Food for Victory

Tomatoes grow well in almost any part of the state where the frost-free season is long and warm enough to permit fruits to become mature or mature-green, or where disease is not severe enough to harm the majority of plants. A garden soil that has reasonably good drainage, tilth, and fertility will produce a crop of tomatoes. Land manured the previous year is good for tomato plants. Rotted manure applied to the garden a few weeks before setting out plants provides valuable organic matter and plant food. Tomato plants respond well to applications of phosphoric acid fertilizers which induce earlier blossoming and ripening of fruit. Varieties of early maturity are important. The majority of fruits on the vines should mature before fall rains and frosts. Strong plants with well developed root systems are essential to a good early and total yield of fruit. They should not be set out till after spring frosts. "Booster" or "starter" solutions reduce shock of transplanting and induce a quicker pick-up of plants after being set out. Flea beetles are dangerous to newly-set plants and must be controlled by a standard dust applied soon after transplanting. Cultivation is useful for eliminating weeds and maintaining a good soil mulch. In small gardens of limited space tomato plants may be set closer together, supported, and pruned to a few fruit-bearing stems. Blossom-end-rot, induced by insufficient moisture during dry periods, may be prevented by timely waterings. Mature-green fruit, showing a slightly yellow color on the inside, will color to a full ripe-red if stored in a moderately warm place.