HORTICULTURE AND LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 67 



direction of variation in this plant, and to become acquainted with the 

 best sorts now grown. We are now ready to make an intelligent beginning 

 in the crossing and general breeding of varieties. We find, and in the case 

 of other plants as well, that the first year's experiment is chiefly valuable 

 in giving the investigator a general idea of the varieties he grows and in 

 suggesting to him the relationships which can be used in classification and 

 characterization. A classification once made, even though it be not the best, 

 the investigator can facilitate his work by arranging his plants in the field 

 upon its system. 



Synonymy. — The determination of the duplicates among the many so-called 

 varieties of tomatoes is one of the most obviously practical problems con- 

 nected with this experiment, and one which has received much attention. 

 There is probably no garden plant which is so difficult to study in this 

 respect as the tomato, from the fact that varieties are characterized almost 

 entirely by the color, size, and shape of a fruit which is of all others the 

 most variable. Moreover, the tomato has been in general cultivation so 

 short a time that varieties are not yet fixed. Add to these facts the hasty 

 and bungling methods or lack of method of seedsmen and others in securing 

 the so-called new varieties, the wide variations of the same varieties on dif- 

 ferent soils and under different managements and the frequent mixing of 

 stocks by careless parties, and the task of determining duplicates appears to 

 be almost hopeless. But the very difficulty of the task is all the more reason 

 why it should be grasped. This whole matter of determining the synonymy 

 or the duplicates in cultivated plants, together with the reformation of garden 

 nomenclature, is exceedingly important. None are so well qualified to under- 

 take this work as many of our seedsmen and it seems strange that they 

 should be the very ones who make the work necessary. The time can cer- 

 tainly not be far distant when the most popular seedsmen will be those who 

 exercise the most care in excluding "novelties" and unnecessary varieties. 



As an example of the manner in which names are sometimes employed and 

 transferred by seedsmen, I cite two cases: The "Large Eed Smooth Eound" 

 is often, at least, a "trade name" used to sell the odds and ends of all varie- 

 ties which are large, red, smooth, and round. A certain firm, wishing to 

 have a tomato of a certain name, which did not exist in the catalogue, had 

 packets printed with the new name, and filled the packets with seeds of a 

 well known variety. In many cases it is almost impossible to detect such a. 

 transfer, on account of the great variableness of the tomato. The same 

 variety from different sources often varies as much as different varieties from 

 the same source. Most of the duplication of varieties, however, is ingenuous. 

 Sorts which appear to be different one year or in one place may appear to be 

 exactly the same in other years or places. Again, the distinctions are often 

 so very slight and subtle and withal so inconstant, that they are very difficult 

 of determination. A certain strain may differ from others in some minor 

 character, which soon disappears. It is utterly impossible to distinguish many 

 of the market varieties solely from written descriptions, and one can 

 never be sure that all his varieties are true to name. Furthermore, he does 

 not know their history, as to whether they are mere selections from the best 

 plants of a given variety, or whether they are of entirely independent origin 

 and are in the process of improving or degenerating. Again, to be sure of the 

 identity or distinction of some sorts, the grower must raise them in consider- 

 able quantity. A dozen plants cannot be expected to show, in all cases. 



