Staking and pruning used to be the almost universal practice in the South, but in many sections growers have abandoned it, claiming that they get as good or better results without it. In the North it is rarely used in field culture, though often used in private gardens and by some market gardeners, and both staking or tying up and pruning are essential to the profitable growing of tomatoes under glass. In the South, stout stakes from 1 to 2 inches in diameter and 4 to 5 feet long are driven into the ground so that they can be depended upon to hold the plants erect through the heaviest storms, as seen in Fig. 21. This is generally and wisely done as soon as the plant is set, though some growers delay doing so until the fruit is well set, claiming that the disturbance of staking, tying and pruning tends to hasten the ripening of the fruit. The plant is then tied up, the tying material being wrapped once about the stake and then looped about the plant so as to prevent slipping on the stake or choking the stem of the plant as it enlarges. Raffia is largely used and is one of the best tying materials, but short pieces of any soft, cheap string can be used. The tying up will need to be repeated as the stem elongates, which it will do very rapidly. In pruning the tomato we should allow the central shoot of the young plant to grow, and remove all of the side shoots which spring from the axils of the leaves and sometimes even from the fruit clusters, as seen in Fig. 22. It is very desirable that this be done when the branches are small, as there is then less danger of seriously disturbing the balance of the growing forces of the plant, and also because there is less danger of careless workmen cutting off the main shoot in place of a lateral, which would seriously check the ripening of the fruit. It is especially important that any shoots springing from the fruit cluster be removed as early as possible. For these reasons it is important that, if the plants are to be pruned at all, the field be gone over every few days. If the pruning is not well done it is a disadvantage rather than a help. [Illustration: FIG. 21--TRAINING TOMATOES IN FLORIDA TO SINGLE STAKE (Photo by courtesy of Prof. P. H. Rolfs, Director Florida Experiment Station)] [Illustration: FIG. 22--TOMATO PLANT TRAINED TO SINGLE STAKE] [Illustration: FIG. 23--METHOD OF TRAINING TO THREE STEMS IN FORCING-HOUSE AND OUT OF DOORS] Some growers allow two or three (Fig. 23) instead of one shoot to grow, selecting for the second the most vigorous of the shoots starting from below the first cluster of fruit. In some locations they stop or pinch out the main shoot just above the first leaf above the third or fourth cluster; in some soils it is an advantage and in others rather a disadvantage to do this. I have seldom practiced it. When fruit at the lowest cost a bushel is the desideratum, neither pruning nor staking is desirable. [Illustration: FIG. 24--METHOD OF TRAINING ON LINE IN GREENHOUSE]