TRELLIS TOMATOES 5 



uniform tomato of the Comet type, and when growers changed from flat culture 

 to trellis they also shifted from varieties such as Marglobe, Bonny Best and 

 Early Prolific. In general, the larger-fruited types, especially when grown on 

 trellis, have not held their foliage in many seasons and, therefore, have not pro- 

 duced satisfactory yields. 



Another factor that must be considered is the number of fruits per cluster. 

 Comet generally produces a large number while the larger-fruited varieties 

 produce only a few fruits per cluster; and when the plants are kept pruned, the 

 number of these clusters is definitely limited so that the possible yield is reduced. 

 Comet produces so many fruits that at times under poor cultural conditions the 

 plant is not able to grow all of them to marketable size. 



Breeding work with tomatoes has been under way at the Waltham Field Sta- 

 tion of the Massachusetts Agricultural Experiment Station during the past 

 eight years. The first tomato distributed for trial was the Waltham Forcing 

 which was developed, as its name signifies, for the greenhouse. It is of the Comet 

 type and was obtained by selection from the old English Best-of-All. The strain 

 had been in this country for many years and had been used by local growers but 

 the fruit had always been too small and the set of fruit was only fair. These 

 characters were improved by selection through several generations, and the Wal- 

 tham Forcing tomato is now the most important variety for greenhouse use in 

 Massachusetts. Growers who used it inside also tried it on the trellis outside 

 and it proved quite satisfactory. Now, a considerable acreage of this variety is 

 grown. 



Figure 1. Trellis No. 22 Variety. 



