om the
same lot of seed. The soil was of equal natural fertility and each field
received about the same quantity of manure, though that given A's was
all well decomposed and worked into the soil, while that given B's was
fresh and raw and simply plowed in. A's field was put into the best
possible tilth before setting the plants, and the management of the
plants and their cultivation were such as to secure unchecked growth
from the time they were pricked out into cold-frames and set in the
field until the crop was matured. As long as the plants would permit,
the soil was cultivated every few days and kept in a state of perfect
tilth.

B's field when the plants were set out was a mass of clods, as it had
been plowed, when wet, some time before and never harrowed but once.
The plants had been crowded forward as rapidly as possible in the
cold-frame, and when set in the field were much higher than A's, but so
soft that they were badly checked in transplanting and a great many of
them died and had to be reset. The field received but one or two
cultivations during the entire season. The growth of the plants in B's
field was irregular and uneven instead of steady and uniform as in A's,
and though some of the fruits were quite as large, they were not as
uniform as A's while the yield per acre was not more than half as much
nor the fruit of as good general quality. B had difficulty in disposing
of his crop and often had to sell below the market, while A had no
trouble in disposing of his at the highest prices for the day. B's crop
was a financial loss, while A's returned a most satisfactory profit.

The key to the most successful culture of the tomato is the securing,
from the start to finish, of an unchecked uniform growth, though it need
not necessarily be a rapid one. The failure to do this is, in my
opinion, the principal reason for the comparatively small yield usually
obtained, which is very much less than it would be with better cultural
management. The tomato under conditions which I have repeatedly found it
practicable to secure, not only in small plantings but in large fields,
has proved capable of producing from 1,000 to 1,200 or even more bushels
to the acre, and the possible yield per plant is enormous.

As early as 1818 the Royal Horticultural Society of London reports the
obtaining of over 40 pounds of fruit of marketable character from a
single vine. An acre of such plants would give a yield of over 1,800
bush