FACT AND THEORY 249 



The tomato, we should see, was the last of the 

 family to fall into a violent change of environ- 

 ment. 



A tropical plant, bearing fruits about the size 

 of a hickory nut and not believed to be edible, 

 the tomato found its way into the United States 

 within the past century. 



At first, the tomato plant was prized merely 

 as an ornament; it was grown as we now grow 

 rose bushes, and the fruit was looked upon as 

 a mantel decoration until, by accident, it was 

 discovered to be edible. There are, in fact, many 

 such ornamentals to-day which might bear us 

 edible fruit. One in particular, the passion 

 flower, will form the subject of an interesting 

 description later on. 



Following the discovery that the tomato was 

 edible came the same course of unconscious selec- 

 tion that falls to the lot of every useful plant. 

 The finest tomatoes were saved and cultivated. 



In the environment of the tropics, the tomato 

 fruit of hickory nut size was ideal; it cost less 

 effort to produce than a larger tomato; it con- 

 tained sufficient seeds to insure reproduction. 



But with the advent of man into its environ- 

 ment, its seed chambers increased in number, the 

 meat surrounding the seeds increased greatly in 

 quantity and improved in quality; so that in 



