured in commercial
quantities. The Italians dry tomatoes extensively in the sun,
slicing the fruits, and later flavoring them to taste for various
winter uses.
Though the tomato was not recognized as a valuable food until about
a century ago, its merit is now universally accepted. Bob Adams used
to call it "the poor man's orange" for it is rich in vitamins and in
malic and citric acid, possessing besides, a fine appetizing flavor
which is as truly a value in nutrition as it is a pleasure.
Actually, the tomato is mostly water, of rather low protein and
carbohydrate content but this does not detract, for other foods are
dependable for these staples of nutrition and most of us eat too
much of them.
The tomato is a youngster among the vegetables. In contrast to the
onion of Egyptian lore and the cucumber reputed to have been used
in Western Asia many centuries ago, the tomato is not reported
until the herbalists of the 16th century recorded its culture in
Italy and England--but with little of the esteem now accorded. The
name seems to be of Aztec origin and two distinct wild forms--one
corresponding to our cherry or currant varieties and the other to
our larger, flatter, less regular fruits of many cells,--are to be
found wild in Latin America. Its American origin is generally
accepted.
Commercially, the tomato is a great crop. Among the vegetables, it
is outranked only by the potato and the sweet potato.
The following table gives a few figures on the tomato crop:
======================================================================
| | _Acres_ | _Value_
| | _Thousands_ | _Million dollars_
|_1929-38_+-------------+---------+------+------
|_Average_| | |_1929-38_| |
| |_1939_|_1940_|_Average_|_1939_|_1940_
----------------------+---------+------+------+---------+------+------
U.S. for canning | 369 | 358 | 386 | 19 | 24 | 24
for fresh market | 177 | 210 | 204 | 24 | 34 | 29
+---------+------+------+---------+------+------
Total | 546 | 568 | 590 | 43 | 58 | 53
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Average yield for market is about 116 bushels per acre and the
average price $1.26 per bushel. The government reckons a bushel at
53 pounds, or about 38 bushels per ton.
The average cannery yield for 1929-38 was 4.15 tons; for 1939, 5.58
tons; and 1940, 5.39 tons. This shows a material increase. The
average cannery price for 1929-38 was $12.54 per ton. Yields by
states varied widely in 1940 from 2.7 tons per acre in Arkansas with
Indiana at 5.5 to 7.5 in California. In northeastern states, it is
considered that about a seven ton yield is necessary for the farmer
to break even. In New York, it costs about $60.00 to grow an acre of
tomatoes to first picking. With a good yield, picking and delivery
costs about $3.00 a ton.
Leading market states are Texas, 40,000 acres; Florida, 31,000 and
California, 22,000. Tomatoes are grown in a very large number of
states--23 or 24 states showing 1,000 acres or more for market.
Leading cannery states are Indiana, 74,000 acres; California,
52,000; Maryland, 51,000; and New Jersey, 33,000. California, also
Pennsylvania and Ohio have shown recent large gains.
Large quantities grown in town and country home gardens are not
included in these figures and probably also many grown on small
scale for market.
After all, however, the United States Department of Agriculture
estimated per capita consumption of fresh tomatoes at 17.7 pounds,
about one medium sized fruit per week per person. Consumption of
canned tomatoes is less than a third of the fresh consumption. These
figures include estimates for rural and urban home gardens. So, we
can hardly be said to be gluttons for tomatoes nor even to meet a
fair health standard, even considering all vegetables together.
After all, it does not have to be tomatoes even though their high
nutritional value is recognized.
[Illustration: FIGURE 1.--The tomato is the leader among greenhouse
vegetables.]
In commercial greenhouses, the tomato has replaced lettuce as the
principal crop and it is likely to remain an important under-glass
crop until such time as the South finds practical means of getting
it to market with first-class quality--perhaps, harvesting the fruit
when it first shows color.
Solution Culture
The tomato has been widely used in experiments in solution-culture
of plants, sometimes called "hydroponics." The method has been in
use for decades for research purposes, but has been widely
publicized of recent years as a possible method of commercial
culture. A high degree of control of factors governing growth is
undertaken and difficulties are proportionately increased. Hence no
extensive commercial development has occurred. A good presentation
of the method has been offered by Hoagland and Arnon.[1]
The Tomato Plant
To manage a crop, one must needs know the plant. To know the various
characters of the tomato helps one to master its culture.
The tomato belongs to the night shade family, the Solanaceae of the
botanist, along with the potato, tobacco, petunia, pepper, eggplant,
night shade, jimson weed and many other plants useful and noxious.
The tomato is a warm-season crop, sensitive to frost but reasonably
resistant to heat and drought, thriving under a wide range of
climate and soil. A frost free season of seventy-five to ninety days
will mature home garden tomatoes in useful quantities if good plants
are set but over 120 days are needed for economical commercial
production. Plant growing requires six to eight weeks previous to
setting out-of-doors. Each fruit requires about six weeks from
blossom to ripeness. The fruit ripens best for yield, color and
quality when the weather is warm and sunny. Low temperatures without
frost are not favorable for growth and prolonged conditions of this
sort may "check" the plant and retard the response when higher
temperatures come.
The tomato is sensitive to extreme day-length, setting fruit at 7 to
19 hours but not at 5 or 24 hours.[2]
The tomato responds readily to fertilizers and to moisture, coming
quickly into vigorous growth after unfavorable conditions, unless
too badly stunted.
As long as moisture and nutrients are available and other conditions
are favorable, a tomato plant will continue to branch and blossom
and make fruit almost indefinitely. A pruned single stem plant in a
greenhouse at Cornell once reached a length of over 40 feet during a
year and a half of growth. Thus, it is really a herbaceous
perennial grown in northern climates as an annual.
The plant branches freely at leaf joints but fruit clusters are
formed along the bare stem,--a habit not common among plants. Some
varieties are "determinate" in habit, sometimes miscalled
"self-pruning," as branches only attain limited length.
[Illustration: FIGURE 2.--The tomato flower. Varieties differ in
protrusion of pistil beyond the stamen column. If style is too
short, pollination may fail; also, if too long. A long pistil
increases danger of damage from heat and drying out.]
Hot, dry winds often damage floral parts and the blossoms drop
without setting fruit.
Smith[3] has shown that pollen grains germinate best at 85° F.,
almost as well at 70° F., poorly at 50° F. and very poorly at 100°
F.
[Illustration: FIGURE 3.--Long section of tomato flower.]
The flowers of the tomato are borne in simple racemes or, in some
varieties, in compound clusters. The flowers are normally on the
plan of 5 but cultivated varieties may have six or eight sepals and
petals. Sepals are narrow and may be as much as an inch long. Petals
are united at the base. Stamens are united by the anthers
surrounding the style and stigma. The ovary or little tomato is
above the calyx but, as it grows, it carries corolla and stamens
outward until they, with stigma and style, drop off. Length of style
is a fairly important character in its bearing on pollination and on
susceptibility to heat and wind injury.
Seedless Fruits
Recent experiments by several workers have demonstrated the
possibilities of inducing development of fruits without pollination
(parthenocarpy) by means of certain chemical compounds, notably
indolebutyric acid, although others are effective.[4] This method
yields seedless fruits and promises to be of value in insuring a
yield of fruits under conditions unfavorable for natural setting.
II
CHOOSE THE SOIL AND FEED THE PLANT
Almost anywhere that other things will grow, the tomato thrives--so
far as soil type is concerned.
Florida grows tomatoes on coral soils that appear too poor to
produce any useful crop. The fields of South Jersey are very sandy
but tomatoes do well despite costly control of moisture and
fertility. In some canning sections, clay loams and even clay soils
are used. The ideal is a medium sandy loam, well supplied with humus
for good water holding capacity. Lighter soils are generally
earlier. Tomatoes on drouthy soils are likely to suffer from blossom
end rot as well as from poor growth. Good drainage is required. Muck
or peat soils will grow tomatoes but they are not commonly used for
commercial production.
Liming is not important for tomatoes even on fairly acid soils,
assuming, of course, that the very small actual calcium requirement
of the plant is met. This is generally confirmed by experiments but
it does not preclude the merit of lime in favoring green manure
crops which, in turn, make the soil more suitable for tomatoes.
The dominant element in most sound tomato fertility programs is
phosphorus with nitrogen second and potash third. Recommendations of
general application are not possible but each need must be met
before other beneficial additions can be fully effective.
In the home garden, a program that keeps up fertility for other
crops will suffice for tomatoes. In commercial production,
especially for canning, where prices received are usually low, the
program must be neatly cut to fit the soil, the crop system, the
value of the tomatoes and the costs of materials. A canning crop in
those sections where yields are almost bound to be low, will not
justify heavy investment in fertilizer. Where much is spent for
irrigation, plant growing, staking and pruning, one cannot afford to
curtail the fertilizer investment that will bring maximum return.
[Illustration: FIGURE 4.--How nitrate nitrogen affects tomato
growth. Plants, grown in quartz sand, with plenty of other
nutrients, received definite amounts of nitrate, in one application.
A4, None. D5, 8 grams. F2, 32 grams. J4, 256 grams. N4, Soil and
manure. (1 ounce = about 28 grams).]
The task of this chapter is not to tell the grower how best to
provide fertilizer for tomatoes but to help him in making his own
plan for his own need. Research results and practical experience
both contribute. One may well consult neighbors, county agent and
extension specialist, as well as the many books and bulletins that
are available.
Nitrogen
Nitrogen is very important to insure the growth of vine without
which a good crop may not be expected. Lands vary more widely in
nitrogen content than in phosphorus and potash. Sandy soils are
commonly deficient in this element and often difficult to keep
supplied. Here liberal applications are needed. Up to a hundred
pounds[5] of actual nitrogen may prove profitable where other
conditions justify. Heavier soils, well managed and manured during
rotation, require less nitrogen and fair results may be obtained
with no fertilizer where investment must be kept to a minimum.
Form of nitrogen to be used is largely a matter of economy though
nitrate for part of it may be desirable early in the season when
soil is cold and nitrification slow. Nitrate is desirable for side
dressing but even here ammonia and other forms are now considered
suitable when the soil is warm.
Failure to Set Fruit
Why do tomatoes sometimes run to vine with failure to set fruit?
This is an old, old query and, since 1918, has been, directly or
indirectly, the occasion of more research projects than any other
horticultural topic. Kraus and Kraybill[6] set the ball a-rolling
with a paper which called attention first to the observations of
Klebs in Germany in which he emphasized the fact that external
conditions influence conditions within the plant which in turn
influence performance--a veritable chain of causation. Kraus and
Kraybill then undertook to relate performance (vegetative growth and
fruitfulness) to internal conditions, chiefly carbohydrate and
nitrogen content of the plant tissues. These, in turn, were traced
back to treatments applied to the soil.
They suggested four combinations of vegetation and fruitfulness in
plants as follows:
1. Non-vegetative and non-fruitful. Plants whose carbohydrate
supply has been cut off, say by removal of leaves which make
carbohydrates. These plants were low in carbohydrate and high
in nitrogen.
