20 349 ■T24. From FIFTEEN YEARS' PERSONAL EXPERIENCE, BY i CJ CANANDAIGUA, N. Y. 1870. M. n. Smith, Printer, 18 Elwood Block, J?och£sler DR. A. G. COLEMAN, WW mffi ^ ML<9 Oldest-Established Office in Oanandaigua. OVER TEN YEARS' EXPERIENCE in admiuistcring Cliloro form and Gas. Remember, Dr. Coleman was tlie first to in- troduce Laughing gas in tliis place, and will guarantee no ill effects resulting from his administering the same. He is tho only lleiitist in the county (with one exception,) who has the right to apply Folsom's Patent in making Artificial Plates. Teeth Filled in the most approved manner. ^LL '\YoRK 'jp'ULL.Y "QuAFiANTEED Dr. A. G. Coleman. OFFICE ON GORHAM STREET, Directly North of the Court Tlouge. \Mt 60 H: IX COMMOiN GABDENS. FROM FIFTEEN YEARS^ PERSONAL EXPERIENCE. y^ BY GANANBAIQUA, N. Y. i3:a "Entcred accordinsr to Act of ConjrreBs, in the year 1870, by IIouack Taylor, in the Clerk's OSce of the District Court for the Northern Dist. of N. Y. INTPxODIJGTION. ELECTIN(t a name for our pamphlet, we call it, ''Tomato Eaishuf in Common Gardens'' h^Q'.\\\^i^ tliere lias Leeii onr experience, and not in the field culture; and because that, throup^h the common ^ oardens of the common peojde, the masses" are to i)c henefired hv our experience, if at all About fifteen years personal exi)erience and observation in raising tomatoes, na\f On iM^iifO liu- Liif pi ;n, t iv.fi-1 iviKMviutlge uptm the siibject, which T intend — Proviank around it, and have a glass over it, and guard against the frost. — For some persons, and on some accounts, it is better than a hot-bed. AIRING. But warm beds, and more especially hot-beds, should be opened some, in a hot day, and closed tight in a cold night. In the forenoon before they scorch, and in the afternoon before they chill. PLANTS, Those who do not raise their own plants, should get the best they can from the most reliable persons. — Not the most /?Vable persons. — I bought some plants at a high price, from one of those /?Vable persons, who warranted the tomatoes to ripen in June. They did not ripen till August, so I thought they were /^Vable enough, and I called them June lies. But they were on sods, and it took two or three weeks for them to get started. PLANTS ON SODS. Sods are convenient for carrying plants to market, etc. But they have little depth, and the roots in them can have no more. They generally hinder the growth of plants, and sometimes very materially. For the sods must be () TOMATO RAISING broken enough to free the roots, and thereby injure them more or less; or else if the sods are left undisturbed, they will confine and cramp the roots, for weeks. There is no and light, in as warm and sunny location as practicable. — When the weather and plants and soil are all ready, make your PERMANENT TRANSPLANTING. If the soil is right, the roots will find their way down- wards, without burying the stalk as some people do, be- cause their plants are too feeble to stand up. Better have plants that can stand up, and then set them low, — not be- low the first set of leaves, — and the ground around them being full as low as the level of the garden or lower, it will not require as much hilling up, and will much better i-etain the rain that falls on it, and the water put on it in m COMMON GARDENS. 7 dry weather. But sometluiig depends on tlie wetness or dryness of the soil, ete. TIME OF TRANSPLANTING. I prefer transphmtino- when the soil is moderately wet, without l>ein<>' drenched or drowned. I prefer evenino- to mornin<>;, uidess it be cloudy all day. Have your ground and ]^lants in good order, and you may set them evenings, whether the weather be wet or di-y. DISTANCE APART. The distance of setting ])lants apart, should be deter- mined by the manner in which they are to be trained, and by the amount of room you have for plants, etc. Differ- ent distances will appear, according to the different modes of planting and training. I will speak of three methods, whicli T will call first best, second best, and third Ijest. Other methods, without staking or cribbing, I will not dwell upon. I shall give but little attention- to second and thireak mostly of the first best. METHOD THIRD BEST. This T call cribl)ing, or any kind of frame work ])ut around the plants, to sustain them, and keep tliem from the gi'ound. I have ]:>referred tlie following plan to any other that T have ]>racticed or seen. Set the ])lants three or four feet apart, according to the room you have, &c. Make a crib or frame, the cross pieces of lath, and the u)n-ight corner pieces, (or posts as they may be called,) of ])ine or any soft wood, about two or three times as stout as the lath. Instead of having the corner posts stand per- pendicular, have them slanting, so that the lower ends will be six indies aj)art. and the upper ends fifteen. Have the posts twenty or twenty-four inches long. Take your cross pieces of lath, aiul with liglit nails nail them on the posts, so as to make tlie above size and shape. Put three or four cross pieces on each side, beginning at the top, and leaving a space of eight or ten inches at the l)ottom of the posts without any cross pieces. After your plants are set, and before they get too large, set the crib over, small end down, and drive carefully into the ground, far enough to have it stand firm and steady. You can hoe around near to the plant, weed it, trim it, and keep it from the ground