Tomato Culture: A Practical Treatise on the TomatoTracy, W. W. (William Warner)
Science
Tomato Culture: A Practical Treatise on the Tomato
Tracy, W. W. (William Warner)
Tomatoes
=Pollinating.=--The structure and relations of the parts of the tomato
flower are such that while perfect pollination is possible, and in
plants grown in the open air usually takes place without artificial
assistance, it is not so likely to occur when plants are grown under
glass, particularly in the winter months, and it is usually necessary to
secure it by artificial means. With vigorous, healthy plants and on
light, sunny days, it can be accomplished by jarring the plants near
midday. This generally throws enough pollen into the air so that an
abundance of it reaches each receptive stigma. With less vigorous plants
and on dark days it is necessary to hand pollinate the flowers. This is
done by gathering the pollen by means of jarring the plants, so that it
falls into a watch crystal or other receptacle secured at the end of a
wand, and then pressing the projecting pistils of other flowers into it
so that they may become covered with the pollen.
Some growers transfer the pollen with a camel's-hair-brush; others by
pulling off the corolla and adhering anthers and rubbing them over the
stigma of other flowers. Fruit rarely follows flowers that are not
pollinated, and if it is incomplete the fruit will be unsymmetrical and
imperfectly developed. As tomato flowers secrete but very little, if
any, honey and are not attractive to insects, it is of no advantage to
confine a hive of bees in the tomato house in the way which is so useful
in one where cucumbers or melons are growing.
CHAPTER XIII
Staking, Training and Pruning
Under favorable conditions of soil and climate, plants of most varieties
of tomatoes will, in field culture, yield as much fruit if allowed to
grow naturally and unpruned as if trained and pruned. This is especially
true of the sorts of the Earliana type and on warm, sandy soils, while
it may not be true of the stronger growing sorts, or on rich clay lands
or where the fertilizer used contains an excess of nitrogen. In any case
more fruit can be grown to the acre on pruned and staked plants because
more of them can be gotten on an acre; and it is an advantage to grow
them in that way because it enables us, by later cultivation, to keep
the ground in good tilth longer; also it facilitates the gathering of
the fruit; and last, but not least, it generally enables us to produce
better ripened and flavored fruit.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account