2. Vegetative and non-fruitful. These plants were well
supplied with both carbohydrates and nitrogen. They were of
the sort we describe as having "run to vine."
3. Vegetative and fruitful. These plants were well supplied
with carbohydrates, but not so liberally supplied with
nitrogen, thus, providing a balance between the two that was
favorable for a good crop.
4. Non-vegetative and non-fruitful. These plants had ample
opportunity for carbohydrate making, but were underfed with
nitrogen and so could not perform well in either vegetation or
fruit-making.
Kraus and Kraybill conclude that there are certain balances between
these two groups of compounds--nitrogenous and carbohydrate--which
determine the nature of the plant's performance--whether there will
be too little vegetative growth to permit a crop, whether the plants
will "run to vine" or whether they will show good growth of both
foliage and fruit.
From experiments in the same field, using definite amounts of
nitrate of soda per plant, Work[7] concluded that while adequate
carbohydrate supply is necessary for fruiting, excess carbohydrate
did not, in itself, occasion unfruitfulness but was more likely to
represent an accumulation of material unused by reason of deficiency
in some other factor--often nitrogen.
It was shown that nitrate of soda does not injure tomatoes until a
concentration in the soil is attained which is strong enough to
plasmolyze the cells, that is to withdraw water from them by
osmosis. Nor were a wide variety of nitrogen and moisture and manure
treatments sufficient to induce the Bonny Best variety to "run to
vine." Some varieties are subject to this trouble, mostly of the
large, late types.
Murneek[8] has shown that the fruitfulness of a plant may greatly
affect its internal condition, its vegetative performance and its
later setting of fruit. A heavy load of developing fruit, with
limited soil resources, tends to limit growth and setting. Removal
of fruit induces renewal of vegetative growth and of fruit setting.
Failure to set fruit favors vigorous vine growth. This failure may
be traceable to various causes. (1) To damage to floral parts as the
blasting of the pistil by heat and drouth. Flowers of some varieties
show tendency toward elongation of pistils with subsequent failure
to develop normal fruit. Smith and Howlett have shown that
environmental conditions as well as heredity influence this
elongation. (2) To injury by insects as thrips. (3) To the character
of the variety used, the Bonny group being very slightly susceptible
to failure from over feeding with nitrogen while some late sorts
readily "run to vine." (4) Shortage of nutrient elements as nitrogen
or phosphorus or others. (5) Lack of adequate light or short day. In
such cases, there may be excess of nitrogen for current need with
resultant over-development of leafage. Thus, excess vegetative
growth may be a result as well as a cause of poor setting.
Phosphorus
Fertilizer experiments fairly generally point to the frequency with
which phosphorus is the limiting factor among nutrients in tomato
production. MacGillivray[9] has studied the phosphorus content of the
various parts of the plant, concluding that this element is important
throughout and not alone in seed making or in rapidly growing parts as
has been believed. Hepler and Kraybill[10] found some years ago and
others more recently have confirmed the influence of liberal phosphorus
treatments upon earliness.
[Illustration: FIGURE 5.--Effect of omission of phosphorus from complete
fertilizer in Western New York.]
Potash
The potash requirement of the tomato has not been as thoroughly
studied as the requirement for the other two major elements. It is
thought that potash has a part in building up sugars into more
complex carbohydrates.
The consensus of fertilizer experiments suggests that potash is less
important on most soils than phosphorus and nitrogen but that if
these elements are in good supply, increased yields from potash are
likely.
Lanham in Texas was unable to find a relation between potash
fertilization and resistance to shipping hazards.
Stable Manure
Stable manure has long been recognized as useful for tomatoes. It is
generally considered better to apply it to the preceding crop or at
least the preceding fall than to use it just before setting of
plants. If spring application is necessary, it is better to use well
rotted manure. Stable manure is low in phosphorus. An approximate
statement would be that 10 tons of manure is roughly equivalent to
one ton of a 6-3-6 fertilizer. Thus, 1,000 pounds of 18%
superphosphate would bring the analysis to 6-12-6 which would be
generally regarded as a good balance.
A recent publication[11] from Pennsylvania emphasizes the value of
manures and of phosphorus.
Placement and Side Dressing
Recent experiments have shown the desirability of placing fertilizer
close to but not in contact with the roots of the young plants. When
newly set and before new roots have developed is the time when
nutrient material close at hand is needed to give the plant a
vigorous send-off. Transplanters have been devised with attachments
to place the fertilizer in bands at each side of the row of tomatoes
and about two inches deep.
Recent experiments, notably by Sayre[12] of New York, have shown the
advantage of dissolving fertilizer materials in the water used for
transplanting tomatoes. One combination of materials consists of
ammo-phos, 14-48, 2 parts and potassium nitrate, 1 part. Five to
eight pounds of this mixture are dissolved in 50 gallons of water
and about 1/4 pint or 1/2 cup is applied to each plant, usually by
the transplanting machine. There are other suitable mixtures of
nutrients for this purpose. A very small investment in starter
solutions has shown material increase in total yield. The practice
places immediately available nutrients in the soil at the time and
place to be of maximum usefulness to plants that have been severely
root-pruned and have not yet had opportunity to rebuild the root
system.
[Illustration:
_Courtesy Campbell Soup Co._
FIGURE 6.--Cultivating and side-dressing tomatoes.]
Another critical stage in tomato growth comes when much fruit has
been set in the clusters and demands upon plant and soil are
especially heavy. At this stage, side dressing with nitrogen is
helpful in maintaining plant growth and providing resources for
growth and maturing of fruit. On sandy or nutrient-deficient soils,
more than one side dressing may be advisable. Sodium nitrate is
commonly used but other materials are suitable after the soil has
warmed up. Side dressing with fertilizer in solution has been
recommended recently by Tiedjens of New Jersey.
III
THE BEST IN SEED IS NONE TOO GOOD
A tomato crop may be much poorer than the seed from which it grows
but it can be no better.
The tomato seed is short-oval and flattened in shape, covered
thickly with short silky hairs. The embryo or baby plant is coiled
in a spiral and imbedded in the endosperm (reserve food supply).
Three or four years is generally given as the life of the seed but
it often remains viable much longer--up to 10 or 12 years in extreme
cases. Good seed should germinate 85% to 90%.
Tomato seed sprouts readily, requiring fairly warm temperature, say,
70° to 75° F. for best results. It germinates very slowly at 40° to
50° F.
Breeding
Being a major vegetable crop, the tomato has received much attention
from plant breeders. Objectives sought include good cannery type,
resistance to the fusarium wilt and other diseases, better
greenhouse forms, improved general market and home garden sorts, and
varieties adapted for arduous conditions such as hot and dry summers
or very short growing seasons.
The tomato is largely but not wholly self pollinated and pollen is
not carried far. Thus, it is not difficult to breed to practically a
pure-line condition.
Tomatoes for seed are usually ground up and the seed and fine pulp
are separated from the skins and coarse material by screening. The
juice, fine pulp and seeds are allowed to ferment from 24 to 48
hours, or until the jelly-like pulp is readily washed away. After
washing, the seed is dried in thin layers and stored. A bushel of
tomatoes may be expected to yield 2-1/2 to 4 ounces of seed and an
acre of tomatoes, from 100 to 225 pounds. These vary greatly
according to varieties and conditions.
Wellington[13] and others have shown that first generation seed from
crosses of suitable varieties show a marked increase of vigor
(heterosis or hybrid vigor) over either parent or over the later
generations. This fact would seem to offer possibilities in
practical use, but it has not thus far proved of value.
Selection Methods
Many growers find it profitable to save their own tomato seed. The
plant is an annual, the important characters are quite readily
observed and natural crossing is not serious. For these reasons, the
enterprise is not as difficult as with most vegetables, although, if
done well, it makes heavy demands in labor and care at a time when
the grower has much else to do.
The first step in selection is to establish clearly the ideal to be
sought, recording it in detail on paper for future reference.
Selections should be made on the basis of the plant, not of the
individual fruit. It is the plant that is reproduced and the seed
from "crown clusters" is no earlier than seed from later settings.
The field should be searched soon after blooming time and plants
that appear promising should be marked. These plants should be
examined three or four times as the season advances, and markers
pulled from plants that do not measure up to the desired standard.
Suppose ten plants remain; all fruits from each of these may be
saved, keeping the seed of each plant separate. All or part of the
seed may be planted in separate rows the next year for further
selection and to note which parents best transmit their excellent
points. If only a small amount of seed is required, direct
selections may be made for use in planting for the general crop. If
a larger amount of seed is required, seed from one or two of the
best plants should be planted in multiplication plats. Off-type
plants should be removed from such plantings, but otherwise all the
seed may be saved for use. Repeated selection results in constant
improvement until the stock becomes a "pure line" or practically so.
Lindstrom of Iowa has led in research on the genetics of tomatoes,
chromosome relations and mode of inheritance. Many scientific papers
deal with inheritance methods and results. The Yearbook of
Agriculture (U.S.D.A.) for 1937 contains a valuable chapter on
tomato breeding. It may also be had as Yearbook Separate 1581.
Certification
As with certain other kinds of seeds, certification service for tomatoes
has now been set up in several states. Certification is a most useful
incentive toward care in breeding and handling and affords valuable
assurance to the buyer. It is necessary to know just what is guaranteed
by the certificate. It is at the same time wise to be informed as to the
inclusiveness and methods of the certification.
The Ideal Variety
In breeding for better varieties of tomatoes, the following are some of
the characters to be sought:
(1) A vigorous vine which is necessary to produce abundant
fruit and to protect from sunscald.
(2) Resistance to disease especially to fusarium.
(3) High productiveness with moderate number of fruits per
cluster--say, 5 to 8.
[Illustration: FIGURE 7.--Types of tomato interiors. 1, 5. Small fruited
sorts. 2, 6, 9. Bonny Best. 3, 7, 10. Chalk Jewel. 3, 7, 11. Stone. 4,
8. Earliana. 12. Ponderosa.]
(4) Evenness of maturity. This is somewhat out of line with
the nature of the tomato but much could be accomplished toward
the goal of varieties that make their crop and are gone,
eliminating long picking periods and the drag of inferior
fruit toward the end of the season. The so-called
determinate habit of some varieties such as Pritchard is a
step in this direction.
(5) Size suitable for expected use and for market demand.
Greenhouse tomatoes are generally smaller than those for
cannery. Uniformity of size is increasingly important with
wide-spread use of the lug-box pack and of small consumer
cartons.
(6) Globular to oblong shape is desirable for market but is
less important for cannery. Form should be symmetrical, even
and smooth.
(7) Color should be deep and rich, fully and evenly developed,
inside and out. Red is generally preferred to pink. The
difference between red and pink tomatoes does not reside in
the flesh but in the presence of yellow pigment in the skin of
the former while the skin of the latter is without pigment.
Yellow tomatoes are also extant.
