The Lancaster Farmer. 



Dr. S. S. RATHVON, Editor. 



LANCASTER, PA., NOVEMBER, 1882. 



Vol. XIV. No. 11. 



Editorial. 



THE HISTORY OF THE TOMATO 



It is just (ifty-fivi^ years siiicn the lirst to- 

 mato was f;rown in this county. In the 

 sjiriiis; of 1827 a traveler who tarried over the 

 niglit at a village inn at l''r,inUatowii, I'a., 

 presented tlie lamllord'.s little daaij;ht.er with 

 a few seeds, which she carefidly |ilanled and 

 from which the lirst ripe tomatoes ever fjrovvn 

 in this c lunty were pnjdnced. The lilth! airl 

 was so proud of her little tree full of liriirht 

 red "love apples" that she carried it aromid 

 every house in the village, and as the fruit 

 was supiiosed to be poisonous the children 

 were cautioned not to touch or handle it. The 

 following year the little girl's mother, against 

 the protest of all the otlicr members of the 

 family, prepared, cooked and ate some of the 

 fruit. As she pronounced it good and i)alata- 

 V)le and did not sicken, the tomato soon be- 

 came a favorite dish in the family. The 

 young girl, whose name was Matilda Brother- 

 line, is still li\ing, the vyifcof Mr. .lohn Barr, 

 of East Ilolidaysburg, and mother of S. B. 

 Barr, of Hays City, Kansas. — AHoona Tri- 

 bune. 



The foregoing historical item is interesting, 

 and the more so because it allows other peo- 

 ple, and other places, to put in their claims iu 

 regard to the introduction, and culinary pre- 

 paration! of the tomato by claiming to ac- 

 count for its introduction only in '■this coun- 

 ty." Some months ago a similar paragraph 

 was going the rounds of the press to the ef- 

 fect, that about half a century ago, a prisoner, 

 discharged from the York jail, had presented 

 some seeds to the wife or daughter of the 

 jailor, who had planted them in an enclosure 

 attached to the jail, and had grown the beau- 

 tiful red "love-apples", which were also 

 deemed poisonous, but which were subse- 

 quently discovered to be edible, and this was 

 claimed as the first introduction of the tomato 

 into York county. There is no reason why 

 both accounts should not be true ; and, if the 

 lohole truth were known, perhaps a dozen 

 other places might establish a similar claim. 

 It is certain, from a record made by Thomas 

 Jefferson in his domestic diary, while he was 

 President of the United States, that tomatoes 

 were sold iif Washington market for edible 

 purposes. Their cultivation and sale may 

 have been limited, but they were used as a 

 culinary preparation on the table of the Presi- 

 dent, at least. We, ourself, saw the tomato 

 and the white egg-plant, nnder ornamental 

 cultivation, more than sixty years ago, and, 

 overshadowed, coincidcntally, by the same 

 notion that it was poisonous, which was 

 readily impressed by its peculiar odor. About 

 the summer of 1831 or 1832, we very dubious- 

 ly tasted the first stewed tcsmatoes, and we 

 were by no means preposessed in their favor ; 

 we learned to appropriate bull-frogs and lob- 

 sters in a shorter time, and with far less rc- 

 pnlsion. Philip Miller, in his Gardener^s 

 Dictionary, published about the year 1731, 

 speaks of tomatoes being introduced into 

 England from Spain, where they long had 

 been cultivated for edible purposes, but were 

 chiefly used as a condiment. Miller, himself, 



spoke disparagiuirly of them — considered 

 them too " watery" ever to come into general 

 use. This objection obtains to some of the 

 varieties cultivated at the present day. But, 

 a wonderful improvement has buCn made, 

 both in the ipiality and quantity of this fruit. 

 The best we have ever ealen were supplied 

 abundantly in our markets the present season, 

 large, solid all tho\igh, comparatively dry, 

 granular, and finely flavored. They have be- 

 come a culinary necessity. 



'LEAVES." 



We regret that through an oversight, dis- 

 covered too late, we failed to respond in any- 

 wise to the queries of J. r W., in his con- 

 tribution published in the October number of 

 the F.vitiiKU on the subject of "Leaves." 

 He is physiologically correct that the func- 

 tion of leaves in plants is analogous to the 

 function of the lungs in the animal body ; 

 and that the premature destruction of the 

 leaves will mar, or totally prevent the de- 

 velopment of the fruit. 



