XXX. 



THE AMELIORATION OF THE GARDEN 

 TOMATO. 



I. 



The Origin of the Tomato from a Morphological 

 Standpoint.^ 



There are two methods by which the cultivator 

 can determine the origin of vegetables which have 

 been long in cultivation. He can follow the history 

 of the plant to its iptroduction into gardens and 

 may then be able to identify it with a wild species, 

 or he may reason from inference from the morphology 

 and direction of variation of the plant in hand. The 

 latter method may be illustrated by the tomato. 



I will suppose, for my purpose, that no record ex- 

 ists as to the introduction of the tomato, or in regard 

 to its characters, at any time before the present. 



The fruit of the large tomato is seen at once to be 

 extremely variable. This variability lies mostly in 

 size, form, and number of cells. The number of 

 cells, as seen in a cross -section of the fruit, may be 

 taken as a measure of size and form. Fig. 1 (page 

 475) represents a cross -section in which ten partial 

 cell divisions project from the walls of the fruit. 



» American Naturalist, June, 1887, 573. This paper is a revision and ex- 

 tension of one which first appeared in the American Garden, viii. 116. 



(473) 