[Illustration: FIGURE 8.--The Earliana tomato. A picture of a single
fruit cannot adequately describe a variety. 1-3. Rough types, common in
older strains. 4. Typical interior. 5, 6. Stem end. 7-9. Good type
resulting from selection. 10-12. Pointed-round type occurring frequently
in improved strains. A. Unusually large cluster. B. Typical Earliana
cluster showing compound branching. C. Unbranched cluster of Bonny Best
for comparison.]
(8) Skin should be thick and tough. This safeguards against
damage on the way to market and favors ease of peeling. Those
saladists who serve sliced tomatoes with skins unremoved, may
call for a thin, tender skin but this practice finds no
encouragement from discriminating partakers.
(9) Flesh should be abundant in thick walls with a minimum of
watery pulp surrounding seeds. In general, a structure of many
small cells is desirable.
Varieties
_Earliana._--The earliness of this old and popular variety outweighs
its demerits where this character is required. The past ten years
have seen material improvement.
Earliana is early, of small vine, with small leaves and leaflets.
Clusters are compoundly branched, with many fruits. The fruits are
of medium size, deep oblate, cross section often elliptical rather
than circular. There are many rough irregular fruits, varying in
this respect with breeding and conditions of growth. Color is red,
not too deep and tending to be poorly developed at the stem end.
Interior consists of many small cells with thin walls.
_Bison._--represents a group of varieties bred for rigorous climates
of our most northerly states. A. F. Yeager formerly of North Dakota,
later of Michigan, now of New Hampshire has led in this
development.
_Victor._--is a new variety bred originally by Yeager but introduced
by K. C. Barrons of Michigan. It affords smoother, deeper and better
colored fruits about as early as Earliana. It is determinate in
habit and shy in foliage, increasing danger of sunscald. Rich soil
and ample moisture are needed for its best development. _Bounty_ and
_Home Garden_ are similar.
_Penn State._--Penn State, developed by C. E. Myers of Pennsylvania,
is not as early as Earliana. It is similar in fruit characters
though distinctly better in color and shape. It is marked by short
branches (determinate habit) and is designed to give an early crop
to be followed by prompt abandonment of the planting. It is not to
be confused with Penn State Earliana.
_Bonny Group._--This group embraces our leading second early
varieties widely used for home garden, greenhouse, market and
cannery in the north. It includes _Bonny Best_, _John Baer_ and
_Chalk Jewel_ with many additional names and with much confusion of
characters among them.
Bonny Best is second early and of medium plant growth. Fruits are
deep oblate to flattened globe, even and smooth, of good red color,
with few large, thick-walled cells.
[Illustration: FIGURE 9.--Marglobe plant.]
Varieties and strains of this group vary in growth and yield, in
size, shape and earliness of fruit and in suitability for
greenhouse, market, cannery and juice. _Stokesdale_ and _Scarlet
Dawn_ are meritorious newer names in the group.
_Marglobe._--This variety was developed by the late Dr. F. J.
Pritchard from a cross between Marvel, a French variety lending
resistance to fusarium and Globe, an old variety of fine size and
shape. It is widely used, north and south, for market--green or
ripe, for cannery and to some extent, for forcing.
[Illustration: FIGURE 10.--Marglobe fruit.]
Marglobe is a midseason variety, with large vine and foliage,
resistant to fusarium and nailhead spot. Fruits are nearly globular,
shapely and smooth, medium to large, scarlet red, with medium number
of thick walled cells. Marglobe is rather subject to deep radial
cracks.
_Pritchard_ is of the general type of Marglobe but is earlier, with
short branching habit and resistance to nailhead rust and to
fusarium, and, perhaps, is less subject to cracking.
_Greater Baltimore_ is used chiefly for canning in long-season
districts. It is late, with large vine, large flat fruits of
excellent scarlet red, outside and in, with many thick walled cells.
_Indiana Baltimore_ is a variant widely grown in the mid-west for
cannery.
_Rutgers_ was developed by L. G. Schermerhorn at the New Jersey
Experiment Station for fine juice and canning characters--color,
flavor and substance. Growth is vigorous and yields are heavy;
fruits are large, flattened and well colored.
_Gulf State Market_ is a second early shipping tomato, generally
harvested green. It is flattened in shape, of well developed pink
color and good interior.
_Comet Group._--These trace mostly to English or other European
origin and are increasingly used for greenhouse and for staking
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 × 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 × 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´ × 20´ to 20´ × 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 × 22 inches or 13 × 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° 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
the fall. In the south, it is necessary to get good plant
development and a full set of fruit before hot weather which often
destroys the blossoms.
Plant Protectors
Many forms of plant protectors are on the market--of paper and of
other materials. These act as little greenhouses for the individual
plant, protecting against frost and promoting growth. Plants may be
set out-of-doors a couple of weeks earlier by their use. The most
common forms are of translucent paper reinforced by pasted strips
of paper or by wire. The trick is to devise one that is cheap, that
will admit maximum light and that will withstand the weather. For
tomatoes, they need to be tall, which makes the problem of wind
resistance more serious.
For emergencies, opaque cover, baskets upside down or even newspaper
may be used. Many a field has been saved by burying the plants when
frost threatened, carefully uncovering when danger is past.
Spacing
Untrained tomatoes are set at distances from 3-1/2 feet each way to
7 × 7 feet or even more. The extreme width is found on rich
irrigated lands in California where plants make tremendous growth.
The closer spacings are found on lighter soils where humus, plant
food, and moisture are not too abundant. The variety should also be
considered. Sixteen square feet per plant is about average.
Check row planting is common, though it is not feasible where
transplanters are used. Wider spacing between the rows than between
plants is desirable as it permits later cultivation one way and
leaves a better passage for pickers with less damage to plants and
fruits. Thus, 3-1/2 × 4-1/2 feet might be preferred to 4 × 4 feet.
Rows for single stem, staked and pruned plants may be as close as
three feet and plants may be as close as eighteen or even twelve
inches, though some growers contend that two feet is close enough.
Methods of Planting
The essential point in field setting is to pack the soil firmly
about the roots, thus establishing maximum contact for moisture
absorption. Whatever the method of planting, the aim should be to
get the plants from the old home to the new with as little delay and
check in growth as possible. For the first-early crop, they should
be moved so that "they never know it." With bands, pots or blocking
in flats or beds, it is feasible to avoid practically all
disturbance of roots.
The tomato will, under ordinary favorable conditions, take hold and
grow even if shaken quite free of earth. Plants, however, should be
dug loose rather than pulled, to prevent undue breakage of roots.
Plants ought to be watered well some hours before transplanting.
Transplanting machines and hand planters of the Masters type give a
little shot of water at the root, thus helping to establish contact
with the soil. Starter solutions are discussed on page 35. These
machines are commonly used for cannery setting and, to some extent,
for market tomatoes. Blocked plants can be set pretty fast by hand
with much less disturbance of roots. Some manage to set potted or
blocked plants by machine, keeping a ball of earth about the roots.
The rows are usually marked out fairly deeply, plants are dropped in
fours between rows and it is a very short job to pack soil about the
clod of earth in which the plant is growing. Another method is for
one worker to make an opening with a spade. A second places the
plant in the wedge-like opening and the first steps on the soil to
firm it solidly about the roots.
Plants are generally set a little deeper than in the plant bed.
Cultivation
The old idea about cultivation was "the more, the better." More
recent experiments notably those by Thompson have shown that little
need be done beyond controlling weeds. He found that stirring the
soil gave no significant increase in yield over mere scraping
sufficient to destroy weeds. It is pretty hard to convince many old
time gardeners of this. The value of dust mulch for conservation of
moisture has been pretty well discredited by experimental
comparisons.
Irrigation
Irrigation is not essential for tomato production in humid climates
and is seldom provided except under market garden conditions. Water
is occasionally an asset in a dry season and, of course, the grower
who waters at such times reaps a harvest in higher prices as well as
in increased yield. The advantage of irrigation is especially marked
if dry weather retards plant growth and delays maturity of the first
of the crop, for the high prices of the early market are involved.
Judicious irrigation will sometimes continue production for late
fall market. Yet gardeners seldom plan permanent overhead equipment
for tomatoes. The movable lines that are now used to a considerable
extent serve well for the tomato crop.
The furrow method of irrigating tomatoes is the most common in the
West. This plan allows the water to make its way down the rows,
slowly soaking in all along the line. The tomato stands drouth
better than many of our crops, especially if the soil holds moisture
fairly well, either naturally or through a liberal humus content.
Excessive moisture is doubtless a factor in causing the plants to
run to vine and drop their blossoms. Hence, in western sections, it
is customary to water thoroughly just before or just after setting
the plants and then to avoid applications until the setting of fruit
is well advanced.
Thorough soaking is better than frequent light waterings, as it
encourages a better development of root system. An Idaho bulletin
suggests three irrigations. Late irrigations tend to delay ripening
of fruit, but this object is sought in the late fall shipping
districts of California which find their best markets after eastern
crops have been nipped by frost.
Irrigation must be handled with care to avoid cracking of fruit,
which occurs when soil becomes rather dry and then is heavily
watered. Watering late in the season is said to make fruit watery
and of poor quality.
Mulching
R. A. Emerson[16] in 1903 reported results of careful comparisons
between vegetables that were cultivated and others that were mulched
with straw. These results indicate that mulching gives good results
with tomatoes, both as to yield and quality. However, frost injury
was more severe on mulched plats, and Emerson points out that the
mulch should not be applied until the plants are well established.
Mulching is recommended by a good many writers and growers and it
seems to be practiced to some extent in Missouri. The advantages
claimed are conservation of moisture and clean, fine quality fruit.
L. W. Purdum and Sons of Virginia use 4-5 tons per acre of wheat
straw, staking their plants and irrigating. They report unusually
heavy returns per acre under these methods. The Missouri people
apply as much as sixteen tons per acre, making the cover five or six
inches thick. The practice of mulching, however, is not common, and
the cost will likely prevent its general use.
VI
TO TRAIN THEM UP OR LET THEM SPREAD
Growers attending conventions will often stay up half the night to
argue about training and pruning tomatoes and to debate the details
of their favorite procedures.
For home garden, the method is strongly commended. Many market
gardeners follow the practice and it has gained materially of recent
years in New England. Some market reports quote staked tomatoes
separately and at a materially higher level than fruit from unpruned
plants.
Most of the southern shipping sections follow the practice and it is
practically universal in greenhouses.
One way is to drive a stake by each plant tying at several points
along the stem with cheap twine. The other plan, recently gaining in
favor, is to set posts every 25 feet or so, string a heavy wire on
top, and another a foot from the ground. Cheap jute twine is strung
between wires and the tomato plants are merely twisted around the
string. Tying is not required. Some omit the lower wire, tying a
non-slipping bowline loop around the plant near the ground. In
either case, plants are kept trimmed to a single stem though
occasionally an extra branch is allowed to grow. In southern
Illinois, plants are tied to a short stake without pruning.
[Illustration: FIGURE 15.--Tomatoes pruned and trained with post,
wire and twine. This is the trellis system of New England.]
