LUTHER BURBANK 



fact, I have never been able to cross these two 

 plants, and there was no strain of the tomato in 

 the ancestry of the new fruit. 



The pomato plant produced fruit abundantly, 

 but very few tubers, and when the latter were 

 planted, the vines seemed to run out, giving their 

 entire attention to the production of seed balls. 

 But the seed when planted never reproduced 

 itself exactly true to form, showing its hybrid 

 quality by the production of unique and abnormal 

 forms. 



Thus there was no practical method of prop- 

 agating the pomato, the tubers being wholly 

 absent or merely rudimentary, and the seed not 

 producing a satisfactory product. 



It is probable that if I could have found time 

 to continue the experiments, I should have been 

 able to fix the race through selection, and thus 

 have added a fruit of an altogether new variety 

 to the list of garden products. 



But to have done this would have necessitated 

 experiments on a large scale, and this would 

 have required more time than I could give at the 

 moment. 



I think it not unlikely, however, that some one 

 will take up the experiment in future and develop 

 a fruit comparable to my pomato that will have 

 commercial value. 



[284J 



