The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-08-17

The soil best adapted to the growth
of the best quality of tomatoes is one
not too rich in humus or freshly de-
caying vegetable matter, but one well
supplied with the mineral elements,
lime, potash and phosphoric acid. In
the over-rich garden soil we find that
tomatoes make a very luxuriant growth
of vine, which, if not staked and prop
erly pruned, make spreading growth
of many lateral branches, and. by the
time such vines" are through bear
ing will have covered from sixteen
to twenty-five square feet of ground.
Allowed thus to grow, much the larg-
er part of the fruit comes in contact
with the soil and before the season
is over, especially if it is a rainy one,
a large part of the fruit will rot.
AS a rule, a soil that is good for
sweet potatoes will make good crops
of tomatoes and this implies a soil
with just enough nitrogen Cor am
monia) to produce a normal growth
of bush or vine without excessive
rankness of foliage. And then if there
BILE condition it will assure that vine
covered with all the fruit 1t can
possibly bear
Except in very dry seasons-that is,
dry during the fruiting season of the
plants-it pays to observe system
of culture that keeps the vines from
contact with the soil as much as pos
sible. This is done most completely
by having a strong stake to each plant
I aVrf a
stake to every two or three plants.
This means the setting of two or three
in such a way that a stake set in be-
tween them will be made to support
them. These dwarf tomatoes. like but
ter beans, allow of two or three plants
to the hill if the hills have sufficient
distance to allow of the spread of lat
eral roots fully in one direction az
least We have seen dwarf Cham
pion" and "Aristocrat" tomatoes
grown in this way. two to three plants
to the hill or each stake, that yield
ed two to three pecks of marketable
tomatoes in the thirty days fol-
lowing the first ripening of fruit
If strong and long stakes are used
and care shown to keep the vines
steadily trained up the vines can be
kept in bearing month or two long
err To do this the vines must be kept
down by shallow culture to the end
of the season and the vines be Kept
trained up to the stake. This is the
intensive way of managing quarter
TO an acre of vines or any smaller area
i'm the home garden.
Where acres of tomatoes are grown
the simplest plan of protecting the
greater part of the fruit from contact
with the soil is growing the crop IN
double rows Between the frst two
rows there is a distance of two feet,
hut the next middle will be twice as
wide. or four feet and so ~on across
the field.
After the narrow middles are plowed
out we'll after the plants are set out the
vines are made to support each other
by ncIining them towards the center
of the narrow middle.
The wider middle is cultivated several
times oftener than the narrow. with
a little intelligent care this plan is eff
fective in keeping four-fifths of the
fruit from contact with the soil. Where
stalking is expensive it will recommend
itself after one successful trial of 1t.
In seasons dry during the fruiting OF
the crop it is almost fully effective In
rainy seasons it will prevent much loss
from rot. After each heavy rain the
field should be gone over and the vines
lifted and inclined together.
Tomatoes as Preserving Material.
Few are aware probably that the
tomato makes a preserve about equal
TO figs The yellow pear-shaped variety
is the kind to be grown for the purpose.
When full grown it is the size of
small fig. and when made into preserve
can hardly be distinguished from fig.
The yellow pear tomato is very prolific
under best conditions. yielding one to
two pecks to the vine. The fruit should
be gathered before becoming perfectly
ripe leaving the stem on as in the case
of figs and the process of preserving is
Identical with that of figs. We can bear
testimony to their delicious quality.