[Illustration: FIGURE 16.--Fine clusters on trained plants.]
Pro and Con
The advantages claimed for pruning and training are:
Earliness.
High yield per acre.
Ease of cultivating and spraying.
Ease of picking.
No injury from snails and wire worms.
Quality of fruit:--size, color, smoothness and cleanliness.
Crop finished earlier.
Less sunscald.
The disadvantages claimed are:
Many plants required.
Reduced yield.
More blossom-end rot.
Higher cost of labor.
Cost and care of stakes and wire.
The validity of each of these points varies greatly with conditions;
in fact, the answer to the whole question depends largely upon the
location and the ideas of the grower. In trying to reach a
conclusion, it is well to realize that training makes certain
radical changes in the plant. It loses leaves through pruning, it is
supported from the ground, and it is spaced differently. Since the
leaves manufacture the basic substance for themselves, and for the
rest of the plant, removal of leaves reduces the resources of the
plant. H. C. Thompson[17] has found that the root system is reduced
about in proportion to leaf reduction. It is fairly clear that
single-stem training greatly reduces the yield per plant, and other
methods result similarly in proportion to the severity of pruning.
When plants are spaced closely enough together the yield may be
brought up to that of areas unpruned and unstaked. Idaho experiments
indicate that staking alone does not affect the total yield, but
that it does favor early maturity under the different pruning
systems. The disadvantages of training are largely economic. Will
the marketing conditions justify the extra cost of staking and
pruning?
Experiments have shown pretty clearly that sunscald, blossom-end rot
and cracking are worse on trained plants. Using varieties of good
foliage will help the first trouble while uniform and adequate water
supply achieved by selection of suitable land, by building humus
content of the soil and by irrigation will solve the latter two
problems. Thompson found increased yield of early fruit. Other
evidence is somewhat conflicting but, in general, it supports
Thompson. It is generally agreed that pruned plants yield larger,
cleaner and more perfectly formed and colored fruits. Ease of
spraying or dusting and of picking is important.
For pruned plants, 3-1/2 feet between rows and 1-1/2-2 feet between
plants is about right.
To train or not to train is a question that one must answer for
himself as the controlling factors vary too widely--costs of stakes,
wire and labor, prices of early tomatoes and possibility of
cultivating a more or less fancy trade.
VII
THE ETERNAL BATTLE WITH INSECTS AND DISEASES
The tomato, in most regions, is not one of our most "pestered"
crops. Although over thirty diseases of tomatoes are discussed in
books and bulletins, most of them are only occasionally serious or
are subject to definite control methods. Enemies are generally worse
in the warmer climates.
Most home garden tomatoes and many commercial crops are grown
without benefit of spray or dust. If trouble arises, county agent or
college specialist can usually advise, suggesting methods suitable
for local conditions.
Experience must, of necessity, be the guide in shaping a program and
costs must be carefully balanced against results.
The principal measures that are widely used are seed treatment
against damping off, use of resistant strains against fusarium wilt
and application of bordeaux mixture against leaf blights.
As with all plants, thoroughness must be the watchword in spraying
or dusting. Timeliness, choice of weather conditions so far as
possible, and covering all surface lightly rather than throwing on
heavy blotches of spray or dust all require careful attention.
_Fusarium Wilt_ (Fusarium lycopersici) is perhaps the most serious
of all the tomato diseases although it occasions little trouble in
the more northerly states. It is troublesome as far north as New
Jersey to Iowa.
The fungus winters in the soil, enters through the roots and blocks
the water passages of the plant causing wilting, yellowing, and
finally, death. Water vessels in the stem are discolored,--another
means of identifying the disease.
Spraying or dusting are of no service since the fungus is within.
Long time rotation and use of the many resistant strains are
effective means of control.
[Illustration: FIGURE 17.--Resistance to fusarium wilt. Row on left
center is planted to an ordinary variety, row on right with one of
F. J. Pritchard's wilt-resistant selections. Insert shows plant
attacked by wilt fungus.]
_Leaf Spot_, _Septoria Blight_ (Septoria lycopersici) causes heavy
loss by destroying the foliage and so the fruit-making power of the
plant. It also opens the fruits to sunscald. The spots appear as
small dark water soaked areas which enlarge but little though they
increase in number and turn brown. Tiny black dots, the fruiting
bodies of the fungus, appear. The spores germinate only on moist
leaves and the disease is spread by wind, rain, workers and the
like. It winters on refuse of the tomato and related plants.
Fall plowing helps to control. Bordeaux spraying beginning in the
seed bed and carried faithfully through the season will usually hold
the trouble in check.
_Late Blight_ (Phytophthora infestans) is the same fungus as the
late blight of potatoes, affecting both foliage and fruit. It is
often troublesome the first few weeks after plants are set
out-of-doors. Clean soil in seed bed and bordeaux spraying are
helpful.
_Western Blight_, _Yellows_, _Curly Top_,--cause unknown,--is
prevalent in California. Leaves roll and become thickened and
brittle, later turning a sulfury yellow. Veins become purplish. The
trouble prevails in hot weather. The cause is likely a virus,
similar to or identical with the curly top of beets. It is
apparently spread by leaf hoppers. No satisfactory control has been
devised though there is some promise in resistant strains.
[Illustration: FIGURE 18.--Diseases of the tomato. 1. Septoria or
leaf spot. 2. Mosaic. 3. Mosaic, filiform.]
_Mosaic._--No organism has been definitely connected with the mosaic
diseases of tomatoes, but they are highly infectious, being spread
by means of what is called a "virus," which passes the finest
filters. It is spread by insects, notably aphids, which carry plant
juice, and in the handling of plants, but it does not persist in
seeds or in litter. It is wintered on horse nettles and three
species of ground cherries. Control suggestions include roguing
affected plants, eliminating weeds, and controlling carrying
insects. The symptoms are widely various, the most common being
mottling of leaves, stunting and malformation of leaflets, which
sometimes become fine ribbons or threads, curling, appearance of
small brown dead areas, and spots and cracks on fruits.
_Damping off_ is caused by various fungi in the seed bed which
attack the stem near the surface of the soil and cause the plant to
drop over and die. Clean soil, heating of soil, commonly called
sterilization, and care in watering are all helpful. It is now
common practice to dust seed with formaldehyde dust, or with red
copper oxid or with an organic mercury disinfectant. If trouble is
serious, a watering with semesan just before seedlings emerge may be
helpful.
A government bulletin on "Market Diseases of Tomatoes"
(Miscellaneous Publication 121, 1932) is an excellent summary with
colored plates to help in recognizing the various troubles.
Insects
_The Fruit Worm_ (Chloridea obsoleta) is probably the worst of the
tomato insects, but is not prevalent in the North. It is the same as
the corn ear-worm or the cotton boll-worm, and bores into green or
ripening fruits. It winters in the soil and fall plowing is
recommended for its control. Planting corn as a trap crop is also
suggested. The Virginia Truck Experiment Station finds that the
addition of two pounds of calcium arsenate to 50 gallons of the
Bordeaux used for disease control helps materially.
_Cut-worms_ (various species of the family Noctuidae) cause severe
losses at the time of field setting. They winter in the soil and are
worse when sod has been plowed under, or following other host
plants. Poison bran mash is commonly used to combat them, using a
spoonful to each plant. Hand picking and the use of paper collars
are resorted to on a small scale. Well-hardened plants seem less
subject to injury by these pests than tender plants.
_Colorado Potato Beetle_ (Leptinotarsa decemlineata) can cause a
world of damage to young plants. Arsenical spray or dust will
ordinarily control them. The old-fashioned potato bug (family
Meloidae), is reported as troublesome in Missouri. When they appear
in droves, the only control is to drive them with brush. Arsenical
spray or dust is of some value.
_Flea Beetles_ (family Chrysomelidae) are the little black jumping
fellows that perforate leaves in plant beds and in the field. They
are also accused of injuring blossoms and reducing the set of fruit.
Their attacks upon young plants are sometimes ruinous. Bordeaux with
arsenical serves as a repellant. Dusting with nicotine sulphate dust
is also suggested.
_Green Tomato Worms_, or _Horn Worms_ (Phlegethontius sexta) are
big, green fellows and have a great capacity for tomato foliage.
Hand-picking and arsenical spray or dust are usual means of combat.
_The stalk-borer_ (Papaipema nitela) is a slender caterpillar which
is reported as serious in Indiana. No satisfactory control is
suggested except clean culture around fields and pinching the stems
to destroy the pest.
VIII
SKILLFUL SELLING CROWNS THE ENTERPRISE
The most skillful production is in vain if marketing is not done
well. At the same time, the quality of the goods is the principal
factor in making the price and in moving the goods. Even then, if
costs in production and marketing are too high, the enterprise is a
failure.
The differences between high and low quotations on the same market
the same day, are usually fairly wide,--say, $1.75 to $2.50; or
$0.75 to $1.25; or $0.20 to $0.25 per basket. These differences are
sufficient to make the difference between profit and loss. Small
differences in quality of the product, in handling and dress-up of
the market pack and skill in finding buyers may easily result in
price differences as great or greater than those indicated.
Harvesting
Picking in the field calls for the closest care and supervision to
prevent damage to the fruits and vines. Stems should be removed to
avoid punching other fruits, and long finger-nails do great harm by
cutting the skin and admitting infection. Containers should not be
too large to be handled conveniently. Round half-bushel stave
baskets and galvanized pails are excellent. Baskets made of
quarter-inch staves rather than veneer are smooth and durable, but
the investment is rather heavy unless dumping is resorted to. In
practice, all sorts of boxes and crates are used, often the package
that is used for marketing. No container as deep as a bushel basket
should be used.
The stage of ripeness at which tomatoes are picked depends upon the
time and distance to market. For home use or local market, fruit may
range from the first turn to almost fully colored.
A few growers pick at the turn and use ripening rooms to prepare for
local selling. In this way cracking, injury by soil, by insects, and
by uneven coloring are avoided. Fruits are wiped and handled with
less loss and may even be washed if need be.
Fully ripened fruit will not stand handling and hauling and will
quickly deteriorate, reaching the consumer in bad condition.
For cannery, full ripening is desired with even coloring.
MacGillivray[18] has shown that success in this is largely a matter
of care in picking. Cracking and slight softening are not serious
defects for this purpose, but molds and bacteria in broken places
are serious as they throw the product out of grade or occasion
rejection.
Picking Green
Most tomatoes for long distance shipment, are picked before color
appears,--at the mature-green stage. One of the great difficulties
is to judge this stage correctly; to train ordinary labor to pick by
maturity and not by size. Immature-green tomatoes ripen slowly and
do not achieve good appearance or table quality.
It is almost impossible to describe the ear marks of a mature-green
tomato. Most of those usually cited are of doubtful value--glossy
surface, whitish cast of color and the dark ring at the stem scar.
