Tomato Club

The great purpose of the girls' canning club is to teach girls how to can all kinds of fruits and vegetables in the best possible way, and to create an interest among girls for the love of such work. The great recent educational demonstration work began in the South, when the tomato canning clubs were organized. And we are very glad to know that these tomato clubs are a south demonstration. A desire to know all about this kind of work and a realization fo the great step in the educational world undertaken by these clubs led me to enroll as a member.

The tomato is one of the few garden vegetables of American origin holding high rank as a comercial crop which has come into general cultivation within the last century. And because of the tropical origin of the tomato it requires a long season for its growth and development. It is therefore necessary to resort to methods which lengthen the growing season especially in northern states. The seed may be

Just a word about the seed beds. They are prepared on the south side of a wall or something which will shield them from north wind. The place for bed should be dug out about six inches and then filled in with rich stable manure. This should then be covered about two or three inches deep with some of the soil, and seed sown in small trenches about one and one-half inches apart. They should be well watered and cared for.

I used two large two-horse wagon loads of stable manure on my garden. I have always found this kind best to keep vines from drying up and tomatoes from decaying.

The young plands, do much better if transplanted from the hot-bed to the cold frame before putting out in the open.

When they are set in garden they should be placed four feet apart each way. The ground should be well stirred around plants by plowing at first while plants are small, but after they get larger the hoe should be used, for with the plough there is a danger of upsetting the roots

and bruising the vines. They should be well hoed once a week, and pruned at least that often by pinching out all side shoots, and only the central leading stem allowed to develop.

The plant should be trained to a stake about four or five feet high, driven firmly in ground beside the plant and carefully tied to prevent whipping and to keep the fruits off the ground.

In growing my tomatoes I was not troubled with diseases and insects. The insects may be destroyed by spraying the plants with a solution of a cheap neutral soap in water; by fumiation with tobacco stems, or in many other ways. The best preventions for many diseases which may give trouble in the cultivation of tomatoes in throughly spraying with Bordeaxe mixtures.

Very careful attention is required in the preparation of fresh fruits and

vegetables for the market. Especially if they are to be shipped a long distance should great can be taken in gathering and packing. The stage of ripeness at which fruits should be picked and shipped should be regulated by the seasons as well as the demands for the market for which they are intended. During cool weather the fruit should be riper than during the warm season. The most distant shipments should be filled from the least advanced fruits.

When gathering tomatoes to be shipped some distance, they should be gathered as soon as partially colored instead of allowing them to become entirely colored on the vines. The fruits as they come from the vinces should be well sorted so that tomatoes that are symmetrical in form, uniform in size, and of a like degree of ripness will reach the same shipping case. All stems should

be removed; and all bad fruit excluded. The individual fruits should be wrapped in thin, pliable, brown or white paper, and packed in two-layer boxes or in baskets. These features are important factors in gaining the highest success, though they seem self evident.

There are many different methods that may be used in canning tomatoes, but the two principle points in any method are: sterilization, and sealing to prevent the exclusion of air. In our club work we used the tin cans one quart size. We first thoroughly sterilzed the cans then scaled the tomatoes, peeled them and packed them in the cans very carefully using a silver spoon to press them down until the cans were well filled. We then sealed them and boiled from twenty-five to thirty minutes.

The labels we use are prepared especially for the girls' canning clubs. The motto

which they bear is one that every true club member tries to live up to "To make the best better". The trade mark which is distincitive and which will tend to hold the trade for the product as it gains a reputation in the market is very essential. The cans should be labeled in a very neat, and attractive manner in order that the canned product may find a ready market.

[mark] Home and club canning work has great educational possibilities if carried on properly in connection with the work of the public schools. It is a form of education by demonstration. [mark]

In preparing an exhibit the girls have an end toward which to work the girls have an end toward which to work in trying to make their exhibit the most attractive. In this way it is benificial and then it has a great value in stimulating and interest in such work among other girls.

Tomatoes can probably be prepared in a greater number of ways than any other vegetable. Few dinners are complete without them. They form the basis of most soups. They may be used in sauces for fish or oysters. And are a vegetable thay may be used in many ways.

I will give a few recipes for tomatoes that I have found to be good.

