One method of training is to set out the plants a foot apart in rows three feet apart. If this scheme is adopted each plant must be supplied with a stout stake to which it is tied, and the plant must be restricted to a single stem. This last is effected by pinching out the side shoots with thumb and finger as soon as they are formed. Avoid taking off the flowering shoots or you will have no fruit.
Another method is to set the plants three feet by two feet, and support them as described in Chapter X. In this case it is advisable to prune out the thin, spindly shoots which frequently congregate in the centers of the plants. This causes the vigor of the plant to be concentrated in the strong, fruiting shoots, admits light and air, resulting in better ripened tomatoes.
They can also be trained on the south side of the house, supporting them with tape or cloth passed around the shoots and fastened to the wall with tacks.
Favorite tomatoes are Chalk’s Early Jewel for an early crop, Stone and Ponderosa for main crop. In small gardens Dwarf Stone can be used to advantage.
Turnip is a hardy crop well suited for early spring or late fall cultivation. For the early crop such varieties as Snowball or Early White Milan should be planted. The seed may be sown as soon as the ground is prepared in the spring, in rows a foot apart. When they are large enough the young plants must be thinned out to stand about four inches apart.
Yellow Globe, Golden Ball, or the white strap-leaf kinds may be sown for fall use. They are cultivated in the same way as the preceding except that the seeds are sown in July or August.
Rutabaga turnips grow much larger than the preceding, require more room, and a longer period for development. They can be sown in May or June in rows two feet apart, and the young plants thinned out to stand about ten inches apart in the rows. Treated in this way, they will form large roots suitable for winter storage.
Turnips succeed best in a loamy soil in which there has been incorporated a liberal supply of well-decayed stable manure.
Watermelon.—These plants succeed under much the same conditions, and need the same treatment as muskmelon. They are rampant growers and the hills should be spaced about eight feet apart each way. They are, therefore, not adapted for cultivation in very small gardens.
The striped cucumber-beetle is also partial to watermelon.