very easily, after the cribs are once set. This method comes nearer to what is called the French method, than any other that I have practiced. I sometimes set a 8 TOMATO RAISING short stake in the centre, to train and support the main stalk. I let four or live side branches ijjrovv, making five or six in all. I keep all witliin the crib, and let none of them grow much above it. I trim oil* all except regular leaves, and bearing stems. These cribs if well made and taken care of, will last a number of years. But the SECOND BEST METHOD I think better still. It is this. Have the plants set three or four feet apart. Say hills three feet, and rows four feet or more. Put a good stake to each plant or hill, or set your stakes first. Then train and tie your plant to the stake, as it grows and needs support. Leave but two or three stalks to c^row, and trim oft' everv other succor or shoot as it appears. Our people in this vicinity, (Canan- daigua) who succeed very well generally in raising toma- toes, pursue nearly this method, except theyfjiil very much in trimming. But they do not, and cannot, have so good early fruit, as they might by the FIRST BEST METHOD. Having the ground ready, and the plants, and the stakes, then the first thing in this method would be to consider how near to have tlie plants to each other. And this would depend upon how much room there is for the plants, and how many plants there are to be. I^" I had plenty of room for them, and time to attend them, I should set the hills three feet apart, and the rows four or five. If the garden is small, as mine has been most of the time, I sliould say, rows three feet apart, and hills two or less. But if I want to make the very best and most of a little ground, in the most convenient and economical manner, I have DOUBLE ROWS after some of the following plans. First plan, one single row, hills three feet apart, and then a foot and a half from that row, have another just like it, only the plants in this row, stand opposite the middle of the space between the plants in the first row. Or, second plan, have the two single rows eighteen inches apart, and the hills eighteen inches apart in the row, alternating with each other, as in the first double row. This second plan as you see, wouhl contain twice as many plants as the first. Or, third, have two single rows, one foot apart, the hills or plants being two feet apart in the rows, and alternating with each other, as above. Here are three plans for double rows. The dis- IN COMMON GARDENS. 9 tances may be varied as you choose. I then recommend three feet or more, from one double row to another. This Double-Rowing, I believe furnishes the greatest possible amount of good early fruit, on a small space of ground, and with the greatest convenience of training, trimming, worming, and watering the plants, — gathering the fruit, and covering the plaiits in case of early frost. But, please bring your hand down emphatically here. — If you prac- tice any of these double rows, or this close planting, you must certainly be thorough in the training, and especially in the trimming department. You must positively let only one single stalk grow on a plant. The most distin- guishing feature between my first, second, and third best methods is, training and trimming. Indeed this is the great turning point of success, in raising early tomatoes. The trimming is the chief part. My first best method does not determine how far apart the hills or rows shall be, or whether there shall be any rows. But this espe- cially, that only one stalk be left to grow, and that kept well trimmed, and trained, and tied. Therefore my direc- tions for trimming, etc., will apply equally to single hills, or single or double rows, wherever the one stalk system is adopted. Plants must be set before trimming, etc. I re- commend to set stakes before setting the plants. STAKING. I use mostly pine stakes, made from the trimmings of matched boards, which are cheap at the planing mill. — Others can use what they please, or split up boards to make stakes. Use something long and strong enouoh to sustain the plant and its fruit. I 2:)refer pine or soft wood, because it is so much easier putting in and taking out tacks. Any hard wood is just as good, where the string is merely tied loosely around the stake, without being tacked to it. I use stakes about five feet lonsf, g-oins: into the ground far enough to stand strong and steady, eight or ten inches. When the stakes are taken up in the fall, they should be cleaned of strings, tacks, and dirt, and put under cover till wanted again. When you have concluded where to set your plants, how far apart, etc., then you will know just where to put your stakes. Set them first, and press tlie dirt on the west, north, and east sides, and set your plant on the south side of the stake, two or thi'ee inches from it. Set the plant the same side towards the sun, that it has ever been. In taking up your plants, take 10 TOMATO RAISING up soil enough to not disturb the roots ; and have holes large enough to put them in, dug in front of, or on the south side of the stakes. Press the dirt gently, but not hard, around the plant. If your plants are eight or ten incites high wlien set, they may need tying immediately, at least they should be tied before they are broken down by the wind, or their own weight. TYING. Where plants grow fast, they should be tied at least once