78 TOMATO GROWING 



Farmers' Bulletin ISTo. 76, "Tomato Growing," United States 

 Department of Agriculture, is a pamphlet whicli should be in 

 the hands of every person interested in this vegetable. This 

 bulletin is sent free of charge to any one desiring it. The fol- 

 lowing extract from this bulletin is given in order to show 

 the importance of the canning industry alone : 



"The tomato is grown more largely for canning than any 

 other vegetable used for this purpose. The total annual pack 

 of the entire country now averages nearly 5,500,000 cases of 

 24 cans each, and the area required to supply the canneries is 

 estimated to exceed 300,000 acres. The bulk of this crop for 

 this purpose is, however, grown in a few states, Maryland lead- 

 ing, with over 1,000,000 cases, and New Jersey following, with 

 from 500,000 to 700,000 cases. The four states of Maryland, 

 N'ew Jersey, Indiana, and California produce about three 

 quarters of the entire pack, and New Jersey and Maryland 

 produce nearly one half. The other states of considerable pro- 

 duction are, in their order, Delaware, Missouri, Ohio, Virginia, 

 and Iowa. It is thus observed that this crop is adapted to a 

 wide area and is an industry of very considerable importance." 



The conditions for our gi'owing this crop in New England 

 do not differ in any respect excepting in the effect of the cli- ' 

 matic conditions. On this account, however, the question of 

 varieties especially for New Hampshire is an important one. 

 In the season of 1896 we made a test of fifty-six varieties, the 

 results of whicli were published in Bulletin No. 42. A photo- 

 graph of each variety was therein reproduced; also, besides 

 yield per plant and average weight of fruit, a description of 

 each variety was given. From our test at that time we con- 

 cluded that the varieties best suited to our conditions are those 

 having an early maturit}-, ripening the bulk of their fruit by 

 September. After discarding those thought to be of little 

 value, due to various reasons, and adding the new introduc- 

 tions each year, we find we now have grown eighty varieties on 

 our trial grounds. 



During the past season our test was limited to the newer 

 introduction, together with a few varieties, also new the year 

 before. The results of this test are shown in Table I, the data 



