The Tomato

By Paul Work

This vintage book is a complete guide to the tomato, being a treatise on history, benefits, common problems, growing, harvesting, marketing, and many other related aspects. Easy-to-digest and profusely illustrated, this vintage handbook is a wealth of timeless information, and will be of considerable utility to novice growers. Contents include: ”The Tomato is a Great Food and Drop Plant”, ”Choose the Soil and Feed The Plant”, ”The Best in Seed is None too Good”, ”Strong Plants for Early Maturity and Heavy Crop”, ”Good Culture Favours Good Returns”, ”To Train Them Up or Let Them Spread”, ”The Eternal Battle with Insects and Diseases”, etc. Many vintage books such as this are becoming increasingly rare and expensive. We are republishing ”The Tomato” now in an affordable, high-quality edition complete with a specially commissioned new introduction on growing vegetables.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Read Books Ltd.
• Release date: Jul 31, 2015
• ISBN: 9781473376847

Book preview

THE TOMATO

By

PAUL WORK

Professor of Vegetable Crops, Cornell University

Editor of Market Growers Journal

ILLUSTRATED

Copyright © 2013 Read Books Ltd.

This book is copyright and may not be

reproduced or copied in any way without

the express permission of the publisher in writing

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

Contents

Fruit Growing

INTRODUCTION

I

THE TOMATO IS A GREAT FOOD

AND CROP PLANT

Solution Culture

The Tomato Plant

Seedless Fruits

II

CHOOSE THE SOIL AND FEED

THE PLANT

Nitrogen

Failure to Set Fruit

Phosphorus

Potash

Stable Manure

Placement and Side Dressing

III

THE BEST IN SEED IS NONE

TOO GOOD

Breeding

Selection Methods

Certification

The Ideal Variety

Varieties

IV

STRONG PLANTS FOR EARLY

MATURITY AND HEAVY

CROP

Open-bed Plant Growing

Southern Plants

Growing Early Plants in the North

The Place to Grow Plants

Beds, Flats and Pots

The Blocking System

Soil

Seed and Seed Sowing

Care of Seedlings

Transplanting

Pruning Young Plants

Hardening

V

GOOD CULTURE FAVORS

GOOD RETURNS

Time of Planting

Plant Protectors

Spacing

Methods of Planting

Cultivation

Irrigation

Mulching

VI

TO TRAIN THEM UP OR LET

THEM SPREAD

Pro and Con

VII

THE ETERNAL BATTLE WITH

INSECTS AND DISEASES

Insects

VIII

SKILLFUL SELLING CROWNS

THE ENTERPRISE

Harvesting

Picking Green

Ripening

Waxing

Grading

Packaging

Selling

Local Selling

Cannery Selling

IX

OPERATING IN THE RED OR IN

THE BLACK

SELECTED REFERENCES

FOOTNOTES:

Fruit Growing

Inbotany, a fruit is a part of a flowering plant that derives from specific tissues of the flower, one or more ovaries, and in some cases accessory tissues. In common language use though, ‘fruit’ normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of a plant that are sweet or sour, and edible in the raw state, such as apples, oranges, grapes, strawberries, bananas, and lemons. Many fruit bearing plants have grown alongside the movements of humans and animals in a symbiotic relationship, as a means for seed dispersal and nutrition respectively. In fact, humans and many animals have become dependent on fruits as a source of food. Fruits account for a substantial fraction of the world’s agricultural output, and some (such as the apple and the pomegranate) have acquired extensive cultural and symbolic meanings. Today, most fruit is produced using traditional farming practices, in large orchards or plantations, utilising pesticides and often the employment of hundreds of workers. However, the yield of fruit from organic farming is growing – and, importantly, many individuals are starting to grow their own fruits and vegetables. This historic and incredibly important foodstuff is gradually making a come-back into the individual garden.

The scientific study and cultivation of fruits is called ‘pomology’, and this branch of methodology divides fruits into groups based on plant morphology and anatomy. Some of these useful subdivisions broadly incorporate ‘Pome Fruits’, including apples and pears, and ‘Stone Fruits’ so called because of their characteristic middle, including peaches, almonds, apricots, plums and cherries. Many hundreds of fruits, including fleshy fruits like apple, peach, pear, kiwifruit, watermelon and mango are commercially valuable as human food, eaten both fresh and as jams, marmalade and other preserves, as well as in other recipes. Because fruits have been such a major part of the human diet, different cultures have developed many varying uses for fruits, which often do not revolve around eating. Many dry fruits are used as decorations or in dried flower arrangements, such as lotus, wheat, annual honesty and milkweed, whilst ornamental trees and shrubs are often cultivated for their colourful fruits (including holly, pyracantha, viburnum, skimmia, beautyberry and cotoneaster).

These widespread uses, practical as well as edible, make fruits a perfect thing to grow at home; and dependent on location and climate – they can be very low-maintenance crops. One of the most common fruits found in the British countryside (and towns for that matter) is the blackberry bush, which thrives in most soils – apart from those which are poorly drained or mostly made of dry or sandy soil. Apple trees are, of course, are another classic and whilst they may take several years to grow into a well-established tree, they will grow nicely in most sunny and well composted areas. Growing one’s own fresh, juicy tomatoes is one of the great pleasures of summer gardening, and even if the gardener doesn’t have room for rows of plants, pots or hanging baskets are a fantastic solution. The types, methods and approaches to growing fruit are myriad, and far too numerous to be discussed in any detail here, but there are always easy ways to get started for the complete novice. We hope that the reader is inspired by this book on fruit and fruit growing – and is encouraged to start, or continue their own cultivations. Good Luck!

FREDERICK J. PRITCHARD 1874-1931

Originator of tomato varieties of improved type and resistant to disease

INTRODUCTION

Why should there be a book on tomatoes? The world is full of bulletins of experiment stations, of articles in periodicals and of general books on vegetables which include discussion of tomatoes.

An incomplete set of tomato bulletins includes over 350 documents. Many of these are no longer available. Many are of no great value but contribute this or that small item.

The task of a book like this is to offer between two covers, a summary of what seem the most significant facts and opinions about the third most important vegetable crop in the United States.

The tomato is one of the most rewarding crops for the home garden. A little space yields heavily, from half a peck to a peck per plant without difficulty. It grows well practically everywhere in the States, affording high nutritional values whether used fresh or canned. And people do like tomatoes, whether as salad, cooked vegetable, or condiment.

Competition among growers and among districts makes