Edited By H.G. Kingham
First Edition: 1973 plus Supplement Autumn 75
Published by Grower Books, Richard Clay (The Chaucer Press) Ltd Bungay, Suffolk
This book is in mint condition and includes the '75 supplement - see pictures of book to verify.
When you buy the book you will receive a colour scan of the book in PDF and Word formats.
Preface
This book started as an attempt to provide a helpful and comprehensive survey of the technology of tomato production in the United Kingdom. I am afraid that it has not proved entirely comprehensive because in the course of writing many authors had to omit things they would have included if more space permitted. Perhaps in any case a book of this kind can never be complete when the industry it mirrors is constantly changing. But I hope it will prove helpful to all those who have struggled with an assortment of literature on this crop and would like a central point of reference.
Very few people will read the book from cover to cover in orderly sequence, nor is it intended to be so treated. For occasional reference an index is provided to indicate where enquiries can be most quickly answered. For more settled reading, the chapters in Part Two can be read in any order without great loss, and frequent cross-references allow points of special interest to be traced elsewhere. The background information in Part One is essential for students and will be valuable for all readers.
Many aspects of tomato growing cannot be explained sensibly without mentioning costs and returns. After some debate, it was decided to include these in the text. Inevitably, by the time the figures reach the reader, inflation and the introduction of VAT will have made them too low for current practice. Still, the relative costs for alternative methods change only slowly, and by adding a percentage for inflation since January 1973 all the figures given can be brought up to date approximately. A major requirement for a book of this kind is that it shall be reliable and authoritative. The list of authors is sufficient guarantee of the information contained herein, and I must express my personal thanks to them. When first pressed to write, and later sometimes to compress what they had written, they responded gallantly. Demonstrating perhaps that authors (like the tomato) are most fruitful under stress? Continuing the analogy, a final word of thanks is certainly due to the editor of The Grower, John Bloom, who sowed the first seeds, supported the crop, damped down when temperatures were high and hopefully gave the correct feeding programme for a satisfactory yield.