The Breckenridge news., 1906-05-30

About the first of June is the time
TO stake your tomatoes, speaking gen.
orally for the United States. This
article would have been more timely
had ii been printed a month ago, but
even if it can be remembered for next
years operations i'm tomato growing,
the writer will feel more than com
pensated since for at least small
tomato patches the plan here sug-
gested has been proven by him to have
several advantages.
Some years ago I attempted TO grow
seven acres of tomatoes in Southern
Florida-POlk County-for the north
ern winter market. The tomatoes
were planted i'm November. 1t was the
winter of the great freeze, which swept
Florida from stem to stern and oblter-
ated all frost lnes'-the first oc-
CURED December 2Sth, just on top of
q balmy Christmas Eve spent on the
piazza in summer clothes. On that
day, the thermometer in this frost
proof" region descended to 1SF. with
q biting northwest wind Thousands
of acres of tomatoes and eggplant
Were cut down to the ground. For
tunately for my partner and myself we
were from the region where Jack-FrOst
holds annual sway and we had main
tanned a seed bed in spite of the jeers
of our neighbOrS BY the use of fer
tilizer sacks, all the bed quilts. sheets
and clothing we had. and half a dozen
fires to windward, we MANAGED to
save some seven or eight thousand
young tomato plants, and thus when
the frost king bad passed on bis way,
we had start over our neighuorS of |
from eighteen to twenty-fOur days in !
growth.
A SECOND FREEZE.
We had visions Of wealth Instead |
o seven acres. it is true. we had T.
plants for only about a single acre /.
each. but we expected eighJ ten or |
twelve dollars crate TO- our toma- |
toes. instead of two or three dollars, !
because all Florida had been wiped |
out Unfortunately, In this instance. !
the lightning struck twice, and in Feb |
ruary. just as our plants were bios |
soming and beginning to form fruit. |
a second and equally severe freeze /
struck into our midst, and again the /
entire agricultural section of Florida, /
with the exception of a very small |
acreage on the southmOst keys, was |
frozen to the roots. However, in this |
instance the Weather Bureau was on |
the lookout. and about nine o'clock in |
the evening we had information that |
severe northwest blizzard was rapid |
ly moving down the State.
Necessity, as usual, proved itself I
the mother Of invention. and my part |
4 GTnt.I.v,a,ta If TInr,tn1nra
Va. and myself strapped lanterns to .
our left legs, and with "A big cotton /
hoe each, tramped up and down our |
long rows of tomatoes and with a |
single dig and pull, for each plant, COW |
cred the blossOming tomatoes with |
nearly a square foot of the loose /
Florida upland sand. in which the
winter tomato is grown
by two o'clock we had finished our
task, and we thought we were some
what tired; but this effort was nothing
to the job of digging ont the plants on
the two succeeding days. The small
of my back still creaks in remem,
brance of the Strengthening up periods
at the end Of each row.
Finally, after the two freezes had
done their worst, and the genial sun
of Southern Florida began to warm
the air, as upon rare day in June we
each found ourselves with about q of
an acre of rather dilapidated but still
thrifty and little damaged tomatoes,
far advanced over those of the sur
fields.
PRUNING TOMATO VINES.
The tomatoes were beginning to
throw out numbers of aXillary suckers
inst above each leaf. 1t was my turn,
one day, to drive the white mare to
town and get a supply of grub-we
were camping. BY chance, ran
across an old stager who had drfted
down to South Florida from the region
49,