120 Nebraska State Horticultural Society. 



TOMATO CHERRIES. 



For many years the settlers upon the Great Plains have annually 

 used the fruits of the native Solanum ti'ifloruni, a thrifty, spreading, 

 and ascending, much branched plant, which is pretty closely related to 

 the common Black Nightshade (Solanum nigi-um). The plant to which 

 I refer has had a number of local names applier to it, but I prefer the- 

 one I have used, namely. Tomato Cherry. The fruits are blackish, 

 nearly half an inch in diameter, and are flattish at the ends. When 

 cooked they are used in pastries of various kinds, which are much 

 relished by the inhabitants of the Central Plains. It has often occurred 

 to me that this fruit was worthy of the serious attention of the plant 

 breeder, and I commend it to such of you as are able to undertake the- 

 work of improvement and amelioration. 



GROUND NUTS. 



It may be possible that we de not need to add another starch-- 

 bearing tuber to the list of our vegetables, since we have the Potato, 

 which, under good conditions, yields such enormous quantities of ex- 

 cellent tubers. The Potato is one of the greatest additions to the food 

 stuffs of the world, and I often wonder how the people of the Old World 

 ever managed to live without it. It is an admirable vegetable, and fully 

 meets all the requirements of a cheap, starchy food. And yet there is- 

 an old adage which admonishes us to "never put all your potatoes in 

 one basket," which for the present occasion may be interperted as a 

 suggestion not to grow our starch-bearing tubers all from' one species- 

 of plant. It is with much feelings that I suggest to you the develop- 

 ment of the Ground Nut (Apios apios) to be a supplementary tuber- 

 bearing plant in our gardens and fields. The plant is a twining peren- 

 nial, and is a member of the great family of the legumes 

 (Leguminosae). In the wild state it produces small tubers from half 

 an inch to an inch in diameter, and as I have often proved by trial, 

 these are very good to eat. Am I not justified in suggesting that in 

 this plant, which belongs to an entirely different family from that 

 which contains the Potato, we have a promising form for improvement? 

 It is highly improbable that any of the diseases of the Potato plant or 

 tuber should pass over to plant or tuber of the Ground Nut, and for 

 this reason alone the introduction of the latter would be desirable. 



May I ask your attention next to half a dozen native fruits which 

 appear to me to be waiting for some one to invite them into our 

 orchards: 



