IXTERESTIXG FAILURES 169 



or four times as large as those ever produced by 

 the ordinary potato. 



In one case the fruit of this hybrid proved to 

 have a most excellent flavor, in some respects 

 superior in quality to the tomato. It was snow 

 white when ripe, and had also a highly pleasing 

 aroma. The flesh of this fruit resembled that of 

 a firm, very sweet tomato. To the taste it sug- 

 gested a delightful commingling of acids and 

 sugars. 



As the fruit grew on a hybrid potato vine, and 

 in itself had much the appearance of a tomato, it 

 was christened the "Pomato." 



The name itself was appropriate enough, but 

 was unfortunate in that it led to the unauthor- 

 ized assumption that the fruit was really a cross 

 between the tomato and the potato. In point of 

 fact, I have never been able to cross these two 

 plants, and there was no strain of the tomato in 

 the ancestry of the new fruit. 



The pomato plant produced fruit abundantly, 

 but very few tubers, and when the latter were 

 planted, the vines seemed to run out, giving their 

 entire attention to the production of seed balls. 

 And the seed when planted never reproduced it- 

 self exactly true to form, showing its hybrid 

 quality by the production of unique and abnor- 

 mal forms. 