a week. Use soft strings to tie Avith if you can. — Do not tie too tight, and yet, tie so as to keep the stalk tolerably straight, and near to the stake. When a fruit stem is too long or too weak to hold up its fruit, it should be carefully tied, unless it can be laid over a stout leaf which will sustain it. I use narrow strips of cloth, a half inch or so wide, and fasten them to the stake by a large headed carpet tack, that can generally be put into soft wood by the thumb and finger. TRAINING. Having observed the rule of keeping the plant always the same side towards the sun, and training up only one stalk, you will be prepared to train that in such a way, as generall}^ to have the fruit stems on one side, sun side, and use the space between the leaves on the opposite or back side, for the place of your stake. By taking a little' care and pains, you will be able to train the plant, so that the leaves spreading on the back, or shady side of the plant, will form a complete place for the stake, and brace or lean against it, very much like a man standing with his back to a post, and his arms spread out and turned backwards, so as to brace against the post. These ideas may some of them be new, but in practice, they are beautiful, conven- ient, and useful. TRIMMiNG. In trimming, I use a sharp knife, so as to do it better, ^ quicker, and wdth less stain on the fingers, than by pinch- fj ing off the shoots. Leave the one main stalk to grow, and trim off everything else except the leaves and fruit stems. Trim as often as they need it, especially once a w^eek, so that you will not have to look and reach through the branch- I es and leaves to find and trim wdiat ought to have been done weeks before. Trim thus promptly and early ; because it will be easier done then, and because it will save nourish- IN COMMON GARDENS. 11 nient to the plant, which would be lost by late trimmiiio; anrl because your fruit will be better and earlier. Trim off blossoms and small fruit, where there is an excess; that is, where there is more than can be sustained and matured on that branch or stem, always leaving those nearest the main stalk. Some stems will sustain more fruit than oth- ers, according to their length and strength. Wliere the fruit grows in clusters on each side of the stem, five or six will generally be enough, for one stem, unless it be laid across or over a leaf, or sustained by tying, in which case it may support twice as manf as it otherwise would. But where the fruit grows in large round bunches or clusters, very near the main stalk, there may sometimes be a dozen or twenty come to maturity ; though some of them are generally small, and might better have been clip))ed off early. Don't be afraid of trimming off blossoms and small fruit. If properly done, you will gain in quality and quantity of good mature fruit. When the j)lants or vines liave reached a proper highth, four or five feet, or when the blossoms or young fruit are set enough for the plant to maintain and mature, (wiiich is generally as soon as any fruit ripens on the same plant, or sooner if the season be late,) then the tops of the vines should be clipped or cut off, and no more fruit allowed to set. These rules for trimming, though designed for plants trained to a stake where only one stalk is left to grow, are nevertheless just as applicable to all plants whei-e trimming is practiced at all, except the difference resulting from the one stalk sys- tem. The one main stalk may divide itself into two or three equal branches, so that you can scarcely choose be- tween tiiem ; and yet you must choose, and cut off all but one. When there is a perceptible difference, choose the best. When there is no difference in size, choose the one most likely to have its fruit stem towards the sun, or the one that stands fairest to the sun. My particular method of trimming is this: Let the whole plant grow till the iruit stem appears, which may always be known by the buds. Then cut off all the shoots or succors that come out below this fruit stem, but never cut off a regular leaf, with but few exceptions. Leave the leaves for I'espiratory organs to the plant. Continue to trim thus below the first Iruit stem as long as shoots continue to grow. Above the first fruit stem, continue the same practice of trimming oft" all but the fruit stems and leaves, up to the top of the plant; 13 TOMATO RAISING :ind clip that oif in due time. I said never cut oif a leaf, but with iew exceptions. The exceptions are as follows : First, when it is essentially in the Avay of getting around or working among the plants. Second, when a leaf pre- vents iittino- and fastenins; the main stalk to the stake properly, it may sometimes be cut off, though seldom. Third, when the fruit is too much concealed from the light and the sun, a little trimming off of a part of a leaf or leaves, will do good by letting in light, and by giving you a better view, and a better opportunity to take care of the fruit. Occasionally, the main stalk of a plant will stop short without any branches, at the first or second set of fruit buds. In this case, if the plant rifles above that fruit stem, it must be by the side shoots from below, of which you may choose the best or uppermost, and train it up as a main stalk. Or, for experiment, you may leave several side shoots to grow not very high, and call it the French method. In closing my remarks about