STOKES SEED FARMS COMPANY 



MOORESTOWN 



NEW JERSEY 



Tomato 



(Lycopersicum esculentum var vulgare) 



History — Galenus, a celebrated Greek physician, 200 A. D., 

 gave a minute description of Lycopersicum coming from Egj'pt. 

 South America, probably Peru, however, gave the tomato to Europe 

 in a highly cultivated form. The name is derived from the Aztec 

 word Xitomate, the vegetable having been prized and extensively 

 cultivated by the natives long before the discover}' of the coimtrj' 

 by the Europeans. According to Dr. Tracy, "there is httle doubt 

 that many of the plants as seen and described by the Europeans as 

 wild species were largely garden varieties, originally natives of Amer- 

 ica, which are a variation or crossing of the original wild species." 

 It was first introduced into England in 1596, but for many years 

 was grown only as an ornamental plant, under the common name of 

 Love Apple, the prevailing opinion being that thej^ were poisonous 

 to man. The tomato in Europe was first used as a vegetable in 

 Italy in the seventeenth century, later being introduced into France 

 and England as a table vegetable. The fii'st mention of it in North 



America as a vegetable, apparently, was 1781. Seven years later a 

 Frenchman in Philadelphia made earnest efforts to have people use 

 the fruit as a vegetable, but with Uttle or no success. The first 

 record of this fruit being regularly quoted on the market was in 

 New Orleans, 1812. It was first offered bj' seedsmen, Messrs. Gar- 

 dener & Hipbum, in 1818, which was followed by Landreth in 1820. 

 In 1835 they were on the Quincy Hall Market in Boston. At the 

 present time, according to Department of Agriculture reports, there 

 are over one haK miUion acres devoted to this crop every year in 

 America, and the canning and shipping interests especially assume 

 tremendous proportions. A great many American varieties of 

 merit now are known the world over. Practicalh' all tomatoes 

 grown in this countrj' are of American development. To Li\dng- 

 ston, of Columbus, Ohio, perhaps the greatest credit should be given. 

 The late Walter P. Stokes was responsible for the introduction of 

 the EarUana and Bonnj' Best. 



^ No. 1000. Stokes Bonny Best. Days to Maturity, 130. Originated by Mr. Middleton, of Montgomery Covmty, 

 Pennsylvania, and introduced for the first time by Walter P. Stokes in 1908. It is a selection from the older 

 Chalk's Early Jewel, the fruits being from ten days to two weeks earher than that variety, thus placing 

 Bonny Best almost in a class with Earhana. In the twelve years since its introduction Stokes Bonny 

 Best has established a reputation amongst aU classes of planters, home gardeners, truckers and canners, 

 which has scarcely been equalled b}' any other tomato during the last twenty-five years. At the 

 time of its introduction, Mr. Stokes predicted that it would soon be knowTi from one end of the land 

 to the other as the finest shipping tomato ever introduced, and this prediction has certainly proved 

 to be more than true. A great many low-grade and questionable strains of Bonny Best are being 

 offered at the present time. All those, therefore, who desire to secure the introducer's strain, -wiU 

 do well to continue purchasing their supply directly from us. Everj- year our seed is grown here 

 on Windermoor Farm under the most ideal conditions. 1919 has been a very severe season on 

 all tomato growers east of the Appalachian Mountains, owing to almost continual rain in 

 August and September. Regardless of this, our Bonny Best averaged better than any crop 

 in Biu-Hngton Coimty, according to the word of all farmers who were here to see it. 



Pkt. lOfi, oz. 50i, 



SI. 50, lb. $5.00, 5 lbs. 324.25, postpaid; by express, 5 lbs. or 



Gathering Stokes Bonny Best Tomatoes on a New Jersey Farm'. 



in This State is Constantly Increasinti 



75 per lb. 



Stokes Bonny Best Tomato, when grown under ideal conditions, should produce from 

 ten to fifteen tons per acre. The plants attain a height of about two and one-half 

 feet. The foUage will be very much heavier than the Earliana. The fruits will be 

 borne in clusters, and will be almost globe shaped, the structure of the fruit being 

 very distinctive in that respect. They are thicker through from top to bottom 

 than the Chalk's Early Jewel. Individual vines will ver>' often produce as 

 many as one hundred fifty perfect fruits. \Mien sown in hot beds March 

 15th, there will be ripe fruits by July 15th, and the crop will bear until 

 September 1st. The intense scarlet coloring wiU hold for the interior and 

 exterior of the tomato. Compared to Earhana the fruit is far more soUd, 

 in that the seed cavities are smaD. In the eastern states Bonny Best 

 is now one of the foremost canning varieties for pulp and soup pu]> 

 poses. In its present form we do not advocate it as a variety 

 which should be canned whole. Eventually we hope to produce 

 a strain which will satisfactorily can in that manner, but in 

 its present condition there is some danger of its not holding 

 together under hot steam. As a tomato for the truck 

 grower for the early markets, Bonny Best is unequalled. 

 It will not compete with the extra early markets as 

 will the EarUana, but as a tomato to go between the 

 Earliana season and the later varieties, such as Stone 

 and Baltimore, it has no superior. If grown well, it 

 will ship well and sell well, and eventually be 

 thoroughly enjoyed by the consimier. It is one 

 of the sweetest tomatoes under cultivation, 

 The Acreage of This Variety having very little of the acidity which is 



74 



Stokes Bonny Best Tomato is now thirteen years old 