The jelly-like or mucilaginous material in the seed cells has
sufficiently developed in a mature green tomato so that the fruit
may be sliced without cutting seeds. Of course, the tomato is
ruined but the method can be used to check one's judgment based on
the exterior. Also, one can learn by laying aside tomatoes judged
mature-green and immature-green to ripen.
Some efforts have recently been made in Florida to pick tomatoes at
the turn, that is, at the first show of color, a practice suggested
by Sando[19] some years ago. This should provide fruits of uniform
degree of maturity, that would be about ready to sell on arrival and
it would eliminate the serious problem of immature-greens. It would
require more frequent picking of fields and there could be no delay
in packing. There would, doubtless, also be problems of temperature
and ventilation in transit. Results of tests thus far have been
rather encouraging.
Ripening
Green wrap tomatoes are received at terminal markets by produce
houses that have special ripening rooms where temperature is kept at
about 70°, with high humidity to prevent wilting or shriveling.
Ethylene gas is used by some to hasten ripening. It does not change
the nature of the process, merely speeding it up. Some of these
repackers have elaborate equipment for sorting and packing.
The tomatoes, on arrival, are shaken out of their paper wraps. Any
that have ripened in transit are taken out and packed while the
greens go into the ripening rooms. They may have to be sorted over
two or three times as ripening progresses.
The ripening process in tomatoes has been rather thoroughly studied.
Sando found that tomatoes ripen uniformly, regardless of size, at a
certain age, dating from the setting of the fruit. This time, which,
of course, varies according to weather conditions, was eight weeks
when the studies were made. Ripening is accompanied by an increase
in moisture, acids and sugars, with decrease of solids, nitrogen,
starch, pentisans, crude fibre and ash. Sugars increase from about a
quarter to about half of the dry weight. Chemical analysis did not
show differences sufficient to account for the difference in quality
between vine-ripened fruit and green fruit ripened in the
laboratory. Lack of ventilation seems to be detrimental.
It is commonly held that tomatoes chilled without freezing will not
ripen satisfactorily afterward. This belief is discounted by results
of Wright and associates and of Platenius who found little effect of
low temperatures upon later ripening.
Wright[20] and Platenius[21] have both found that tomatoes should
not be stored at low temperatures, 50° to 60° F. being best. Storage
is not likely to be satisfactory for more than a month.
Waxing
Waxing of tomatoes by immersion in a dilute water emulsion of
paraffine and carnauba waxes is being tried out with very promising
results. Waxes are also dissolved in volatile hydrocarbons and
sprayed on. Moisture loss and shriveling are materially retarded,
and interference with the ripening process is negligible. The wax
coating is very thin, adds an attractive gloss and is entirely
harmless.
[Illustration: FIGURE 19.--Packing tomatoes on a farm in
Connecticut. Boys in the background are wiping and sorting. The
others are packing in half-bushel boxes. The top slats are put on
before packing and the bottom is nailed on at the finish of the job.
A board which is turned over with the box keeps tomatoes from
falling out.]
Grading
It is generally true that at market the poorest products in a given
lot tend to fix the price. When the buyer finds a few inferior
specimens he assumes there are many more. Imperfect and diseased
specimens infect others. Grading enhances the appearance of the
pack.
[Illustration: _Courtesy Tripak Mach. Service_
FIGURE 20.--A California packing house with elaborate machinery and
fully organized.]
Of course, the grower who picks marketable tomatoes and leaves
unmarketable fruits on the vine is engaged in a form of
grading--informal and subconscious. Methods may range from this
simple practice to the elaborate schemes adopted in large packing
houses. There is no difficulty in adopting methods for the farm that
are easily managed and perfectly practical. In general, two grades
to sell represent a good plan, leaving culls at home unless prices
are high and there is good demand for them. The set-up may involve
no more than a worker at a table with three baskets--one with
tomatoes from the field; another for #1's and a third for #2's. The
worker may well use a cotton flannel glove or cloth to wipe the
tomatoes and the fruits should be placed in layers to bring the
package to a good face. With some practice, this slows the operation
but very little. Shed packing should be more common than it is
though the practice seems to be gaining.
Shippers scattered from Cuba and California to New York state have
packing houses set up to all degrees of elaborateness. Some have
machines and conveyors that wash, sort for size, provide for hand
sorting for grade and deliver to bins for packing. Experienced
packers advance with the season from Florida to Lake Erie. These
workers become almost incredibly expert and speedy. It is not
uncommon for a worker to pick up, wrap and place in the lug box 60
or 70 tomatoes per minute--not as a show-off but in course of
regular work.
[Illustration: FIGURE 21.--Puffiness is a common defect in tomatoes,
especially when grown in the winter in the South.]
The federal government has worked out and published standards for
the grades of tomatoes along with most other vegetables. These
standards are practical and have found wide acceptance as furnishing
common language between seller and buyer, especially for long
distance shipment. The one who grades may, however, set up a
standard of his own to meet the needs of his conditions and market.
U.S. Standards for cannery tomatoes are widely used as a basis of
payment to the grower and this practice is to be commended.
Packaging
The lug box has almost wholly replaced the older 6-basket carrier
and 4-basket flat for shipment of tomatoes. It is in almost every
respect, a good package for tomatoes. It is built with solid board
ends, with veneer or sawed sides, bottom and cover. Cleats on the
ends serve to raise the lids so that a bulge pack will not be
injured by pressure. Veneer covers and bottoms are held together by
stitched veneer cross pieces. The lug box is packed in three layers
and holds about 30 pounds net of tomatoes though it is often
over-packed to carry considerably more. The bulge pack is desirable
only so far as it is necessary to insure a tight pack and to take up
the small shrinkage that takes place in transit. Ordinarily, it goes
beyond this. It results in delivery of more tomatoes than are paid
for, and in bruising because the top center is too high.
[Illustration: _Courtesy Southern Arkansas Growers Association_
FIGURE 22.--The lug box is the most widely used of all tomato
packages. This is well packed and labeled but shows too much bulge
making for difficulty in loading and handling and increasing danger
of bruising the upper fruits.]
The late M. R. Ensign in Florida, was working with a wire-bound lug
to carry 20 pounds of tomatoes in two layers without bulge.
The lug box is packed in three layers and the size of fruits is
designated by the number of tomatoes each way,--6 x 6, 6 x 7, and 7
x 7 being the commonest sizes. Each tomato is wrapped in a square of
tissue paper which may or may not be printed. The principal
advantage of the paper is to cushion the pack and protect the
tomatoes against rubbing and abrasion. Where tomatoes are small,
U.S. Standards provide for "bridge pack" or partial extra layers,
for extra rows and for double wraps or two tomatoes in one paper.
[Illustration: FIGURE 23.--Lug boxes as loaded in car.]
Lug boxes were formerly loaded lengthwise of the car but are now
generally loaded crosswise,--that is, the side of the box is
crosswise throwing the heavy endwise thrust against the substantial
end of the box. Thin strips are nailed between layers, butting
against the sides of the car to prevent shifting of the load and
closing of ventilation channels. Refrigerated cars are generally
used but icing is not usual.
[Illustration: FIGURE 24.--The square braid basket is widely used as
a local market package for tomatoes. The faced pack looks better and
is easily put up. Covers permit stacking six or eight high.]
A few shipping sections, notably New Jersey, still use the 12-quart
climax basket for tomatoes.
Local markets use various containers for tomatoes,--the Boston
bushel box; a half bushel of the same depth also used in New
England; lug boxes; the Jersey tomato crate; and very commonly, 8
and 12-quart square braid veneer market baskets. Peach baskets and
bushel baskets are now used but little, being too deep for good
carrying. The diamond market basket of earlier years has about
disappeared--being too flexible and not suited for stacking. The
square braid with suitable cover may be stacked very satisfactorily
in trucks but is hardly substantial enough for rail shipment.
[Illustration: FIGURE 25.--The Connecticut half bushel box. Figure
19 shows how this is packed.]
Hot house tomatoes travel in square braid, climax or paper fibre
baskets, now rather commonly, the latter. The Cleveland section
sells some millions of baskets of 8-quart capacity but carrying 8
pounds of tomatoes in two layers, usually with stems on, usually
wrapped and sometimes with a paper divider between layers.
[Illustration: FIGURE 26.--Repacked tomatoes. Southern tomatoes go
to wholesale houses that specialize in ripening and repacking. Many
kinds of packages are used. The flat 10-pound box is one of the
popular packs especially in the Boston area.]
[Illustration: FIGURE 27.--Cellulose film is used for repacked
tomatoes.]
Cannery tomatoes move in field crates belonging to the canner or, in
Jersey, in 5/8 bushel baskets, about as awkward a container as could
be readily devised unless it should be the Jersey tomato crate
with its two cover strips permanently fastened.
Repack tomatoes are sometimes replaced in lugs or in half lugs. Ten
pound corrugated cartons are widely used, newer and fancier packs
being but one layer deep. Fruits are wrapped with paper or cellulose
film. An increasing proportion of repacks are now put up in
one-pound cartons with a window of cellulose film, carrying four or
five tomatoes. A variation is a paper tray wrapped with cellulose
film.
Good marketing calls for a good label for whatever package is used.
These are usually pasted on the package. Paper containers are often
printed directly but the problem of misuse of second hand packages
is coming to the fore.
Selling
Success in selling demands in the producer the qualities which we
ordinarily expect in the business man. The good grower is a business
man if he succeeds, and this will be more true in the future than in
the past, as competition increases. It is necessary to judge the men
one deals with, forming estimates as to reliability and character.
Mutual confidence is essential to satisfactory dealings. It is worth
while to study the produce business and to learn its ins and outs,
reading a trade paper, talking with dealers, and making trips to
markets.
Shipments are made on "f.o.b." or track sale, on consignment, or on
joint account. The first plan of outright sale is the most desirable
and is possible where there is enough business at a given point to
attract buyers or where grades and business standing are well enough
established to assure the purchaser of what he is getting. When the
quality of the product is uncertain or when markets are glutted,
consignment must be resorted to. Under this plan, the shipper owns
the goods until the receiver makes a sale and all the risks up to
this point are his. There are many consignment houses of high
character if the shipper will take the trouble to find them instead
of shipping to any one who writes a good letter, and there is
vigorous competition in the trade. These factors make it possible to
secure fairly good service most of the time. Joint account selling,
where shipper and receiver agree on how returns shall be divided, is
sometimes undertaken where mutual acquaintance justifies it.
Selling on distant markets is more complex and difficult than local
selling for many reasons. Shoving crates off the wagon into the car
and forgetting them is not selling. Co-operative organization has
helped many communities through pooling of resources, standardizing,
grading and packing the product, encouraging better field practices,
and securing the services of able managers and salesmen.
Local Selling
A very small amount of produce is sold by producers directly to the
consumer at his home, but the roadside market has greatly developed
retail activity by growers. Here fine quality, attractive
appearance, moderate prices, and fair dealing are effective in
building business. Stands that plan to "fleece them as they pass" do
not last long. It is the return business that counts. The bulk of
local selling is done directly to retailers--grocers or
hucksters--either at market or store-door. The costliness of this
system is being realized and local commission business is growing,
in many cases through the establishment of commission houses
co-operatively owned and managed by growers, as in Providence,
Cleveland, Chicago and other markets.
