3IO NEW JERSEY STATE AGRICULTURAL 



upon many present varieties is their smallness. The error may be 

 in the opposite extreme, and the kind is rejected because of its 

 over-sized fruits. These objectionable extremes have been kept 

 in mind, and the giant and the dwarf in fruit aire interesting, 

 chiefly as marking the range. Therefore, into the set of slices 

 shown, none of the very largest have been introduced, and samples 

 of the "Currant" are likewise lacking. 



Beginning upon the outside, the first subject for consideration 

 is the skin. Ordinarily, this is a tough layer of tissue that serves 

 well the purpose of protecting the tender inner parts from the 

 many enemies from without. A defect here is in its tendency to 

 crack, which frequently should not be ascribed so much to the 

 skin as the flesh beneath, as it is due largely to an unevenness in 

 ripening. This is often met with in the early, flat form of fruit, 

 where the shoulder or stem end of the fruit is the last to remain 

 green, and cracks occur in the flesh between the ripe and ripening 

 portion, and often in somewhat concentric lines as the maturing 

 progresses. At the blossom end, the skin often is poorly backed 

 up by a good rind, and breaks occur and decay ensuesi. Fruits 

 with a smooth blossom end, and well supplied with a thick rind, 

 are the least liable tO' "go- down." The tomato fruit is quite sus- 

 ceptible to influence from the weather, and, during a wet spell, 

 are apt to fill with water, and, if the skin is too weak, the fruit 

 cracks and is soon worthless. For this reason, a firm skin and 

 rind is desirable, and such quality helps to exclude the genns that 

 seem ever ready to^ attack the fruits. As ordinarily the skin is 

 removed before the fruit is served, any addition to its firmness 

 may not prove objectionable, and some attention might well be 

 paid tO' this side of the question of improved tomatoes by the 

 breeder, 



. When it comes tO' the rind, the next subject tO' command atten- 

 tion in passing inward from the skin, it is evident that firmness 

 here must not gO' beyond a well-established limit. Above all 

 things, it must be edible, and to^ this end consistency and flavor 

 are nearly everything. The flesh of the outer wall, in other 

 words, needs tO' be uniformly fine in texture and color, and thick- 

 ness here is perhaps a leading desideratum. If the wall is thick 

 and sufficiently firm (within the limit of tenderness), the fruit 