Tomato Catchup

Take 1 peck of red ripe tomatoes, clean them, put them in a preserving kettle and cook until throughly done, mash them through a fine strainer to remove the seeds and skins. Add to this 8 level tablespoonfuls of salt and 1 level tablespoon of cayenne peppers. Suspend in the tomatoes a flannel bag containing - 2 level tablespoonfuls of black pepper 6 level tablespoonfuls of mustard 1 level tablespoonful of cinnamon 2 level tablespoonful of unground allspice 1 level tablespoonful of cloves

Boil as rapidly as possible until the catchup begins to thicken; then add 1 quart of vinegar and continue boiling until a teaspoonful placed in a saucer will not give off any water. Remove the bag containing the pices put the catchup in jar or bottles and seal or cork while hot.

Tomato Ciboulettes. Remove skins from four small tomatoes, and cut in halves crosswise, cover with Mayonnaise and sprinkle with firmly chopped chives.

Ripe Tomatoe Pickle. 3 pints tomatoes peeled and chopped 1 cup chopped celery 4 tablespoonful chopped red pepper. 4 tablespoons chopped onions 4 " " salt 6 " " sugar 6 " " mustard seed 1/2 teaspoon clover 1/2 " " cinnamon 1 " " grated nutmeg 2 cups vinegar

To Member: Please fill out the following report blank in full from the daily records of your club work for the past year.

ESTIMATE OF COSTS. (NOTE.-Estimate the cost of your one-tenth acre as follows: Rental of land, $1; count your own time worth 10 cents an hour; count all commercial fertilizers and hired help at actual cost; count barnyard manure at $2 per ton, a good 2-horse load as a ton and a 1-horse load as half a ton.)

1. Cost of Production : (a) Rent of land $1.00 $1.00 (b) Preparation of tenth acre: (1) Cost of polwing [0.09?] [0.09?] (2) Cost of pulverizing soil [blank] (c) Cost of seed and plants [blank] (d) Cost of manure and fertilizer 2 00 (e) Cost of cultivation, staking, and prunning 2 00 Total [illegible crossed out] $5.00

2. Cost of Canning: (a) Cost of gathering fruit 1 00 (b) Cost of cans, jars, labels, and supplies 10.00 (c) Cost of canning, pickling, and preserving 2.00 (d) Cost of crates and baskets [blank] Total 13 00

3. Garden Receipts: (a) Receipts from fresh vegetables x (b) Estimated value of canned vegetables x 85.00 (c) Estimated of value of vegetables for home use x 12.00 (d) Value of other products of the one-tenth acre x Total value of all products 97.00 Expenses deducted 19.00 Net profit for year 78.00

c-1848

CROP AND GARDEN REPORT.

Report of Lizzie Norris (Name of member.) Holly Springs (P. O. address.) Wake (County.) (State.)

1. Size of plat operated under Government instructions [blank] 2. Kind and depth of soil Sandy 4 inches 3. Kind of subsoil [blank] 4. When and how soil was prepared Early brakeing [hairow?] 5. Condition of plats when plants were put out Very good 6. How did you raise your plants? In a hot bed 7. Date of planting seed in hot beds or cold frames In February 8. Date of transplanting [blank] 9. Kind of seed used and Where secured Stone 10. Width of rows 4 feet 11. Kinds and quality of fertilizer used [blank] 12. State here any trouble you may have had with plant diseases, insects, accidents, etc. [blank] 13. What treatment did you use in combating diseases and insects? [blank] 14. How did you cultivate and mange the crop? By plowing and choping 15. Date and method of staking June with a staigh stoke 16. Date of first bloom June 7 17. Date of first fruit June 29 18. Date of ripening July 4 19. Did you prune the plants? yes How? by cuting out suckers 20. (a) Total number of pounds of tomatoes gathered from your one-tenth acre [2000?] (b) Give names of other vegetables planted on the one-tenth acre and yield of each in pounds. [blank] [in margin: no 36] 21. (a) Give list of tomato products put up from the one-tenth acre, for sale or home use, showing size of cans, jars, and bottles 800 cans sold homewise [2300?] lb 3 gallons catchup (b) Make similar list of other vegetable , such as peppers beans, and okra, from the same garden, showing number ans size of cans, jars, etc. [60?] cans of beans 22. Make similar list of other vegetables and fruits which you have canned and preserved from the farm this year [illegible crossed out] Peaches grapes 23. How many visits did you have from agents of the U. S. Department of Agriculture and school superintendents and teachers? 3 to my home 24. Will you continue to be a club member for next year? Yes

c8-1848