The " little dy " that infested his grape- 

 vines was doubtless the " Grape-leaf Hopper " 

 {Teltiijonio vitis), an insect belonging to the 

 order IIojiopteua ; but, we do not think 

 that "drenching the vines from beneath 

 with abundance of water from the hydrrant " 

 would have had any permanent effect. It 

 might have driven them off for an indefmite 

 time, but as soon as the operation would have 

 ceased, aud the water had evaporated, they 

 would have been all back again. A few of 

 them might have been washed down and have 

 perished, but the larger number would only 

 have hopped off to safer quarters, aud there 

 awaited the first opportunity to return. In 

 consequence of this peculiar characteristic, 

 they are ditticult of access with a drench of 

 any kind, although if applied when the in- 

 sects are quite young (June and July) and be- 

 fore the development of their wings, even 

 water would prove more or less destructive, 

 especially if applied with force, and from be- 

 neath. But, if a saponaceous solution, an 

 alkalinous dilution, or a tobacco, capsicum, 

 or pyrethrum infusion, vfere applied with a 

 garden syringe, every morning early, or late 

 in the evening when they are in repose on the 

 undersides of the leaves, the remedy woulci be 

 very effectual. The transformation of these 

 insects, like that of the Orthoplera (grass- 

 hoppers, etc.,) and the Hemiptera (bugs) is 

 what is termed "incomplete" — indeed rather 

 a transition through successive stages of de- 

 velopment, in whicli there is very little differ- 

 ence between the young and the adult, save 

 in the development of the wings and colora- 

 tion. In their earlier stages they are feeble, 

 and when disturbed merely shift their posi- 

 tions from the lower to the upper sides of the 

 leaves, or vice versa, but as they advance in 

 life they are given to flying or hopping, hence 

 called "Leaf-hoppers." 



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KITCHEN-GARDEN FOR NOVEIVIBER. 



In the Middle States, the season for gar- 

 dening is drawing to a clo.se; indeed, it is 

 liTnited to the preservation of rootf, and the 

 hardier vegetaliles for winter nse, and such 

 operations as may be prejiaratory to another 

 sea.son. Now is a good time to transplant 

 fruit and ornamental liee.s, shrubbery, &c. 

 On loamy and light lan<l we prefer, decidedly, 

 fall planting; on heavy soil, or where the sub- 

 .soil is clay, thus retaining the moisture near 

 the surface, spring may l)e a more favorable 

 season ; and it i.s also generally esteemed the 

 the best for evergreens. Asparagus beds 

 winter dress. Beets dig and store. (Jabbageg 

 lilace in safe quaiters. Carrots dig iind store. 

 Celery earth up finally. Drain vacant ground 

 if needful. Ilorse-radish dig and store for. 

 convenience. Onions, in store, examine. 

 Parsnips dig for c(jnvenient access. .Salsify 

 ditto &c. From 1st to 20tli of this month, 

 according to locality, the winter supply of 

 turnii)s should be cared for. — Landreth''s 

 liural Jicijister. 



The proper time for transplanting fruit, 

 ornamental, and other trees — that is, whether 

 the spring or autumn of the year is best — is a 

 question of very long standing ; indeed, we 

 can remember it from an early boyhood, at 

 least sixty years ago. Both periods had their 

 stauuch friends and advocates then, as they 

 have now, and both could point to numerous 

 cases, by way of illustration, where the one 

 had succeeded and the other had failed, and 

 neither party would plant out of their favorite 

 season, "hit or mi.ss. " Perhaps it never 

 occurred to either party that "circumstances 

 alter cases." Soil and meteorological condi- 

 tions have certainly much to do in determin- 

 ing the question. 



We recall a circumstance that occurred 

 fully fifty years ago, wheu an extraordinary 

 drought [irevailed from the middle to the end 

 of summer, when nearly all the late potato 

 vines were burnt brown and crisp, aud the 

 tubers were about the size of marrowfat peas. 

 One cultivator, either through indolence or 

 indlll'erence, failed to weed his " patch," feel- 

 ing that there would be no potatoes anyhow. 

 Well, it transpired that he had the best crop of 

 potatoes in the district — indeed a fair crop. 

 The weeds shaded the vines and kept them 

 green, and matured the tubers. This, how- 

 ever, would not have been successful as a 

 rule — circwnslances alter cases. Both periods 

 of transplanting have their advantages and 

 disadvantages, according to the conditions 

 above stated. 



INSECTS INJURIOUS TO FORESTS 

 AND SHADE-TREES. 



Kaltenbach, in his work entitled " Die 

 Pjlanzenficnde aus dir Klasse der Insekten," 

 has enumerated, in a closely-printed volume 

 of 848 pages, the species of insects preying 

 upon the different tress and plants of all sorts 

 in Central Europe. The number of insects 

 found upon some kinds of forest-trees is as- 

 tonishing, though it is to be remembered that 

 all kinds are not equally destructive, the most 

 injurious and deadly forms being compara- 

 tively few. 



