FRUITGROWERS' CLASS.

Press, Volume LIX, Issue 17812, 11 July 1923, Page 6

FRUITGROWERS' CLASS.

TOMATO CULTURE. There was a good attendance on Monday night at the Fruitgrowers' Instruction Class, held under the auspices of the Canterbury Fruitgrowers' Association. Mr F. W. Cone presided. Mr L. Shearman gave an address on "The Tomato and How to Grow It." Mr Shearman, in his opening remarks, congratulated the officers and members of the class on the very useful services performed by the class. Such instruction as was given at the class was very necessary lor beginners, but, in his opinion, it could be attended with a good deal of profit by growers with some measure of success and some vears of experience behind them. Every year brought new diseases, new methods, and new kinds of equipment, and the bigger the man the more he needed to be up-to-date. Kegaiuing ul6 tomato lie said time althougu it was grown and consumed in largo quaiitiues on tiie northern shores or the .Mediterranean, -titty years a-o, it was not till bo years ago that it was grown commercially in England. the reason tor tins was the very inferior varieties grown by the (J reeks and bp a, lift i-us "in England greater care luid to oe exerciseu in us culture. Better prices for firmer and smoother fruit induced growers to eliminate undesirable and unprofitable tracts, and as tiie tomato improved so its popularity grew, until to-day its cultivation was a great industry, employing thousands L>f men and women and several millions of capital. He only knew of one p.ace that grew the old, wrinkled varieties, and that was 'Nelson, New Zealand, ihe tomato had improved from a coarse culinary vegetable to a dessert fruit, in the past it was alleged that the tomato caused cancer; now it was recommended by medical men, who found that it was charged with the most important varieties of vitamines, that its juice should be added to infaftts food. Considering that it produces 3t> tons (and has produced 80 tons) of human food to the acre it might now bo considered a good plant of some national importance. He estimated that, between 500 and 609 tons were produced in the Heathcote Valley. As to situation and soil a sunny, sheltered slope on a hillside should be selected, free from early and late frosts. For raising in greenhouses a good piece of flat land, old pasture for preference, should be selected. Almost any kind of land would grow tomatoes with, perhaps, the exception of peat; but good heavy loam, providing it was well drained, was the most suitable for tomato culture tinder glass. He had found that where the subsoil was a strong clay, which in the process of trenching became mixed with the top soil, that the plants always kept greener, were shorter jointed, and above all fruited longer than where the soil was of a lighter nature, and the subsoil sandy. In a stiff soil pests did not find it so easy to work; even eelworm did not affect plants so badly in heavy soit as in sandy soil, in which he had seen warts as large as marbles raised in the roots by this pest. It was admitted that on clay soils plants were slow in starting and one was mora liable to miss the bottom truss, for the reason that it was colder in the early part of the season; but this could be improved if the humus was increased by adding green manure, and by aerating the subsoil hj" trenching, and limine. By doing this the best of all soils would oe built up—a. soil that would, remain in heart when lighter soils had become sick or exhausted. Mr Shearman then dealt in detail with laying out greenhouses, and gave many practical hints of considerable value. Dealing with the subject of raising plants, he said that the ideal compost for raising seedlings was good stacked turf run through a half-inch seive to which a little sharp sand had been added to keep it open: trimmings from the roadside were good if stacked for a year and provided they have not come from alongside tarred paths. It was not advisable to uk« manure in the seed boxesit was the rause of a good deal of damping off, and in addition, the seedlings were not long enough in the boxes to exhaust the plant food contained in the soil. If there was plenty of room, the seeds should be sown thinly: the thinner the strike the longer tliev can be allowed to remain before pricking off and the plants were sturdier and better rooted and th© effect's of transplanting were lessened. After dealing with pricking, Mr Shearman went into details regarding planting, training, mulching, defoliating temperature, watering, and manuring: he also spoke at some length regarding pests and diseases and their remedi°s. At to outdoor growing he said that' the main thing was "where you are," as contrasted with "what you do" in connexion with indoor growing. The main essentials for outdoor growing were a good rich soil a warm sunny position and ample shelter from winds. Ho did not think thr>t it was necessarv to tro finoft J 0 " 1 Christchurch to see the finest crops of outdoor tomatoes that are crown, both as regards quality and quantity. For the part five or six years most outdoor tomatoes had been grown on stakes; now some of the more enterprising m en were growing them on fences of three or four wires and stopping them at four brmles'. I His svstem was verv successful on are* areas and he thou-ht it would be worth while to try the effect of training th em at an aii<Wo, instead of m ri.-jht, with thn idea of assisting setting in hi* popcludinqr remarks Mr Shearman dealt with grading and packing. aw; ni ? n !,nsiverp ' 1 » number of ? a7 3 rl a l^nrtv \ ?. t ' , ' rq for his valuable and in structive address.