leaving only two or three inches of stem above ground, greatly increased the yield. Desiring to try this experiment, we treated twenty plants in the above manner, and set another plat containing the same number without cutting them back. The results of the experiment were evident. Plants not cut back matured fruit earlier and gave a better yield. PAPER BAGGING. Two large plats were set apart for this trial. Tomatoes on plants in one plat were bagged soon after the fruit had formed, while those in the other were undisturbed. There was no difference in the date of ripening. Productiveness about the same, but percentage of decayed specimens was very much less in case of the bagging. Tomatoes were smoother and possessed a better color. The greatest advantage gained in this operation was the protection of the fruit from the sun, which caused many tomatoes not bagged to blister, thus rendering them unsalable. VARIETY TESTS. For the past season the following sorts gave the best results. Early Paragon, King Humbert, Dwarf Champion, Cardinal, Livingston's Beauty, Lorillard, Early Acme, Livingston's Favorite, Volunteer and Yellow Plum. The above varieties are arranged in order of their productiveness by weight. CONCLUSIONS FROM OUR EXPERIMENTS 1. Cutting back the leading shoots at intervals during the growing season decreased the yield. 2. Training to one or two stems hastens maturity and secures fruit of superior size and quality. 3. It is doubtful whether supports can be profitably used, except in training to one and two stems. Stakes and wire were most satisfactory. 4. Strong, stocky tomato plants should be set in the field as soon as the weather will permit. They ripen earlier and produce better. 5. Inserting plants at medium depths gave better results than very deep or very shallow setting. 6. The application of manure liquor made no appreciable difference in yield. 7. The practice of sowing seed in hills, without transplanting, should not be recommended. One transplanting in flats proved more satisfactory than two transplantings. 8. Seedlings produced slightly better by weight than cuttings, but individual fruits on cuttings were very much the larger. 9. Cutting back to three inches of the ground at time of transplanting decreased the yield. 10. Bagging improved the color and quality of fruit, and decreased the loss by rot and sun blistering. Value of system in practice depends upon the cost. 11. Varieties that made the best showing the past season were Early Paragon, King Humbert, Dwarf Champion, Cardinal, Livingston's Beauty, Lorillard, Early Acme, Livingston's Favorite, Volunteer and Yellow Plum. IV. TRANSPLANTING ONIONS. The practice of transplanting onions was first brought to public notice early in 1890, by Mr. Greiner, of La Salle, N. Y. Prof. Green, of the Ohio Experiment Station, working independently, arrived at the same conclusions about the same date, but his article did not appear until after that of the former writer. Both of these authors strongly advocated the system which they had worked out, and through the frequent discussions in agricultural papers, it has become generally known throughout the country and practiced to a considerable extent. The advantages are so great that no farmer or gardener can afford to practice any other method. The plan which we carried out the past season is described below: The first sowing was made Feb. 25th, in shallow boxes placed in the hot-bed. A month earlier than this would be better. Light rich soil formed the bed for the seed which was sown moderately thick, in drills two inches apart. A month later, we pricked the small seedlings into flats. Plate VI represents four transplanted onions and six which were grown in the usual manner. The photograph presented was taken from good specimens selected from a large number of each class. The plants and seed were inserted in the garden on the same date, and grown side by side in soil containing practically the same fertilizing ingredients. Transplanted specimens averaged three inches in diameter, weighing five ounces, while onions not transplanted measured about one and three-fourths inches in diameter, with a weight of one and one-fourth ounces. Bulbs grown according to the new method were about four times more productive than the onions which did not receive this treatment. The yield in the one case was at the rate of 823 bushels per acre, in the other, 206 bushels. One thousand bushels per acre could readily be grown in suitable locations and under good management. Close attention was given the plants in regard to ventilating and watering until they measured about three-eighths of an inch in diameter, at which time transplanting in the field was performed. Strong plants should be had, and it is important to start them early so that good seedlings may be ready for setting out on the first day that the weather and soil permits. The operation of setting plants in the field is quite a task if large quantities are to be grown, and a thorough study should be made as to the most efficient method of handling them. Our plantation was so small that no accurate results could be obtained upon the time required to set a given area, but we quote the figures as given by Mr. Greiner. If they are set in rows one foot apart, and three or four inches apart in the row, it will require 150,000 plants per acre. Boys with some practice will set 2,000 to 3,000 plants a day, and skilled persons 4,000 to 5,000. The setting of one acre is thus equivalent to thirty to forty days work. This seems a large expenditure of labor on such a small area, but when we consider that under the new method there is no necessity of thinning and handweeding, and that the crop is more than doubled, sometimes trippled, (in our experiment quadrupled,) it becomes a most profitable investment. The increased profits may readily be seen. Less seed is required under the new method, but there is an additional expense in nursing the young plants. Transplanting in the field is a laborious task, but not more so than thinning and hand-weeding when the seed is sown in the open ground. So up to the harvesting of the crop. there is very little, if any, difference in the expense account. Of course it will take more money to pull, barrel and market 800 than 200 bushels. Onions sold last year in the Knoxville markets, from November to May, for $2.75 to $3.75 per barrel of ten pecks, or $1.10 to $1.50 per bushel. Fifty cents as the total cost of producing and marketing is a high estimate. Over half the income, at this rate, would be net profit. If there is not a sufficient demand in this State for the supply, certainly there must be somewhere in the United States, for over 400,000 bushels of onions were imported from foreign countries from January to July, 1891. Some of the most decided advantages in transplanting onions are: I. The crop reaches maturity several weeks earlier. 2. 3 An increase in yield from two to four times. |