trimming, perhaps it would not be amiss to caution people against one mode of bad trimming. And that is, after havi^ig neglected trimming until it is too late to reap much benefit from it, and when well trimmed vines hav^e ripe fruit ; don't get out of patience, and go and cut and slash and half kill your vines for tlie sake of getting a few waited half ripe tomatoes. Much better avoid all this, by trimming in time. For taking off STAINS, use tartaric acid. j CULTIVATING THE SOIL. j Hoe the ground enough to keep down the weeds, and keep the ground fresh and loose ; but do not hill the plant \ up so high, that the water will all run off Avithout wetting j the roots. WATERING. Much benefit may be derived from watering the plants, wdien the weather is dry. Do not put on cold water, es- pecially wdien the plants are hot from an all day's burning sun. I prefer to have water that has stood through the - day or longer, so that it is not cold, or else have the chill taken off by the addition of a little warm water. When the days are very hot, and the nights cool, I prefer to wa- ter early in the morning. When the nights are about as warm as the days, I would water evenings. When the plants are small, water with a fine sprinkler. When larg- j er, use a coarser one for your own convenience. When' IN" COMMON GARDENS. ' 13 well grown, take off the rose, and ponr directly from the open spout. No harm in using tlie rose all the time, if you hav^e time and disposition to do so. Probably it would be better. Please keep out the COB WEBS from your plants. DEFECTIVE FRUIT, After the fruit begins to develo]> itself considerably, and as it begins to ripen, there will be some so knotty, etc., that it will not be worth saving: and some with a dry, and others with a soft rot, before maturing. All such fruit had better be taken oif and out of the way, when first discovered. Leave no fruit to decay on the ground, lest it furnish seeds or plants that get in unawares, among your own selected ones. Tiie great effort in rais- ing tomatoes, is to get good early ripe fruit. Do your best to get ripe fruit, and you will have plenty of green. So there need be no effort in that direction. WORMS. For several years successively, we have had more or less sensational reports, or scare-crow stories in the papers, about tomato worms being so poisonous. Other reports and evidences, which I think more reliable, say they are not poisonous. This is my firm belief about our common tomato worms. If there be an uncommon, stray, poison- ous one, on tomato plants more than on other plants, I am yet to be convinced of it. But, that there are at times, worms whose teeth, (if they have any,) are like devour- ing elements to the plant and the fruit, none can deny. Tliese worms are a reality, and when and where they abound, they should receive prompt attention and exter- mination. When they are large and voracious, they can easily be detected by their droppings," which will abound directly under them. They will be found devouring the fruit or leaf, sometimes on the under side of the leaf. My method of disposing of them is to colonize them under one end of a board, with my feet on the top of the board. Let me make one suggestion here. If your plants are well trained and trimmed, and the cob webs, etc., kept out, you will be much less likely to have worms ; and if you do have any, they will be much easier discovered and captured, and you not as likely to run your hand against them. To guard against contact with worms, and much of the stain, a pair of gloves is ample security. 14 TOMATO RAISING RAISING AND PRESERVING SEED. Thouo'li it may be well to try some new kinds of seeds or plants yearly, yet the only sure way to have good seed is to raise or save it yourself. Select for seed the best fruit that is earliest ripe. Always having reference to the size, shape, smoothness, fmitfulness, and the shortness of the fruit stem, and its ability to sustain fruit without breaking. The solidity of the meat or pulp is one of the most desirable qualities, and can be partially detei-mined by the feeling and the weight, but not fully, until it is opened. Any time during the season when you find some extra good fruit, save some for seed. When the seed fruit is selected, the next step is to separate the seeds from the pulp, the juice, the mucilage, etc. Cut the tomato open, take out the seeds with the handle of a teaspoon or the like, putting them in a dish by themselves. When you have all you want of one kind, or for one time, clean and separate them, as best you can. This is my method. Put the seeds into a small sieve, and hold the sieve a little depth into a pail of clean water with one hand*then with the other, stir and rub the seeds around until they are as clean as need be. Then drain the water off, and spread the seeds on a smootli board to dry. When they are suffi- ciently dried, take them off carefully with a smooth case knife. Put them in the hollow of one hand, and rub them thoroughly with the thumb and fingers of the other, until the seeds are all, or nearly all, sei)arate and single. Sometime before planting I separate the seeds entirely, if they are not already so. x\fter the seed board has been used once, it should be washed, an Rooms Nos. 9 and 10, ffinKeebnie'SB Mew Bloefef Mmiu ittf (^) ?€; A N A N D A I G U A , Wl . M. Harlon L. Comstock, Thomas H. Bennett LIBRARY OF CONGRESS DDDmibSflT?