Tomatoes for the Kitchen Garden.
C. W. PURDHAM, MARKET GARDENER, BROOKLYN CENTER.
The first and most important thing in raising tomatoes is good seed. To raise good tomatoes does not depend so much on the variety you have as it does on the seed.
In the fall select your best tomatoes and save the seed. Then about the first of April sow your seed.
You can sow them in a box behind the stove, and as soon as they are up give them all the sunlight you can. When they are about two inches high, have some four-inch flower pots and transplant, giving them a good thorough wetting before removing them from the seed box to the flower pots.
By this time it will be warm enough to have a cold frame, which may be prepared by nailing four boards together any size desired. One three by six feet will hold about 150 plants. Shelter it well from the north and slope it a little to the south with enough dirt in the frame to hold your pots.
You can cover them with storm windows or cloth tacked onto frames. Keep well covered nights and give all the sunlight possible through the day. After danger of frost is past, set them out. Sandy loam is best, which must be well pulverized and fertilized.
After you have removed the plant from the pot and set it in the ground, place the pot about two inches from the plant, also about two inches deep in the ground. Then throw a small handful of dirt in each pot and fill with water as often as necessary.
This is the best way of watering that I know.