300 NEW JERSEY STATE AGRICULTURAL 



the present season, a greater effort than usual has been made to 

 secure crosses, and out of many attempts three have given fruits, 

 two of which had but one seed each and the other eight seeds, the 

 latter being a cross with the "Red Pear." 



This "Oligosperm" (meaning few seeds) is a yellow-fruited 

 sort, getting the color, it is to be presumed, from the "Golden Sun- 

 rise" parent in the original cross. Coming as it did, in a block of 

 plants all from the seeds of the same fruit and in which one- 

 quarter were yellow, there is not much room for doubting that 

 the plant in question arose in any other w'ay than that indicated. 

 It seems possible to consider it as a case in which a plant has 

 taken on characteristics that are either new, or such a combination 

 of old ones as to appear sufficiently marked to deserve a special 

 mention in any complete classification of the tomatoes. 



During the present season, a block of plants has been grown 

 sufficient to provide for a quantity of seeds to be used in a limited 

 distribution. As each fruit yields but, perhaps, a twentieth of the 

 number borne by ordinary fruits, the packets, of course, can con- 

 tain but few seeds. It is desired that those who are interested in 

 the peculiarities of this tomato- may have an opportunity of grow- 

 ing it. The practical trucker will not find it to his advantage to 

 use it, for the plants are late in fruiting, and, as before stated, the 

 tomatoes are small, rarelv over two inches in diameter, but are of 

 a peculiarly agreeable flavor. It is also important to test this 

 tomato under other circumstances than those where it originated, 

 as it is possible that a change of environment may induce some 

 modification of advantage. 



The chief hope of the "Sport" is that of breeding it to the ordi- 

 nary' sorts, with the thought of improving the quality of the latter 

 and materially reducing their ^eediness. 



Plate VIII. shows the "Oligosperm" fruits — a portion of a 

 single picking — as grown the present season. In the center of 

 the plate are two pairs of ripe fruits with portions of their stems, 

 with one fruit above them showing the blossom end and one be- 

 low with the calyx in view. Beneath the latter are the two halves 

 of a fruit that resulted after the pollination with one of the ordi- 



