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 3½ 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, 3½ × 4½ 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.