Some effort has been made to increase the use of tomatoes as has
been successfully done with oranges and bananas. These efforts have
been sporadic and results have been hardly more consistent than the
efforts. Co-operative publicity, especially at times when large
quantities are to be moved, would seem to offer fine possibilities.
Growers of some crops are finding chain store groups very ready to
help in moving out large volumes of produce when the supply is
large.
Cannery Selling
Cannery sales are generally made at a stipulated price on contracts
closed in advance of planting. These contracts have usually devoted
more words to protecting the interests of the packer than those of
the grower, largely because the grower has accepted the canner's
initiative with little question. Farseeing companies have been fair
in enforcement of terms and liberal in their dealings, realizing
that prosperity must be mutual for the highest success. A few
canners have contract provisions that enable the grower to share in
prices realized for the packed product when they rise beyond a
certain figure. Too many canners have lacked vision, however, and
have taken all they could get. Farmers have known little about costs
and so have frequently been lured by the prospect of cash return
even though they see no money until the packed tomatoes are actually
sold. During recent years, much has been learned about the business
side of growing for cannery purposes and the knowledge has been made
available through extension channels. Growers have shown some
tendency to organize and some canners welcome this movement as
helping them to set their affairs on a plane of definite
understanding. Canners have suffered sadly through failure of
growers to live up to contracts if it suited them better to evade
the terms, and organization helps greatly to develop the producer's
sense of responsibility. Indiana has formed a federation of locals,
but an organization movement in another state failed, more because
the directors and members did not live up to their duties than
through opposition of certain hostile canners. Co-operation in this
field has the same possibilities, requirements and dangers as in
other fields. With time and experience, co-operation will be an
increasing and beneficial factor in the business.
In some sections, most of the cannery tomatoes are sold on open
market, and in others, the early part of the crop is free for local
sale or shipment. This arrangement would seem to have possibilities
for further development by the use of good plants and good culture.
IX
OPERATING IN THE RED OR IN THE BLACK
Happily, the home gardener does not need to keep books with his
tomatoes. If he likes the culture and the product, he need not
inquire further.
Not so with the commercial grower. After all skill has been
exercised in growing and selling, the books must show black and not
red. This calls for good management and judgment not only as to what
is best for the tomatoes and for the consumer but also how much one
can afford to spend to gain a given advantage.
Fortunately, quality, yield and economy generally go hand in hand.
One of the best ways to achieve low unit cost is to win a high yield
per acre.
For the cannery crop, conditions are sometimes such that one cannot
afford to apply, say, optimum fertilizer because some other factor
not readily controlled may limit the returns and so make heavy
feeding uneconomical.
_Yield._--The average yield per acre of cannery tomatoes for the
United States was, in 1940, 5.39 tons per acre and the 10-year
average, to 1938, was 4.15 tons per acre. For tomatoes for fresh
market, the average yield for 1940 was 148 bushels per acre, 14
bushels above the 10-year average. Of course, these yields would not
satisfy a grower who calls himself successful. In the canning
sections of New York, it takes about 7 tons per acre to cover costs
of production. Some years ago a survey in Arkansas recorded costs as
low as $36 per acre. However, the same survey showed cost per ton as
$13.64. Cannery contracts that year averaged about $12.75 per ton.
That does not yield much money to bank even if ten or twenty acres
are grown. Rarely yields run to 25 tons per acre.
It is accordingly necessary to keep costs down and to bring yields
up. Each item of cost must be scrutinized and adjusted to bring
lowest cost per ton or per package.
In counting costs, it is necessary to include every element. The
following summary from 118 Western New York farms for 1934 for
cannery tomatoes illustrates the various items:
-----------------------------------------------------------
| | _Per cent_
| | _of total_
Growing costs: | |
Land | $ 7.66 | 9.17
Manure | 3.91 | 4.68
Commercial fertilizer | 8.21 | 9.83
Plants | 15.55 | 18.62
Plowing | 3.42 | 4.10
Fitting | 3.83 | 4.59
Applying fertilizer | 1.65 | 1.98
Setting | 5.41 | 6.48
Cultivating | 6.38 | 7.64
All other growing costs | 2.14 | 2.56
|---------------------
Total growing costs per acre | $58.16 | 69.65
Harvesting and delivering (8.2 tons) | 25.34 | 30.35
|---------------------
Total costs | $83.50 |100.00
-----------------------------------------------------------
All too often, growers think they are counting costs when such
important items as interest, use of truck and machinery or others
are omitted. One sometimes sees such figures in print.
One good way to view returns is in terms of cents per hour for
labor. Cost accounts in New York have showed that a group of farmers
who raised cannery tomatoes the nine years up to 1937 and whose
records were studied, realized $0.34 per hour for their time given
to tomatoes, $0.51 for potatoes, $0.24 for wheat, and $0.11 for
oats.
SELECTED REFERENCES
This book is not a monograph in the scientific sense and no attempt
has been made to cite references for all statements. This list is
intended to include the publications that are likely to prove most
useful to one who wishes to read further about tomatoes. There are
many others of great value, most of them being included in
bibliographies in the works cited below.
Unless otherwise stated, references are to publications of the state
experiment stations, addresses of which may be obtained by writing
Office of Experiment Stations, United States Department of
Agriculture, Washington, D.C.
General
Beattie, W. R. Tomatoes as a truck crop. U.S. Dept. of Agr.
Farmers Bul. 1338. 1923.
Snyder, G. B. and Dempsey, P. W. Tomato production in
Massachusetts. Mass. Ext. Leaf. 51. May, 1937.
Porter, D. R. and MacGillivray, John H. The production of
tomatoes in California. Calif. Exp. Sta. Cir. 104. 1937.
Cochran, H. L. Improved methods of tomato production in
Georgia. Ga. Exp. Sta. Bul. 206. 1940.
Huelsen, W. A. Growing tomatoes in Illinois. Ill. Exp. Sta.
Cir. 451. 1936.
Balch, W. B. Growing tomatoes in Kansas. Kan. Exp. Sta. Cir.
172. 1933.
Seaton, H. L. Tomato growing in Michigan. Mich. Exp. Sta. Ext.
Bul. 156. 1936.
Allen, E. J. and Talbert, T. J. Tomato culture in Missouri.
Mo. Exp. Sta. Cir. 173. 1934.
Schermerhorn, L. G., Tiedjens, V. A., et al. Questions and
answers relative to tomato production. N.J. Exp. Sta. Ext.
Bul. 174. 1936.
Raleigh, G. J. Growing tomatoes for market. Cornell Ext. Bul.
377. 1937.
Tracy, W. Tomato culture. Orange Judd Co. 1907.
Work, Paul. Tomato production. Orange Judd Co. 1926.
Pellett, F. C. and M. A. Practical tomato culture. A. T. De La
More Co. 1930.
Food Value
Atwater, W. O., and Woods, C. D. The chemical composition of
American food materials. U.S. Dept. of Agr., Office of Expt.
Stas. Bul. 28. 1896.
Sherman, H. C. Food products. Macmillan. 1924.
Miller, Elna. Tomatoes, their value and uses. Utah Exp. Sta.
Cir. 47. 1932.
Ellis, Eliz. E. Using tomatoes in family meals. N.H. Exp.
Sta. Cir. 225. 1940.
Cannery
Beattie, J. H. Tomatoes for canning and manufacturing. U.S.
Dept. of Agr. Farmers Bul. 1233. Rev. 1930.
Lancashire, E. R., Parks, T. H. and Pierstorff, A. L. Tomatoes
for canning. Ohio Exp. Sta. Bul. 114. 1935.
Hester, J. B. Good, fair or poor tomatoes from your soil.
Campbell Soup Co., Bul. 2. 1940.
Cruess, W. V. Commercial fruit and vegetable products.
McGraw-Hill. 1924.
Pederson, C. S. Preparation of tomato products. N.Y. Exp.
Sta. Cir. 178. 1937.
Gaylord, F. C. and Fawcett, K. L. A study of grade, quality
and price of canned tomatoes sold at retail in Indiana. Ind.
Exp. Sta. Bul. 438. 1939.
Saywell, L. G. and Cruess, W. V. The composition of canning
tomatoes. Calif. Exp. Sta. Bul. 545. 1932.
MacGillivray, J. H. and Ford, O. W. Tomato quality as
influenced by the relative amount of outer and inner wall
region. Ind. Exp. Sta. Bul. 327. 1928.
MacGillivray, J. H. Tomato color as related to quality in the
tomato canning industry. Ind. Exp. Sta. Bul. 350. 1931.
Gaylord, F. C. and MacGillivray, J. H. Tomato quality studies.
Field and harvest factors affecting grade. Ind. Exp. Sta. Bul.
394. 1934.
Hauck, C. W. Marketing cannery tomatoes on grade in Ohio. Ohio
Exp. Sta. Bul. 504. 1932.
Greenhouse
Beattie, J. H. Greenhouse tomatoes. U.S. Dept. of Agr.
Farmers Bul. 1431. Rev. 1939.
Hoffman, I. C. Growing of greenhouse tomatoes. Ohio Exp. Sta.
Bul. 499. 1932.
Burk, E. F. and Roberts, R. H. Growing greenhouse tomatoes.
Wisc. Exp. Sta. Bul. 418. 1931.
Gilbert, B. E. and Pember, F. R. Relative efficiency of
various organic supplements in the growth of greenhouse
tomatoes. R.I. Exp. Sta. Bul. 236. 1932.
Gilbert, B. E. and Pember, F. R. Economical amounts of nitrate
of soda to apply in the greenhouse for the growth of tomatoes.
R.I. Exp. Sta. Bul. 252. 1935.
Bouquet, A. G. P. An analysis of the characters of the
inflorescence and fruiting habit of some varieties of
greenhouse tomatoes. Cornell Exp. Sta. Memoir 139. 1932.
Biblio.
Seaton, H. L. and Gray, G. F. Histological study of tissues
from greenhouse tomatoes affected by blotchy ripening. Jour.
Agr. Research (U.S. Dept. of Agr.), Vol. 52, No. 3, pp.
217-224. 1936.
Breeding and Varieties
Boswell, V. R. Improvement and genetics of tomatoes, peppers,
and eggplant. U.S. Dept. of Agr. Yearbook. 1937. pp. 176-206.
Full biblio.
Boswell, V. R., et al. Description of American varieties of
tomatoes. U.S. Dept. of Agr. Misc. Publ. 160. 1933.
Muller, C. H. A revision of the genus Lycopersicon. U.S.
Dept. of Agr. Misc. Publ. 382. 1940.
Morrison, Gordon. Tomato varieties. Mich. Exp. Sta. Spec. Bul.
290. 1938.
Myers, C. E. and Lewis, M. T. The effect of selection in the
tomato. Penn. Exp. Sta. Bul. 248. Rev. May 2, 1930.
