140 MASSACHUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



Breeding New Varieties. Is it true that the limit of improve- 

 ment in the tomato has been attained? For New England I 

 should say emphatically, No. In general the shortness of our 

 season is such that a new and much earlier variety is needed to 

 insure a crop before heavy frost. With this end in view we have 

 for several years been breeding new races of tomatoes. 



In 1891 crosses were made between Ignotum, one of the most 

 valuable market varieties, and Peach, an early and productive 

 sort which is too small and soft for general culture. Ignotum was 

 used as the female parent. Plants resulting from these crosses- 

 were grown in the field the following year with very satisfactory 

 results. There was a marked influence of the male parent in the 

 character and habit of the plants, but, save in size, the fruits 

 were not very different from Ignotum. The increase in earliness 

 and productiveness was very marked. Whereas the average 

 number of ripe fruits on pure Ignotum plants previous to frost 

 was but eighteen^ that on the crossed plants was forty. But, as 

 before remarked, the size was considerably reduced. 



Seeds were saved from these crossed plants and the following- 

 year a comparison was made between two generations. There 

 was a falling off of nearly forty-four per cent in the total 

 number of fruits borne, and of thirty-one per cent in the number 

 ripened before frost. The past season three generations were 

 grown side by side, with practically the same results. 



A cross between Lorillard and Peach, carried along the same 

 lines as the one just mentioned, has behaved in a very similar 

 manner. In both cases the second and third generations showed 

 a tendency to split up into various forms, and showed the influence 

 of the male parent more plainly than in the first generation. In 

 other words, although promising forms have been obtained, no type 

 has as yet been firmly fixed. 



The most interesting and important work we have done in breed- 

 ing tomatoes is in connection with a true hybrid between the two 

 species. The variety selected for the female parent was Lorillard, 

 a well-known sort of medium size and valuable for forcing, but 

 only moderately productive under field culture. The male parent, 

 was Currant — so far as I know the only representative of Lyco- 

 persicam pimjyinellifolitim. The hybrid is almost exactly inter- 

 mediate between the two parents. The form and general 

 texture of the foliage is suggestive of Currant, while the size 



