5TOKES 



CROMTNC SINCI :J.-» 



SEED6 







The New Marglobe Tomato 



The most important introduction since Bonny Best. An unusually productive hybrid of great promise; 

 resistant to Nail-Head Rust and Fusarium Wilt 



Days to maturity, 140. We have the great honor, this year, of introducing to our trade the Marglobe 

 Tomato, a new variety which we beheve is destined for great prominence within the next decade. Marglobe 

 is another triumph of the plant-breeders. In this instance, the honors go to Dr. Fred J. Pritchard, of the 

 Bureau of Plant Industry, United States Department of Agriculture. Dr. Pritchard, in his quiet, unassuming 

 way, has accomplished very definite results in developing wilt-resistant strains of Tomato. We believe the 

 Marglobe to be his outstanding achievement. It is a hybrid from Mar\^el, a Government strain developed 

 from Vilmorin's Mar\^el of the Market, and Livingston Globe, a pink-fleshed Tomato. The stock we ofl"er 

 this year for the first time is the ninth generation from the original cross. This stock has been selected for 

 a pure scarlet, globe-shaped type, having the fine characteristics of the Globe. Being a hybrid, however, it 

 has far more vigor than the Globe, is a much heavier producer, and is slightly earher. Under the most 

 exhaustive tests it has proven practically immune to Nail-Head Rust and Fusarium W ilt. 



We offer Marglobe Tomato as an unusually valuable variety over a wide field of activities. While 

 Nail-Head Rust is comparatively unknown, north of Georgia, there is always some danger of it in Mississippi 

 and Tennessee. Its most vital attacks seem to be on the east coast of Georgia and Florida and on the west 

 coast of Mexico. The fact that Marglobe is resistant to wilt makes it a valuable variety for all states from 

 Maryland and Indiana south; that it is very productive and has such a rich, scarlet color makes it a valuable 

 canning Tomato; that it is of magnificent appearance makes it a valuable market Tomato; that it is very 

 sweet flavored, makes it a popular Tomato for home consumption. With all of these qualities, is it any 

 wonder that we are enthusiastic? We predict that long after the land boom in Florida is a memory, the 

 name Marglobe will be a household word in the homes of the farmers of that remarkable state. Our first 

 pound of stock seed has cost us nearly S2,000 to produce. Our quoted price of S12 per pound we consider 

 to be a very moderate one. Price, delivered: Pkt. 25 cts.; oz. 75 cts.; Vi^h. $3; lb. $12; 5 lbs. or more, $11 

 per lb. 



Marglobe 



SUPER-STANDARD STRAIN FOR GREENHOUSE FORCING 



Days to maturity, 140. This strain has been produced from our four most perfect type stock seed plants. 

 We have isolated this strain from the larger lot because we were so impressed with the possibilities of 

 Marglobe as a greenhouse Tomato and for this work only the most perfect type should be used. Marglobe 

 sets very easily. This characteristic makes it especially desirable for greenhouse work where the factor (jf 

 pollenation is so important. This Super-Standard strain is recommended to all greenhouse men. It may not 

 prove as satisfactory- as our Super-Standard Bonny Best for it is a week later in maturing, but its handsome 

 appearance will find a ready market and its fine globe shape depth makes it a splendid slicing type. This 

 strain is in every way worth}' of the Super-Standard designation. Price, delivered: Pkt. $1; V^oz. $3; 

 oz. $5. 



The Story of Marglobe 



Our part in the commercial development of Marglobe is briefly as follows: In the early spring of 1924, our 

 Francis C. Stokes was in Florida making a survey of the Tomato industry which, with increasing severity, has been 

 damaged by Nail-Head Rust (a fungous disease, Alternaria Solani). It soon became evident that this disease would 

 have to be attacked from the same angle that mosaic on spinach, rust on asparagus, and other similar diseases have 

 been attacked; viz., by producing a stock that had resistant qualities. The disease was so deeply intrenched that 

 all efforts of control in other directions seemed futile. Thereupon we set about to find a single plant, in all the 

 thousands of acres of Globe, that might seem immune. We soon gave up this task and started searching for a 

 variety that was immune. The result of this led us to two separate varieties which had that quality. One was the 

 Wild Cherry; the other was the Marvel. The latter was found, through the able assistance of Mr. Alfred Warren, 

 County Agent for St. Lucie County, in a Tomato trial near Vero, which was being conducted by the Florida Ex- 

 periment Station. Immediate plans were made for making crosses of these two varieties with the Globe type, the 

 commonly accepted commercial strain for south Florida. 



A few days later, this program of hybridization was presented for criticism and assistance at the Bureau of 

 Plant Industry, in Washington. The Bureau, in the meantime, had been receiving calls for assistance on the Nail- 

 Head difficulty from all over Florida. The gentlemen in question were keenly interested, especially on the report of 

 the Marvel, which up to that time was not known to be resistant to Nail-Head Rust. We were immediately in- 

 formed that our program of hybridization was not necessary in view of the fact that Dr. Pritchard had already 

 made a cross between Marvel and Globe and that the stock of the seventh generation would be available at the 

 Arlington Farm in the fall. 



Before we left Washington that day, a conference was held with the Chief of the Bureau, and tentative plans 

 were made to hold formal tests of this new hybrid, now known as Marglobe, at several points in Florida, so that 

 the crops would mature at the height of the Nail-Head season. In September, 1924, the 3 acres of Marglobe on the 

 Arlington Farm made one of the most impressive crops we had ever seen. Having great confidence that this factor 

 of resistance would hold, we made immediate arrangements for growing a supply of stock seed. Dr. Pritchard 

 sent us only part of an ounce of seed from selected plants. This v/as divided in three, part being sent to Bermuda^ 

 part to Florida, and part was sown under glass in our greenhouse at Moorestown, N. J. The Bermuda seed failed 

 to germinate on account of cold nights and the Florida seed was lost in a flood. About 300 plants were saved for 

 greenhouse cultivation, and from these we secured enough stock seed for 30 acres of the Tomato — 10 in New Jersey, 

 10 in California, and 10 in South Carolina. The So uth Carolina, crop has been totally lost on account of the 



Note to Seedsmen: Marglobe Tomato is in its first year commercially. It is, undoubtedly, going 

 to prove an outstanding variety during the next decade. Marglobe, as a name, is clear and distinct. May we not 

 respectfully suggest to our fellow seedsmen at this juncture that there be no renaming of this Tornato? We as 

 seedsmen owe it to our customers and to ourselves not to confuse the- issue further. Two introductions of ours, 

 Earliana and Bonny Best, now are offered under more than two hundred different names. Isn't it time to call 

 a halt on all this? Let's call Marglobe, Marglobe. 



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