Location.—While exposure is in some cases an important factor in determining the total yield an acre, and so the cost, the location of the field as regards distance from marketing point and the character of the roads between them is of far greater importance in determining the cost and profit of crop, but one which is very often disregarded. The marketable product of an acre of tomatoes weighs from 3 to 30 tons, which is not only more than that of most farm crops, but the product is of such character that its value is easily destroyed by long hauls over ordinary roads. It has to be marketed within a day or two of the time it is in prime condition, regardless of the conditions of the roads or weather; so that it is quite deceptive to estimate the cost of delivery at the same rate a ton, as for potatoes or wheat, for it always costs more, and sometimes several times more, to deliver tomatoes than it would to deliver the same weight of less perishable crops. In most cases the cost of picking and delivery is one of the most important factors in determining profit and loss, particularly when the crop is grown for canning factories, where one often has to wait for hours for his team to unload. These conditions make it very important that the field be located within a short distance of, and connected by good roads with the point of delivery.
Early maturing fruit.—Where early maturity is the great desideratum the exposure of the field is often very important. It should, first of all, be such as to secure comparative freedom from spring frosts so as to permit of early setting of the plants and the full benefit of the sunshine as well as protection from cold winds. There is often a great difference in these respects between fields quite near each other. Professor Rolfs, of Florida, mentions a case where the tomatoes in a field sloping to the southeast and protected on the north and west by a strip of oak timber were uninjured by a spring frost that killed not only all the plants in neighboring fields, but those in the same field farther away from the protecting timber. Such spots should be sought out and utilized, as often they can be used to great advantage. Immediate proximity to large bodies of water is sometimes advantageous in the South, but in the North it is often disadvantageous for early fruit because of the chilling of the air and the increased danger of spring frosts, although affording protection from those of early fall. Here, too, proximity of field to shipping point and distance and transportation rate to market are very important factors affecting profit on the crop.
The home garden.—The south side of buildings or of tight fences and walls often furnishes a most desirable place for garden tomatoes, but the plants should be set at least 6 to 10 feet from the protection and not so as to be trained upon or much shaded by them, as the disadvantage of shutting off the light and circulation of the air, even from the north, would more than overbalance anything gained by the protection.
Growing under glass.—In this country tomatoes are seldom grown under glass except during the darker winter months and the exposure of the house; the form of the roof and the method of glazing which will give the greatest possible light, are of importance, for tomatoes can not be profitably grown in a dark house. Just how the greatest amount of light may be made available in any particular case will depend upon local conditions, but every effort should be made to secure the most unobstructed sunlight possible and for the greatest number of hours each day.
Previous crop and condition.—In field culture tomatoes should not follow tomatoes or potatoes. Both of these crops make use of large quantities of potash, and although a small part of that used by the plants is taken from the field in the crop, they inevitably reduce the proportion of this element in the soil—that is, in such condition as to be readily available for the succeeding crop. It is true that the deficiency in potash may be supplied, but it is not so easy to supply it in a condition in which it is possible for the roots of the tomato to take it in. Unlike potatoes, tomatoes do not do well on new land, whether it be newly cleared timber lands or new breaking of prairie. Clover leaves the land in better condition for tomatoes than any other of the commonly grown farm crops, while for second choice I prefer one of peas, beans, corn, or wheat in the order named.
One of the most successful tomato growers I know of, whose soil is a rich, dark clay loam, prepares for the crop, as follows: Very late in the fall or early in the spring he gives a clover sod a heavy dressing of manure and plows it under. In the spring he prepares the ground by frequent cultivation and plants it with early sweet corn or summer squash. At the time of the last cultivation of these crops he sows clover seed, covering it with a cultivator having many small teeth, and rarely fails to get a good stand and a good growth of young clover before the ground freezes. In the spring he plows this under, running the plow as deep as possible and following in the furrow with a sub-soiler which stirs, but does not bring the sub-soil to the surface. He then gives the field a heavy dressing with wood ashes and puts it into the best possible tilth before planting his tomatoes. This grown usually harvests at least 500 bushels to the acre and has made a crop of over 1,000 bushels.
Early market.—In some sections of the South where the soil is light and the growers depend almost wholly on the use of large quantities of commercial fertilizer, they seem to meet with the best success by using the same field for several successive crops, but in some places they succeed best with plantings following a crop of cowpeas or other green soiling crops plowed under, with a good dressing of lime.