Yeager, A. F. Tomato breeding. N.D. Exp. Sta. Bul. 276. 1933.
Pritchard, F. J. Development of wilt-resistant tomatoes. U.S.
Dept. of Agr. Bul. 1015. 1922.
Wellington, Richard. Comparison of first generation tomato
crosses and their parents. Minn. Exp. Sta. Tech. Bul. 6. Rev.
1923.
Groth, B. H. A. The F_{1} hereditary of size, shape, and
number in tomato fruits. N.J. Exp. Sta. Bul. 242. 1912.
Lindstrom, E. W. Hereditary correlation of size and color
characters in tomatoes. Iowa Exp. Sta. Research Bul. 93. 1926.
Porte, W. S. and Wellman, F. L. Development of interspecific
tomato hybrids. U.S. Dept. of Agr. Cir. 584. 1941.
Babb, M. F. and Kraus, J. E. Results of tomato variety tests
in the great plains region. U.S. Dept. of Agr. Cir. 533.
1939.
Anon. A haploid marglobe tomato. Jour. of Heredity,
Washington, D.C. Vol. 27, No. 11, 1936.
Huelsen, W. A. New wilt-resistant tomato varieties for field
and greenhouse. Ill. Exp. Sta. Cir. 448. 1936.
Plants for Transplanting
Nissley, C. H. Plant growing and plant growing structures.
N.J. Ext. Bul. 51. 1926.
Tussing, E. B. and Lancashire, E. R. Growing vegetable plants.
Ohio Ext. Bul. 103. 1930.
Raleigh, G. J. Starting vegetable plants. Cornell Ext. Bul.
448. Oct. 1940.
Crist, J. W. Ultimate effect of hardening tomato plants. Mich.
Exp. Sta. Tech. Bul. 89. 1928.
Harvey, R. B. and Wright, R. C. Frost injury to tomatoes.
U.S. Dept. of Agr. Bul. 1099. 1922.
Seaton, H. L. and Strong, M. C. Southern-grown vs. locally
grown tomato plants. Mich. Quarterly Bul. Vol. 20, No. 3, pp.
131-141. 1938.
Alexander, L. J., Young, H. C. and Kiger, C. M. The causes and
control of damping-off of tomato seedlings. Ohio Exp. Sta.
Bul. 496. 1931.
Van Haltern, Frank. Control of tomato seedbed diseases of
southern plants. Ga. Exp. Sta. Bul. 187. 1935.
Fertilizers
Work, Paul. Tomato fertilizer experiments in Chautauqua
County, New York. Cornell Exp. Sta. Bul. 467. 1928.
Hartman, J. D., Work, Paul Wessels, P. H. Tomato fertilizer
experiments on Long Island. Cornell Exp. Sta. Bul. 676. 1937.
Mack, W. B., Stout, G. J. and Rahn, E. M. Fertilizer
experiments with tomatoes. Penna. Exp. Sta. Bul. 393. 1940.
Sayre, C. B. Effects of fertilizers and rotation on earliness
and total yields of tomatoes. N.Y. Exp. Sta. Bul. 619. 1933.
Sayre, C. B. Starter solutions. Farm Research (N.Y. Exp. Sta.
Geneva) Vols. 5, 6, and 7, No. 2. April 1939, '40, '41.
Parker, M. M. Tomato fertilization. (1) The effect of
different fertilizer ratios on the yield to tomatoes. Va. Exp.
Sta. Bul. 80. 1933.
Carolus, R. L. Tomato fertilization. (2) The effect of
different fertilizer ratios on the chemical composition of
tomatoes. Va. Exp. Sta. Bul. 81. 1933.
Thomas, R. P. Effect of fertilizer treatments of a soil on the
quality and yield of tomatoes. Md. Exp. Sta. Bul. 386. 1935.
Friend, W. H. Tomato varieties and fertilizers for the lower
Rio Grande valley of Texas. Texas Exp. Sta. Bul. 438. 1931.
Comin, Donald and Bushnell, John. Fertilizers for early
cabbage, tomatoes, cucumbers, and sweet corn. Ohio Exp. Sta.
Bul. 420. 1928.
Hepler, J. R. and Kraybill, H. R. Effect of phosphorus upon
the yield and time of maturity of the tomato. N.H. Exp. Sta.
Tech. Bul. 28. Rev. 1926.
Hester, J. B. Soil fertility in tomato production. Campbell
Soup Co. Bul. 3. 1941.
Cultural Practices
Thompson, H. C. Pruning and training tomatoes. Cornell Exp.
Sta. Bul. 580. 1934.
Watts, V. M. Pruning and training tomatoes in Arkansas. Ark.
Exp. Sta. Bul. 292. 1933.
Hibbard, R. P. The various effects of frost protectors on
tomato plants. Mich. Exp. Sta. Tech. Bul. 124. 1932.
Thompson, H. C. Experimental studies of the effects of
cultivation of certain vegetable crops. Cornell Expt. Sta.
Memoir 107. 1927.
Physiology
Kraus, E. J. and Kraybill, H. R. Vegetation and reproduction
with special reference to the tomato. Ore. Exp. Sta. Bul. 149.
1918. Biblio.
Work, Paul. Nitrate of soda in the nutrition of the tomato.
Cornell Exp. Sta. Memoir 75. 1924.
Arthur, J. M., Guthrie, J. D. and Newell, John M. Some effects
of artificial climates on the growth and chemical composition
of plants. Amer. Jour. of Botany, 17: 416-482. 1930.
Murneek, A. E. Physiology of reproduction in horticultural
plants. (1) Reproduction and metabolic efficiency in the
tomato. Mo. Exp. Sta. Research Bul. 90. 1926.
Murneek, A. E. Effects of correlation between vegetative and
reproductive functions in the tomato. Plant Physiology, Vol.
I, No. 1. 1926.
Nightingale, G. T. The chemical composition of plants in
relation to photo-periodic changes. Wis. Exp. Sta. Research
Bul. 74. 1927.
Porter, A. M. Effect of light intensity on the photosynthetic
efficiency of tomato plants. Plant Physiology, Vol. 12: pp.
225-252. 1937.
Nightingale, G. T. Effects of temperature on metabolism in
tomato. Botanical Gazette, Vol. 95, No. 1. 1933.
Phillips, T. G., Smith, T. O. and Hepler, J. R. Some effects
of potassium and nitrogen on the composition of the tomato
plant. N.H. Exp. Sta. Tech. Bul. 73. 1939.
MacGillivray, J. H. Effect of phosphorus on the composition of
the tomato plant. Jour. of Agr. Research. Vol. 34, No. 2. pp.
97-127. 1927.
Janssen, G., Bartholomew, R. R. and Watts, V. M. Some effects
of nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium on the composition and
growth of tomato plants. Ark. Exp. Sta. Bul. 310. 1934.
Eckerson, Sophia H. Influence of phosphorus deficiency on
metabolism of the tomato. Contribs. of Boyce Thompson
Institute. Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 197-218. 1931.
Fisher, P. L. Responses of the tomato in solution cultures
with deficiencies and excesses of certain essential elements.
Md. Exp. Sta. Bul. 375. 1935.
Howlett, F. S. Effect of carbohydrate deficiency upon
formation of sex cells in tomato. Ohio Exp. Sta. Bul. 532.
1934.
Howlett, F. S. The modification of flower structure by
environment in varieties of Lycopersicum esculentum. Jour. of
Agr. Research, Vol. 58, No. 2, pp. 79-117. 1939.
Watts, V. M. Some factors which influence growth and fruiting
of the tomato. Ark. Exp. Sta. Bul. 267. 1931.
Watts, V. M. Growth and fruiting responses to pruning and
defloration of tomato plants. Ark. Exp. Sta. Bul. 347. 1937.
Smith, Ora. Pollination and life-history studies of the tomato
(Lycopersicon esculentum mill.) Cornell Exp. Sta. Memoir 184.
1935.
Smith, Ora. Relation of temperature to anthesis and blossom
drop of the tomato together with a histological study of the
pistils. Jour. of Agr. Research. Vol. 44, No. 2, pp. 183-190.
1932.
Smith, Ora and Cochran, H. L. Effect of temperature on pollen
germination and tube growth in the tomato. Cornell Exp. Sta.
Memoir 175. 1935.
Smith, Ora. Effects of light on carotenoid formation in tomato
fruits. Cornell Exp. Sta. Memoir 187. 1936.
Reid, Mary E. Growth of tomato cuttings in relation to stored
carbohydrate and nitrogenous compounds. Amer. Jour. of Botany,
Vol. 13: pp. 548-574. 1926.
Foster, A. C. and Tatman, E. C. Influence of certain
environment conditions of congestion of starch in tomato plant
stems. Jour. of Agr. Research. Vol. 56, No. 12, pp. 869-882.
1938.
Diseases and Insects
Chupp, Chas. Manual of vegetable-garden diseases. Macmillan.
1925.
Kadow, K. J. and Shropshire, L. H. Tomato diseases and insect
pests. (Identification and control.) Ill. Exp. Sta. Cir. 428.
1935.
Weber, G. F. and Kelbert, D. G. A. Seasonal occurrence of
tomato diseases in Florida. Fla. Sta. Bul. 345. 1940.
Samson, R. W. and Thomas, H. Rex. Tomato diseases in Indiana.
Ind. Exp. Sta. Cir. 257. 1940.
Strong, M. C. Tomato diseases in Michigan. Mich. Exp. Sta.
Cir. Bul. 139. 1932.
Young, P. A., Harrison, A. L. and Altstatt, G. E. Common
diseases of tomatoes. Texas Exp. Sta. Cir. 86. 1940.
Horsfall, J. G., Magie, R. O. and Suit, R. F. Bordeaux injury
to tomatoes and its effect on ripening. N.Y. Exp. Sta.
Geneva. Tech. Bul. 251. 1938.
Ramsey, G. B. and Link, G. K. K. Market diseases of fruits and
vegetables: Tomatoes, peppers, eggplants. U.S. Dept. of Agr.
Misc. Pub. 121. 1932.
Marketing
Parsons, F. E. Preparation of fresh tomatoes for market. U.S.
Dept. of Agr. Farmers' Bul. 1291. Rev. 1930.
Wright, R. C. and Gorman, E. A., Jr. Ripening and repacking of
mature green tomatoes. U.S. Dept. of Agr. Cir. 566. 1940.
Sando, Charles E. The process of ripening in the tomato,
considered especially from the commercial standpoint. U.S.
Dept. of Agr. Bul. 859. 1920.
Wright, R. C., Pentzer, W. T. et al. Effect of various
temperatures on the storage and ripening of tomatoes. U.S.
Dept. of Agr. Tech. Bul. 268. 1931.
Frazier, W. A. Cracks in tomato fruits. American Soc. for
Hort. Sci. Vol. 32, pp. 519-523. 1934.
Brown, H. D. and Price, C. V. Effect of irrigation, degree of
maturity and shading upon yield and degree of cracking of
tomatoes. Amer. Soc. for Horti. Sci. Vol. 32, pp. 524-528.
