Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-06-14
TOMATOES, EGGPLANTS, PEPPERS
RESPOND TO INTENSIVE FARMING
"eVnoos That Bring Success on Small Truck Patch.
1r"lfllng iomats" on Poles or Treses-Ways
10 Speed Crop and Insure Fine Specimens
BY JOHN BARTRAM

INTENSIVE farming" should be the slo.
= gan OF the home garden this wartime
year. The first principle ia to make every
.nCh OF sou and every ounce Of energy count
70 the fullest Tomatoes eggplanta and
peppers are we'll adapted 20 intensive gar
ue,ins methods, which are supersedng the
old-fashioned ways In many places and
which are highly recommended bv the Ma
uohaI emergency Good Garden Commission
All or them give bountful crops. and tona-
toes are excellent for canning and peppers
Tor chow-chows etc
1t Is now too late to bring any Of these
up from seed, but hardy plants can be
bought for five to ten cents apiece
CULTURE OF TOMATOES
when tomatoes are grown commercially
the vines are usually allowed to sprawl out
along the ground, which thew do To the
extent OF several feet Many OF the fruits
mus grown are lost by rottlng.
II this were the only method OF growing
tomatoes they would not be good crop for
nome gardening because Of the room they
occupied. But by the use OF Intensive
methods tomatoes can be brought into small
compass so that they become one Of the
heaviest food producers to the square foot
Of ground.
The vines must be trained TO climb In
no. houses where every foot OF space is
valuable, tomatoes are always trained on
trellises. In the garden they can be tied
to three or four foot poles or stakes and
IN this way other crops can be planted
close TO them.
one method Of training is to pinch on the
siue oranehes as they appear SO that all the
plants vigor will go into the main stalk
which Is trained to n pole or stake An
other way Is not TO prune the plant, but to
hold IN each row with n fence about one
foot high ON both sides Of the row and lay
Stats across this fence to support the vines
cd nNNa 1.
eighteen inches. the others about three feet
Transplanting two or three times
strengthens tomato plants and for that
reason. and also because the growing sea-
son for them is long, they are usually
started from seed in pots or boxes indoors
ana then set out after the weather Is warm
and settled.
When setting tomatoes out mako the hole
generous and put a little fertilizer at the
bottom. Pinch or half Of each spray OF
leaves In order TO compensate for the shock
| to the roots When using the stalking
method pinch of all but the most vigorous
| side shoots, This will throw strength into
| the bearing branches 1t IS also a good
practice to pinch of buds where they are
| too numerous.
Standard varieties are Early Detroit
| Challis Early, Jewel, Earlana and Bonny
Best all prolific earlles; Ponderosa large
| and solid: Stone. meaty and profile for
main crop Dwarf Giant. an upright grow
] ing development of Ponderosa. Dwarf
| Stone and Dwarf Champion require little
II any stalking
CULTURE OF EGGPLANT
Egglant is usually deemed a too-dlfncult
| vegetable for the amateur to grow and
| possibly 1t is starting from seed. Growing
! from bought plants is not hazardous II
| simple precautions are observed
Inasmuch as II s not safe to set out egg
| plant In the garden much before June,
| and because the plant requires a fairly
| long growing season, the seeds should he
| Bown indoors or In an outdoor hotbed. one
| third of an ounce Of seed will produce
enough plants TO make row 100 feet long.
| Seeds are ordinarily sown thickly in rows in
| the seed boxes and when the plants are large
| enough TO handle they are transpanted to
| flower pots or paper pots filled with very
rich soil. Some gardeners, however, pre-
| fer TO SOW the seed directly In flower pots
| and TO thin out the seedlings later
Unless the seedlings are transplanted to-
| large pots directly from the seed box as
the plants grow they should be set in
| larger pots. Some gardeners make three
transfers before putting the plants into the
garden, which should not be done until the
| warm weather is settled and the plants are
| SIX to ten inches high.
| Plants should be set eighteen inches apart
| in the row and rows two feet apart. Fruits
| may be eaten when they arc three inches
| or more in diameter. Tying up to single
stake is sometimes desirable for support
| English black beauty. New York purple
| and black PekIn are the commonly grown
varieties. When plants are bought one usu-
| ally has to take the kind the nurseryman
! has selected.
Peppers are handled much tho same way
| as eggplants. They can be set as near as
| one and one-half feet apart in the row
The soil should be light and porous and II
| originally cayey can be made fine by ad-
| mixture of sand and well-rotted manure,
| Stalking It is sometimes desirable as we'll
| as thinning out about one-quarter of the
| blossoms Fruit should be picked before
maturity. as II is sweeter and less "seedy."
| Peppers require an abundance of sun
| light-all they can get Top dressing with
| hen manure. a nitrate OF soda, speeds