CHAPTER XVIII 

 THE TOMATO 



TOMATOES are becoming so important a garden and 

 truck crop as to deserve a special chapter. They came 

 originally from tropical regions, where the vines bear fruit 

 all the year. 



1. Importance of the Tomato 



For a long time tomatoes were not known to have value 

 as a food, but were thought to be poison. The plants were 

 then cultivated for ornamental purposes and were known 

 as "love apples." 



Uses now as food. The chief value of tomatoes as a 

 food lies in the sugars and protein, and in a stimulating 

 effect on digestion. More than three hundred recipes have 

 been worked out in preparing tomatoes for our tables. Many 

 more people will use tomatoes as a part of their diet when 

 they come to know more of their value. 



Tomato growing states. Tomatoes will grow suc- 

 cessfully in almost every part of the United States. Mary- 

 land is one of the largest tomato producing states, and has 

 the largest number of tomato canning factories. New 

 Jersey, Indiana, California and Delaware rank next. 



Hundreds of thousands of cases of tomatoes are now 

 being grown and canned annually by the boys and girls of 

 the canning clubs. It is estimated that, after paying the ex- 

 penses of raising his crop, a club member from ten to eigh- 

 teen years of age can make from ten to twenty-five dollars 

 a day for the time he puts in canning the crop for market. 



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