2 BULLETIN 859, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



the industry in Florida is very largely concentrated in Dade and 

 Broward Counties, at the southern tip of the State. 



Table I. — Production of early tomatoes in the principal producing States of the United 

 States, showing also car-lot shipments, for the 5-year period from 1915 to 1919, in- 

 clusive. 



State. 



Crop production (tons). 



. Car-lot shipments.^ 



1919 



1918 



1917 



1916 



1915 



1919 



1918 



1917 



1916 



1915 





17, 380 

 58,520 



11,880 

 46, 800 

 600 

 21, 150 

 10, 500 

 16, 000 

 69, 108 



17, 390 

 77, 480 

 1,810 

 15, 680 

 13,020 

 16, 430 

 75, 540 



20, 170 

 101, 170 

 2,209 

 25, 250 

 29, 320 

 10, 770 

 85, 285 



IS, 750 

 91,390 

 2,524 

 20, 100 

 24,010 

 11,260 

 62,212 



139 



4,478 



2 



61, 388 



366 



1,198 



1,513 



3,695 



10 



"1,379 



654 



1,123 



97 



518 



4,493 



14 



61,063 



947 



1,276 



173 



1,169 



6,184 



58 



61, 663 



590 



1,153 



192 



871 



Florida 



4,692 





58 



Mississippi 



18, 400 

 6,000 

 17, 700 



61, 690 





529 





1,318 





121 









Total 



118,000 



176,038 



217,350 



274, 174 



230,246 



7,571 



8,471 



8,484 



11,009 



9,279 







a Estimated at 13 tons per car except in Mississippi, where the average is 10$ tons per car. 

 6 Carloads of 10$ tons. 



In spite of the fact that thousands of cars of Florida tomatoes 

 are shipped to the North each year, the quality of a large percentage 

 that reaches the consumer is admittedly inferior in many respects 

 to vine-ripened or greenhouse tomatoes. Tracy (52) * makes the 

 following statements in regard to the inferiority of shipped fruit: 



The tomato never acquires its full and most perfect flavor except when ripened on 

 the vine and in full sunlight. Vine and sun ripened tomatoes, like tree-ripened 

 peaches, are vastly better flavored than those artificially ripened. This is the chief 

 reason why tomatoes grown in hothouses in the vicinity are so much superior to 

 those shipped in from farther south. 



It is the custom to pick the fruit when grass green and allow it 

 to ripen and color in ripening rooms before shipment, while in 

 transit, and after arrival at the market. Numerous complaints 

 have been made by commission men and others that a large pro- 

 portion of the tomato crop from the east coast of Florida is picked 

 and shipped too green. When this is done, the fruit ripens very 

 slowly, has a tendency to wrinkle, colors abnormally, and has a bad 

 taste and flavor. Moreover, for quite different reasons, the growers 

 prefer, when shipping their tomatoes, to have the fruit arrive in a 

 slightly colored condition. The arrival of green fruit at the terminal 

 often has the effect of glutting the market. The buyer is compelled 

 to hold the fruit while ripening and consequently assumes a risk 

 of losing a portion, whereas if the shipment is. colored when it 

 arrives he is able to dispose of it immediately. 



Since the difficulties just enumerated bear a close relationship 

 to field practice and to packing and shipping operations, the writer 

 was stationed at Miami during the growing seasons from 1917 to 

 1919 in order to gain first-hand knowledge of the industry and to 



1 The serial numbers in parentheses refer to "Literature cited" at the end of this bulletin. 



