ON THE TOMATO 



germinating after it had been preserved for cen- 

 turies in the tombs of Egypt, although there is no 

 proof of this; but most seeds have far more 

 restricted capacities for maintaining vitality. My 

 experiment suggests about twenty years as the 

 limit for the tomato seed under fairly good condi- 

 tions. So the seeds of some fixed type of tomato 

 might very well be among those selected for such 

 an experiment as that just suggested. 



My own observations in the matter are chiefly 

 confined to what has just been related to my nine- 

 teen and twenty-year-old tomato seeds; and I 

 must leave further investigation along this line to 

 younger experimenters. 



Grafting Tomato and Potato 



Doubtless among my most interesting experi- 

 ments (to the general public) with the tomato 

 have been those in which this plant was grafted 

 on the stalk of the potato; together with the com- 

 plementary experiments in which the potato was 

 grafted on the stalk of the tomato. 



The grafting of herbaceous plants such as 

 these presents no complications as a mechanical 

 procedure. The fact that the stem is succulent 

 throughout makes such grafting a less delicate 

 process than the grafting of twigs of trees, for 

 example, in which, as we know, it is necessary to 

 bring the cambium layers of the bark in accurate 



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