THE TOMATO. 



SHOWING THE IMPORTANCE OF 



The report of Prof. Bailey, of the Cornell Uni- 

 versity Experiment Gardens, is not only interesting 

 reading, but highly important from a horticultural 

 standpoint. It is valuable for what it says, and 

 doubly valuable fur what it don't say. In the first 

 place, it shows us the value of experiment stations, 

 in determining what varieties can be most success- 

 fully and profitably grown in a given soil and situa- 

 tion. But what is more important, it shows the ne- 

 cessity of an experiment station in every township, 

 not under state or university control, but a station 

 conducted by every cultivator in the town, with the 

 headquarters at the town- hall or district school- 

 house, where all can meet and hand in their reports 

 for mutual benefit. 



No fact is better known in horticulture than that 

 certain localities are better adapted for the produc- 

 tion of a given crop than others ; some soils seem 

 the natural home for a given variety, others not. 

 For instance, the farmers in Suffolk county cannot 

 be induced to grow the Early Rose Potato, because 

 there its yield is unsatisfactory, while the White El- 

 ephant and Early Ohio, under the same cultivation, 

 will yield more by twenty-five per cent, and upwards. 

 The same is true with many varieties in localities 

 where the conditions are the most favorable. There- 

 fore it is important for the horticulturists of each 

 locality to determine, by experiments carefully made, 

 what is their most profitable industry and what va- 

 rieties of a given class give the best results. 



One of the most noticeable features in this report 

 is the small yield of the tomato in the Ithaca gar- 

 dens compared with the same on Long Island. The 

 highest test of yield was but 27.5 pounds per plant — 

 the lowest, from seed sown at the same tirne, v>'as 

 10. 2 pounds per plant. The variety giving the greater 

 yield being the King of the Earlies, that of the small- 

 est being the Paragon, one of our best croppers. 

 Neither of these would be considered half a crop 

 here, if planted in the same soil, which was "a high 

 gravelly loam, heavily enriched." 



This experiment shows conclusively that Ithaca is 

 not the home of the tomato. It also shows most 

 conclusively what varieties are best for them to grow. 

 It establishes a fact, which every locality must es- 

 tablish for itself. 



Varieties. — The writer of the report says; "The 



LOCAL EXPERIMENT STATIONS. 



tomato is one of the most variable and inconstant of 

 kitchen garden plants. As a rule, varieties differ but 

 slightly from their allies, and a considerable plantation 

 and a critical eye are needed to determine many of even 

 the common sorts. " True, every word of it, and there is 

 no necessity for half the varieties that are sent out, be- 

 cause they have no valuable properties not possessed by 

 others. 



"Varieties of tomatoes are, as a rule, short lived, 

 Ten years may be considered the average profitable life 

 of a variety, and many sorts break up and disappear in 

 two or three years. This inconstancy of type is largely 

 due, no doubt, to the haste with which new sorts are put 

 upon the market." In proof of this, the writer says: 

 "Almost any of the old sorts afford instances of the run- 

 ning out of varieties. The Tilden tomato, once popu- 

 lar, appears to be extinct;" also. "The Trophy shows 

 the same tendency to become inferior, and it is difficult 

 to procure a good stock of it. In the test of 1887 this 

 fact was noticed The Trophy is evidently not as good 

 as formerly. Our crop of this year, from seeds of last 

 year's crop, showed a much greater per cent, of poor 

 fruits than the crop of 1886. Paragon begins to show 

 the same weakness." 



To these statements we beg leave to enter a respectful 

 protest, on principle. As to whether "varieties are 

 short-lived, " all depends upon the care that has been 

 taken to preserve them. The same care in selection and 

 cultivation of a variety, where the conditions are favora- 

 ble to its development, as was given to produce it, will 

 preserve it. The tomato is no exception to this rule, 

 although there is no class where the varieties or types 

 will suffer from neglect as quickly as the tomato. 



Referring to the Trophy, we would say that this va- 

 riety, in all hands, has not run out. On the contrary, 

 it has improved, and that by the same means as were 

 employed to develop it, viz ; selection. The finest crop 

 of tomatoes we ever saw, without regard to variety 

 name, was of the Trophy, and that only last season, which 

 was generally considered the most unfavorable for the 

 tomato we have had for many years. The grower of 

 these bought the seed from Mr. Waring the first year of 

 its introduction and he has not grown any other since, 

 but has each year carefully selected the earliest and 

 smoothest for seed purposes. The result is an improve- 

 ment. The fruits are more even ; they ripen up to the 

 stem perfectly, and, what is more important, they ripen 

 to the center, producing but little seed. A fault with 

 this variety, when first introduced, was that the center 

 of the fruit was hard and unpalatable. 



That the seed now sold will not produce as good fruit 



