The daily tribune., 1906-06-08
4 Nv TuaaATo CULTURE.
on eLalcyT aaTssna.

f a
About the nrst u Juns = H. usns
orally Tor the Unitsd 6tates. This
article wouH have beeu more tfrnsly
had II been printed month ago, but
even II II can be remembered for next
yeAr's operations In t0nlnto growing,
the writer win feel more than com.
pensAted, since for 1t least small
tomato patches thu plan here sug-
gerfed has been proven BY him to have
several advantages.
Some years ago l attempted to grow
seven acres Of tomatoes In Southern
Florida--Polk County-for the north
were planted In November. 1t was the
Florida from stem to stern and obliter-
ated all frost iines"-the firyt oc-
Cured December 18th, Just on top Of
4 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 6iting northwest wind. Thousands
Of acres of tomatoes and eggplant
were cut down to the ground. For
tunately for my partner and myself we
holds annual sway and we had main
tained seed bed In spite of the jeers
of o,lr neighbors. By the use OF fer
tilixer 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 had passed on his way,
we had a start over our neighbors of
from eighteen to twenty-fOur days In
growth.
= A SECOND FREEZE.
We had visions Of wealth. Instead
OF seven acres, 1t is true. we had
plants for only about single acre
each, but we expected eight, ten or
twelve dollars crate for 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 southm0st 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 |
q severe northwest blizzard was rapid |
ly moving down the State.
Necessity. as usual, proved itself |
the mother OF invention, and my part |
ner, Mr.. @. g. Stephenson, of Herndon, |
Va. and myself strapped lanterns to
our left legs. and with 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 blossomlng 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 out the plants on
the two succeeding days. The small
Of my back still creaks In remem- |
brance Of the STRENGTHENING mp periods |
1t 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 \ OF
an acre OF rather dilapidated but still
thrifty and little damaged tomatoes, |
far advanced over those Of the sur. |
fields.
PRUNING TOMATO vINE8.
The tomatoes were beginning TO |
throw out numbers of axillary suckers
just above each leaf. 1t was my turn.
one dsy, to drive the white marc to
town and get 4 supply Of Rrub-wo
were camping. BY chance, ! ran
across an Old stager who had drifted
down to South Florida from the region