1912 girl's club, tomato club booklet by Ida Bumgarner

[Image of tomato leaves in the four corners and a cluster of tomatoes in the middle]

January 1912

I joined the tomato club and thought how would I get through and here I am satisfied with the work I have done. the hardest work for me is to write a history I have never stidied a history am a 11 years old. so I will just do the best I can. I sowed half paper of tomato seed in hot bed March the 28th the stone tomato seed was sent me from Department my box was two ft. square 12 inches deep filled with stable manure. 6 inches then 3 inches garden dirt and then sow the seed and covered with rich dirt one inch and I believe every seed came up I was so glad for that was the first tomato seed I ever planted they grew fast I transplanted them April the 30th after they grew a couple inches transplanted again. May the 25th set plants in patch 4 ft. each way one tenth of acre was prepared with two and 1/2 two horse loads of horse manure and then when plants started to grow in patch aded some rich dirt

a little fertilize to each plant. and how fast they grew I saw first bloom May the 25th and first fruit June the 3rd. Ripe fruit July the 4th my patch was hurt bad with wilt I lost from 75 to 80 plants with nice tomatoes on I sowed the other half of stone tomato seed in cold frame May the 1st and transplanted and set in patch with nothing aded only the manure that was put on before plowed I used Bordeary mixture for insect so canning time came and I enjoyed the work better then any of the other work. I was sorry to go and see the wilting of my plants though still was left on my tenth of and acre enough for 4.50 cans of tomatoes and also I planted a variety of other things in all will be 5.00 cans at this writing I have tomatoes on my first setting the tallest are

9 ft high and sixteen nice tomatoes on and blooming. not just one that high 8 or 9 I have seventy nine living plants of my first setting that will bear fruit fruit till frost if nothing destroys them I will take the tallest to Fair at Hickory. Now I know this is a good work for all girls If all love tomatoes as I do they would work harder mutch harder than I have this summer. I have Okra sweet potatoes beans snap and lima pumking cucumber watermelons bamma musk melon peper peas shugar peas cantilope corn red beet caulflowder onions cabbage and all the things I could think of to can in my garden. I am to small I cannot be in the Tomato Club next year I hope the larger girls will keep up this good work till I get larger I want to join a tomato club again If I live till I get larger. I like the work so well.

Now I will try a little drawing work I know it will be sorry I like this work but cant do mutch good hardly enough to know what I aim the work to be I willtry a small tomato plant ready to set out in garden

[drawing of a tomato plant in a container] Young Tomatoplant [sentence underlined]