* TRIUMPH OF THE ITALIAN TOMATO

The tomato was given to the world by America, but Italy is today teaching the rest of the world by example how it should be raised and how it should be preserved. Italian canned tomatoes have practically pushed the American product out of the English market, and have gained an enormous market in the United States. The Italians raise a solid meaty tomato of fine color and it is so packed in the cans that the consumer is not obliged to pay for a large percentage of water.

Canned tomatoes, however, are put up principally for the export trade. The Italians themselves prefer their tomatoes in the form of sauce, or paste, which is nothing more nor less than boiled. down tomato pulp, minus the skins, and seeds, as set forth in an interesting manner in a report by Commercial Agent J. Alexis Shriver entitled "Canned-Tomato Industry in Italy," recently issued by the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce. This sauce is put up in cans and is used by the Italians in a great variety of dishes, of which spaghetti is perhaps the most familiar to Ameri

cans.

According to fairly accurate statistics the area planted in tomatoes in Italy is about 22,000 acres, producing about 385,000 tons. The exports to the United States amount to about 20,000,000 pounds of canned tomato and tomato sauce, and some 8,000,000 pounds of the product go to South America. The total value of the tomato exports from Italy is well over $6,000,000.

The skins and seeds that were formerly wasted are now utilized, the former as stock feed and the latter as a source of oil. The crude oil is suitable for soap making and for lamps, and the refined oil is said to be edible. Commercial Agent Shriver's report, Special Agents Series No. 93, may be obtained from the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, at 5 cents a copy.

*Taken from Circular issued by U. S. Department of Agriculture, Washington D. C. dated Feb. 9, 1915.

CABBAGE

E. N. REED, CORTLAND, N. Y.

As time advances it becomes more and more apparent that each of our vegetable crops must have some special thought if we are to continue their culture.

If one were to pass through some of the older cabbage districts it would be a noticeable fact that a great many fields showed disease while others looked stunted. Many of these conditions might have been avoided had attention been paid to keeping disease off the farm and practicing more intensive cultural methods. With less acreage, still producing the same number of tons, the period between two cabbage crops could be lengthened. The cabbage is one of the crops that requires a very long period before another crop of the same kind is put on the field. If this lengthy period does not occur the soil will become infested with disease and insects, and available plant food necessary for this crop will be lacking.

Because I am a producer of cabbages by the hundred tons does not imply that the work is done in a wholesale way, but rather that attention has been paid to the small details and conditions which go to make yields of twenty to twenty-five tons per acre. Only once in the past six years has my yield fallen below the twenty-ton mark.

With the thought of still keeping at the cabbage business I shall try to offer a few suggestions that will tend toward a longer and more successful period of cabbage culture both from the large and small grower's standpoint. It is always the attention to small things that brings success in larger ones.

DIFFERENT TYPES

The cabbages that are grown in this state can be divided into three classes according to their time of maturity. First comes

those belonging in a class with the Early Wakefield. Most of these are raised by gardeners for early market trade. The plants are started in a greenhouse and carried to the field where they are transplanted. Cabbages in this class are rather small, most of them being conical in shape. Of all the early varieties perhaps the Early Jersey Wakefield is the most popular.

The second class covers those called Domestic. The varieties in this class mature in the early fall. They are desirable for both market and kraut purposes. There are three varieties in this class that seem to have considerable merit-the old standard Warren, the Succession and the Autumn King. The Succession has the most uniform type of head of any cabbage I am familiar with. Any one of these true varieties is a heavy cropper.

Third comes the late commercial class. Most all of this class are called "Danish." The Geneva Station collected twenty-two varieties in this class and tested them out; hardly any two looked

alike. The writer has had so much trouble in the past with poor seed from these varieties that he has arranged adequate facilities and is now producing his own. After six years of hard work along this line a strain has been selected that can be depended upon to produce a crop.

The late varieties are grown to such an extent that they are one of the large cash crops of the state. Most of the heads are more or less round, very solid and have good keeping qualities. There is also a red strain in this class which is not so heavy a yielder, Red Rock being a standard variety here.

SEED

As with other crops, good seed is one of the important factors. Formerly most of our seed was imported, but now a great deal is raised in this country. Michigan, Long Island and Oregon all

lend a hand, each having sections favorable to seed production. So small a quantity is required for an acre that there seems to be a great deal of mixing of varieties. If one does not know positively about the source of his supply it is a very safe way to purchase a year's supply ahead; then it can be tested out.*

The seed can be sown either by hand or with a seed drill. Never sow seed and fertilizer together. The seeds do not need to be covered over one-half inch but the ground should be around them. Never sow seed just before a rain; wait until after the rain when the ground has become dry enough to work again. Cabbage seed objects to coming through a crust formed by a hard shower.

One pound of seed is none too much for two acres, taking into account the uncertainties of the weather and the insect trouble, if the bed is not to be screened. Invest your dollar in seed rather than in some one else's diseased plants. A few extra plants to sell help to pay the cost of seed.

CABBAGE SOIL

The cabbage, being one of our hardiest vegetables, will adapt itself to most soils. Those of a gravelly nature are not so suitable because they will not hold moisture. The crop often does best on the clay loam found on so many hills and uplands of the state. Perhaps why this type of soil was not used for cabbage growing in the past was because it was not properly tilled and well fertilized.

PRODUCING PLANTS

There seems to be as many failures in getting a stand of cabbage plants as in all other failures combined. Care should be

exercised in selecting a spot on which to sow seed. The ground should be mellow, well-drained and free from weeds or cabbage disease. Avoid spots where there has been an old manure pile or soakage from a barnyard. In such places club root is apt to develop. It is becoming quite common in some sections to break up a spot in a permanent pasture for the seed bed. Of course this should be done in the fall in order that the ground can be well fitted. It is a good plan to use a liberal dressing of lime or wood ashes on the bed, making it white all over.

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* See article on Good Seed" by Prof. Myers, page 1305.