Tomatoes 14 11 



* TRIUMPH OF THE ITALIAN TOMATO 



The tomato was given to the world by America, but Italy is 

 today teaching the rest of the world by example how it should be 

 raised and how it should be preserved. Italian canned tomatoes 

 have practically pushed the American produot out of the English 

 market, and have gained an enormous market in the United States. 

 The Italians raise a solid meaty tomato of fine color and it is so 

 packed in the cans that the consumer is not obliged to pay for a 

 large percentage of water. 



Canned tomatoes, however, are put up principally for the ex- 

 port trade. The Italians themselves prefer their tomatoes in the 

 form of sauce, or paste, which is nothing more nor less than boiled 

 down tomato pulp, minus the skins and seeds, as set forth in an 

 interesting manner in a report by Commercial Agent J. Alexis 

 Shriver entitled a Canned-Tomato Industry in Italy," recently is- 

 sued by the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce. This 

 sauce is put up in cans and is used by the Italians in a great variety 

 of dishes, of which spaghetti is perhaps the most familiar to Ameri- 

 cans. 



According to fairly accurate statistics the area planted in to- 

 matoes in Italy is about 22,000 acres, producing about .385,000 

 tons. The exports to the United States amount to about 20,000,- 

 000 pounds of canned tomato and tomato sauce, and some 8,000,- 

 000 pounds of the product go to South America. The total value 

 of the tomato exports from Italy is well over $6,000,000. 



The skins and seeds that were formerly wasted are now utilized, 

 the former as stock feed and the latter as a source of oil. The 

 crude oil is suitable for soap making and for lamps, and the re- 

 fined oil is said to be edible. Commercial Agent Shriver's report, 

 Special Agents Series No. 93, may be obtained from the Superin- 

 tendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, 

 at 5 cents a copy. 



*Taken from Circular issued by U. S- Department of Agriculture, Washington D. C. dated 

 Feb. 9, 1915. 



