290 NEW JERSEY STATE AGRICULTURAL 



ing to get a tomato that would permit of more fine slices than the 

 best now upon the market. From the lack of a better term, that 

 of ''goose-egg" has been used in connection with this ideal fruit. 

 The long tomatoes (those that are of the shape of a date, but 

 much larger) are practically worthless, because of the very limited 

 number of the large seed cavities — usually two, and the conse- 

 quent flabbiness of the fruit. To breed into these fruits, as illus- 

 trated by the "King Humbert" and the "plums" and "pears," an 

 interior that is "meaty," having many small seed-cavities and sur- 

 rounded with a thick wall giving a solid interior and smooth ex- 

 terior, is one of the leading features of the work. Along with 

 this goes a study of the nature of the plant in all its characters and 

 the selection of types that give promise of being an advance upon 

 the varieties now in vogue. The season's work indicates that 

 some progress has been made toward the desired ends and while 

 the quest goes on the immediate results in the form of desirable 

 kinds will be furnished to the tomato growers of the State for a 

 practical test. 



The number of crossed plants was more than two thousand, 

 and space does not permit in this report of giving more than a 

 brief note upon some of the most promising, while the large ma- 

 jority can have nothing more than the field notes as made in the 

 record book. In this book the crosses are given in the order of the 

 record number of the male parent, that is, if No. i, "Acme," is 

 crossed upon several as "Arcadia" (No-. 5) and "Bright and 

 Early" (No. 14) and "Nolte's Earliest" (No. 94), such crosses 

 come before those of "Bright and Early" upon "Acme," "Nolte's 

 Earliest," etc. 



A large majority of the crosses of the present season were 

 compound, that is, a combination of two crosses. Thus, a set of 

 plants that gave some promise for length of polar axis combined 

 with other desirable qualities is booked (page 5) under the fol- 

 lowing numerals : " 1/5///103/181//33/53. The single slanting 

 (fraction) lines indicate the first crosses between the numbers 

 they separate; thus, 1/5 shows that "Acme" (i) was crossed 

 upon "Arcadia" (5) ; 33/53 indicates that "Earliana" (33) was 

 crossed upon "Fortune" (53); next, 103/181, that is, "Ponde- 

 rosa" (103) upon "Sumatra Fig" (181), was used as the polli- 



