Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 89.djvu/909

 Popular Science Monthly

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��Indoor Tomato Plants Fifteen Feet High ^OMATO \ iiKs tliiiicLii feet tall may some- times be grown in a garden, l)Ut as far as investigations iiavc shown that is the limit. A few years ago a large tiekl (if tomato plants ot that height was grown in Charles- ton, West X'irginia, but two workmen in a factory in Glenbrook, Connecticut, have recently excelled tliis. They ha\e grown one plant on a trellis, from which the tomatoes could be picked at a height considerabK' aI)o\e one's head, and the actual length of the \ine reached fifteen feet.

Tomatoes occasionally em- phasize their \ine-likc char- acteristics, probabK" more frequeiUK' within doors than out of doors.

To produce tall tomato plants in any place. [Much off or cut off the seed pods. All the energy of the tomato is then transferred into the terminal. The same principle may be applied to any tree. Small trees, such as willows and maples, if trimmed too much on the side will soar so high and become so slender that they will go over to the ground— top-hea\y, as the forester would call it.

The species of tomato which usually grow to great height are the small kinds. The fruit grows in great profusion, and is so attractive in appearance that in many localities the vines are grown for decorative purposes. It was the small red variet\' which was formerly called the "love-apjile" and was culti\ated for its beauty long before it was known as an edible fruit.

These plants with their profu- sion of dark foliage, if trained over wire netting, make good garden fences ^\•herc space is valuable.

���A tomato plant grown in a window-box. The plant attained a height of fifteen feet and bore abundant fruit

��Valuable Products May Be Obtained from Cherry Pits

SIXT1:EX hundred tons of cherry pits, now a source of annoyance and expense to canneries, can be made to yield two \aluable oils and also a meal for feed- ing cattle, according to specialists of the U. S. De- partment of Agriculture. In addition the 105,000 gallons of cherry juice now wasted in seeding cherries can be turned into desirable jelly and syrup, or even into alcohol. A saving of these \aluablc by-products from cherrj- canning may make possible the domestic manu- facture of substitutes for almond oil and bitter almond oil, now imported, and at the same time establish a new in- diistr\- in the chcrr\' packing districts of the North Atlan- tic, North Central, and \\'estern States.

��An Automobile-Pump Driven from the Rear Wheel

FOR pumping up automobile tires by the power of the motor, the usual practice is to mount the pump along with the motor on the front of the car; but this has the drawback that the pump can never be removed to be used on another car. A new idea which is shown in operation in the illustration below employs a separate pump and has fittings for placing it on the side of the car. The piston of the I)ump is driven by a rod from the rear wheel of the car by the use of a special piece which is readily clamped on the wheel. By this arrangement a larger and more sub- stantial air pump may be used than is usually employed where the instal- lation is per- manent. This of course means more rapid and ef- ficient work, which implies j^'^"'^^^^ a sa\'ing in valuable time, temper and

The piston of the pump is driven by a rod from the rear wheel patience for

by means of a special member clamf>ed on the wheel automobilistS.

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