224 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



planting than the common sorts. The foliage is distinct, with 

 fruit not over large, but of fair size, remarkably smooth and solid, 

 and, last but not least, it is one of the earliest varieties. 



Not very many 3'ears ago the tomato was grown in this country 

 onl}' as an ornamental plant ; today it is one of our most popular 

 vegetables. It seemed to increase in popularity from the start, 

 and the growing demand at the present time is astonishing. 

 Through the aid of the canning factories our tables are kept 

 supplied with this favorite vegetable during the entire year at 

 reasonable prices. These establishments have multiplied so 

 rapidl}' of late, throughout the country, that in seasons of over 

 production and consequent low prices they become profitable 

 channels through which the producer can dispose of his surplus 

 crop. They are now practically indispensable to growers of both 

 vegetables and fruits. They not only relieve the producer of his 

 surplus, but also make special contracts with him to furnish them 

 with the products of hundreds of acres of sweet corn, tomatoes, 

 and other farm and garden vegetables, needed and used by them 

 in this business. When we consider that a single establishment 

 of this kind has contracted to have grown for them alone, upwards 

 of three hundred acres of tomatoes annually, some idea of the 

 magnitude of this industry may be gained. 



At our Annual Exhibition there were fift\'-seven dishes of toma- 

 toes shown, mostly of fine specimens of all the leading varieties. 



Among the novelties of recent introduction we notice as worthy 

 of special mention, a new Bean introduced this season by Peter 

 Henderson called the Bush Lima. One great objection to the old 

 Lima bean has been, veith manj', that it can be grown only on 

 poles, which aje both unsighth' and expensive. The new Bush 

 Lima does away with this necessity, as it grows only about fifteen 

 to eighteen inches in height, like any other bush bean. The only 

 fault we have to find with it is the size of the bean itself. We 

 think it would have been nearer the true thing to have named it 

 a bush Sieva, as the beans are even smaller, if an3'thing, than 

 those of that variety. However, it must be considered a great 

 acquisition, and will meet the wants of a large class, even should 

 it prove too small to be profitably grown by the market gardener. 

 It is a " break" in the right direction and opens up a wide field, 

 the possibilities of which can hardly be estimated. The past 



