80 STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY, 



should also be nearly the same size throughout its entire length, any 

 depression or seedless neck being indicative of hardness and bitterness of 

 flesh at that point. In pickling cucumbers, the color is a very important 

 point. It should be as deep, and extend as uniformly over the fruit as 

 possible. Contrary to the usual opinion, we do not think that coarse 

 spines or prickles indicate crispness of flesh, as the most crisp and 

 brittle sort we know of is the Parisian Pickling, in which the spines are 

 exceedingly small. 



LETTUCES 



should be divided into two classes, according to the method of use. If to 

 be served with oil or similar dressing, the leaf should be thick, brittle, and 

 crisp, rather than tender, and should have a decided flavor, may even have, 

 when first picked, a decided bitter taste, this disappearing when served. 

 Most lettuces of this class form distinct heads, and the same suggestions 

 as to the proper form of plant and leaf which were given in cabbage will 

 apply here. In the second class, the lettuce is cut up with vinegar, sugar, 

 etc., and here tenderness is the great consideration and outweighs all 

 others. No bitterness is admissable, and as a rule there is but little 

 flavor. It is a disadvantage for lettuces of this class to form a distinct 

 cabbage-like head, as the thin, tender leaves lose all their crispness and 

 beauty of color when crowded into a dense head. A cluster of large 

 leaves is much more desirable. 



TOMATO. 



This is the queen of vegetables, and one in which there is as wide a 

 difference between the good and the bad as between a " frost " pear of the 

 hedge row and a well-grown Seckel. The ideal tomato may vary somewhat 

 in shape. For myself I like them to be nearly round or apple-shaped, 

 but others prefer that they be flattened, oval. Whatever the shape, there 

 should be no deep corrugations or seams, the fruit being nearly smooth, 

 although a slight depression along the line of natural division is not 

 objectionable. The stem should always be relatively small and set in a 

 very shallow basin. When the stem is large and set deeply into the fruit, 

 it is accompanied by a large pithy core extending into the fruit and 

 ruining it for slicing or for canning. The stem end of the fruit should be 

 nearly flat or slightly rounded. When there are any marked projections 

 here they will be sure to be imperfectly ripened at the time the rest of the 

 fruit is in the best condition. As to color, tastes differ; but I have never 

 yet found a tomato of the purple tint of the old Fiji, which was not of a 

 sharp, hard, metallic-like acid, very much less pleasant than the mild, 

 fruit-like acid of the true red or scarlet tomato; and I am quite certain 

 that, were we to select ten of the best varieties, quality to rule, eight at 

 least, and I believe more likely nine or all of them, would be found to be 

 clear, bright red, with little trace of purple. Of the interior of the fruit, 

 the general opinion as to what constitutes merit is certainly at fault. 

 Most people only ask for a solid, seedless, j)ulpless flesh. Fortunately, 

 the fruit is too good to develop any such worthless variety as is thus called 

 for. If you will carefully examine a tomato you will find that the greatest 

 amount, and by far the finest, flavor is found in the pulp surrounding the 

 seed, and that the flesh surrounding the fruit next to the skin is quite 