1934.
Yarnell, S. H., Friend, W. H. and Wood, J. F. Factors
affecting the amount of puffing in tomatoes. Texas Exp. Sta.
Bul. 541. 1937.
LeCrone, Freddie and Haber, E. S. Changes in the pectic
constituents of tomatoes in storage. Iowa State College Jour.
of Sci. Vol. 12, No. 4. pp. 467-476. 1933. Good biblio.
Work, Paul. Ethylene ripening of tomatoes in relation to stage
of maturity. Amer. Soc. for Hort. Sci. 1928. pp. 61-64.
MacGillivray, J. H. Tomato color as related to quality in the
tomato canning industry. Ind. Exp. Sta. Bul. 350. 1931.
Vogele, A. C. Effect of environmental factors upon the color
of the tomato and the watermelon. Plant Physiology, Vol. 12,
pp. 929-955. 1937.
Lanham, W. B. Effect of potash fertilizer on the carrying
quality of tomatoes. Texas Exp. Sta. Bul. 357. 1927.
Wardlaw, C. W., and McGuire, L. P. The storage of
tropically-grown tomatoes. (Low Temp. Sta., Imperial College
of Tropical Agr. Trinidad, B.W.I.) E.M.B. 59. 1932.
Rosa, J. T. Ripening and storage of tomatoes. 1926 Proceedings
of the American Soc. for Hort. Sci. pp. 1-10.
Haber, E. S. Acidity and color changes in tomatoes under
various storage temperatures. Iowa State College Jour. of Sci.
Vol. 5, No. 3, pp. 171-184. 1931.
Diehl, H. C. The chilling of tomatoes. U.S. Dept. of Agri.
Dept. Cir. 315. 1924.
Some problems in marketing tomatoes grown in the lower Rio
Grande Valley of Texas. U.S. Dept. of Agri. Marketing
Information Series G.C.M.4. 1938.
Costs and Economics
Campbell, C. E. An economic study of tomato production for
canning in Arkansas. Ark. Exp. Sta. Bul. 225. 1928.
Walker, W. P. An economic study of the production of tomatoes
in Maryland. Md. Exp. Sta. Bul. 304. 1929.
Montgomery, T. M. Jr., and Efferson, J. N. A cost of
production study of tomatoes in North Louisiana, 1939. La.
Exp. Sta. Bul. 329. 1941.
Carncross, J. W., Cathcart, C. S. et al. Economic review of
New Jersey Agriculture. Ext. Service No. 72. pp. 89-96. 1931.
Carncross, J. W. and Nissley, C. H. New Jersey Can-house
tomato production. Costs and recommendations for 1932. N.J.
Ext. Bul. 96. 1932.
Hawthorne, H. W. Cost of production of tomatoes (20 states
1913-1934) Mimeo. Bul. of Agr. Eco., U.S. Dept. of Agr., Nov.
1936.
INDEX
Ammo-phos, 35
Aphis, 90
Arnon, D. I., 20
Arthur, J. M., 21
Barrons, K. C., 47
Bison, 46
Blight, 86, 88
Blocking plants, 62
Blossom end rot, 83
Bonny Best, 47
Botany, 20
Bounty, 47
Breeding, 38
Cannery, 14, 54, 108, 113, 117
Carbohydrate, 29
Car loading, 105
Certification, plants, 57
Certification, seeds, 41
Chalk Jewel, 47
Chili sauce, 14
Chromosomes, 41
Climate, 20, 71
Cochran, H. L., 23
Cold frames, 57
Comet, 50
Composition, 15
Compost, 63
Condiments, 14
Costs, 17, 117
Cracking, 83
Crown Seed, 40
Cultivation, 75
Curly top, 88
Cut worms, 91
Damping off, 65, 90
Description of tomato, 20
Determinate habit, 22
Dirt bands, 57, 62
Diseases, 85
Earliana, 46
Earliness, 33, 53
Economics, 11, 16, 116
Embryo, 38
Emerson, R. A., 78
Fertilization, 25
Field containers, 94
Flats for plants, 60
Flea beetles, 92
Floral characters, 22
Forcing, 18
Fruitfulness, 29
Fruit worm, 91
Fusarium, 38, 42, 49, 50, 86
Geography, 17
Germination, 38
Grading, 100
Greater Baltimore, 50
Green wraps, 96
Greenhouse culture, 18
Greenhouses for plant growing, 58
Ground cherry, 51
Gulf State Market, 50
Guthrie, J. D., 21
Hardening, 68
Harvesting, 93
Harvey, R. B., 69
Hepler, J. H., 33
Heterosis, 39
History, 15
Hitchcock, A. E., 24
Hoagland, D. R., 20
Home garden, 11, 26, 54, 79
Home Garden, variety, 47
Horn worms, 92
Hot beds, 57
Howlett, F. S., 24
Husk tomato, 51
Hybrid vigor, 39
Ideal variety, 42
Immature green, 95
Insects, 91
Internal nutrition, 29
Irrigation, 76
Jamison, F. S., 98
John Baer, 47
Juice, 14
Ketchup, 14
King Humbert, 51
Klebs, 29
Kraus, E. J., 29
Kraybill, H. R., 29, 33
Lanham, W. B., 34
Leaf blight, 86, 88
Lime, 25
Lindstrom, E. W., 41
Longevity, 38
Loomis, W. E., 66, 69
Lug box, 103
MacGillivray, J. H., 33, 95
Mack, W. B., 35
Manure, animal, 34
Marglobe, 48
Market diseases, 90
Marketing, 93
Mature green, 95
Maturity, 94
Mosaic, 88
Mulch, 76, 78
Murneek, A. E., 31
Myers, C. E., 47
Newell, J. M., 21
Nitrogen, 26, 28, 37
Nutritive value, 11, 15, 18
Packing, 103
Parthenocarpy, 24
Penn State, 47
Per capita consumption, 18
Phosphorus, 26, 32, 35
Physalis, 51
Placement of fertilizer, 35
Plant beds, open, 56
Plants for transplanting, 53
Pollination, 23, 39
Ponderosa, 51
Potash, 26, 34
Potassium nitrate, 35
Potato beetle, 91
Pots, clay, 60
Pots, paper, 60
Price, 16
Pritchard, variety, 50
Pritchard, F. J., Frontispiece, 48, 87
Protectors, 72
Pruning, 67, 79
Puffiness, 102
Purdum, L. W., & Sons, 78
Puree and paste, 14
Rahn, E. M., 35
References, 11, 12, 119
Requirements, 20
Ripening, 96
Roadside selling, 112
Rosa, J. T., 69
Running to vine, 29
Rutgers, 50
Sando, C. E., 96
San Marzano, 51
Saving seed, 39, 40
Sayre, C. B., 35
Scarlet Dawn, 48
Seed, 38
Seed Sowing, 56, 63
Seed treatment, 63
Seedless fruits, 24
Selection, 40
Selling, 93, 110
Septoria, 86
Setting fruit, 29
Side dressing, 35, 37
Smith, Ora, 23
Soil, field, 25
Soil, plant growing, 63
Solution culture, 18
Southern plants, 56
Spacing in field, 73
Staking, 79
Stalk borer, 92
Starter solutions, 35, 75
Statistics, 16
Sterilizing soil, 63, 90
Stokesdale, 48
Stout, G. J., 35
Sunscald, 83
Temperature for plant growing, 65
Thompson, H. C, 82, 83, 98
Tiedjens, V. H., 37
Training, 79
Transplanters, 74
Transplanting, 66, 74
Trellis system, 79
Uses, 14
Varieties, 46
Vegetation and fruitfulness, 29
Victor, 47
Virus, 88
Water culture, 18
Watering, 74
Watering plants, 65
Watts, V. M., 70
Wellington, Richard, 39
Work, Paul, 31
Wright, R. C., 98
Yeager, A. F., 46, 47
Yellows (See also fusarium), 88
Yield, 16, 17, 117
Zimmerman, P. W., 24
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Hoagland, D. R. and Arnon, D. I. The water culture method for
growing plants without soil. Calif. Exp. Sta. Cir. 347. Dec. 1938.
[2] Arthur, J. M., Guthrie, J. D. and Newell, J. M. Some effects of
artificial climates on the growth and chemical composition of plants.
Amer. Jour. Bot. 17:416-482. 1930.
[3] Smith, Ora and Cochran, H. L. Effect of temperature on pollen
germination and tube growth in the tomato. Cornell Memoir 175. 1935.
[4] Howlett, F. S. Use of chemicals to stimulate fruitfulness in
tomatoes. Veg. Growers Asso. of America Rept. 1941, pp. 203-214. 1941.
Zimmerman, P. W. and Hitchcock, A. E. Formative effects induced with
B-Naphthoxyacetic acid. Contribution from Boyce Thompson Inst.
Vol. 12 #1, April-June, 1941.
[5] Fertilizer recommendations are best given in form of pounds per acre
of nitrogen (N), phosphoric acid (P_{2}O_{5}) and potash (K_{2}O). These
figures are then translated into pounds per acre of materials or of
mixed fertilizers.
[6] Kraus, E. J. and Kraybill, H. R. Vegetation and reproduction with
special reference to the tomato. Oreg. Bul. 149. 1918.
[7] Work, Paul. Nitrate of Soda in the nutrition of the tomato. Cornell
Memoir 75. 1924.
[8] Murneek, A. E. The effects of fruit on vegetative growth in plants.
Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. Rpt. 1924, pp. 274-276.
[9] MacGillivray, J. H. Effect of phosphorus on the composition of the
tomato plant. Jour. Agr. Res. 34: 97-127. 1927.
[10] Hepler, J. H. and Kraybill, H. R. Effect of phosphorus upon yield
and maturity of the tomato. N. H. Tech. Bul. 28. 1925.
[11] Mack, W. B., Stout, G. J., and Rahn, E. M. Fertilizer experiments
with tomatoes. Penn. Exp. Sta. Bul. 393. 1940.
[12] Sayre, C. B. Starter Solutions. Farm Research (N.Y. Expt. Sta.)
Vols. V, VI, and VII, No. 2, April, 1939, 1940, and 1941.
[13] Wellington, Richard. Comparison of first generation tomato crosses
and their parents. Minn. Tech. Bul. 6. 1922.
[14] Loomis, W. E. Studies in the transplanting of vegetable plants.
Cornell Memoir 87. 1925.
[15] Watts, V. M. Factors affecting production of wrinkled tomato
fruits. Proc. Amer. Soc. Hort. Sci. 30: 513-517. 1934.
[16] Emerson, R. A. Experiments in mulching garden vegetables. Neb. Bul.
80. 1903.
[17] Thompson, H. C. Pruning and training tomatoes. Cornell Sta. Bul.
580. 1934.
[18] MacGillivray, J. H. Tomato color as related to quality in canning.
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[19] Sando, C. E. The process of ripening in the tomato, considered
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[20] Wright, R. C. et al. Effect of various storage temperatures on
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