Exposure and Location
In sections where there is danger of the plants being killed by early
fall frosts before they have ripened their entire crop, exposure of the
field is sometimes of importance in determining the marketable yield.
A gentle inclination to the south, with a protection of higher land or
timber on the sides from which frost or high winds are most likely to
come, is the best. A steep descent to the south, shut in by high land to
the east and west, so as to form a hot pocket, is not favorable for a
maximum crop although it may give a smaller yield of early ripening
fruit; nor is a small field entirely surrounded by forest desirable.
I once knew of a field, of about two acres, sloping to the south and
entirely surrounded by heavy timber, on which two or three tomato crops
were failures when other fields on the same farm gave large yields, but
after the timber on the south and east had been cut away this field
generally gave the largest yield in the neighborhood.
=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.