44 BULLETIN 1301, U. 8S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
VEGETABLE BREEDING ~ 
More or less breeding has been done with vegetables to adapt 
available varieties to conditions of the northern Great Plains. Most 
of the work has been devoted to tomatoes. Attention has been con- 
centrated on this vegetable because of its great potential importance 
for the farm and home gardens of this area. The object is to get 
earlier tomatoes and at the same time improve or at least maintain 
prolificacy and the quality, shape, size, and smoothness of the fruit. 
Systematic attempts to improve the tomato for this section began 
with the making of selections from the Sunnybrook strain of Earlhana 
in 1915. Plants were grown from these selections in 1916 and further 
selections made. Selections were again made from the progeny in 
1917 and the work increased by individual plant selections from eight 
other varieties in the varietal tests. Seed from these selections was 
planted in the greenhouse, and cross-fertilization was effected dur- 
ing the winter. Both these crosses and the selections made in 1917 
were grown in the field in 1918, and 94 individual plant selections 
were made. The tomato breeding was temporarily suspended in 
1919, but was resumed in 1920 by planting seed from the selections 
made in 1918 from the crosses and from a few Earliana and Golden 
Ponderosa plants. About 4,200 plants from these selections were set 
in the field. In making selections from these, a number of strains 
were discarded. In 1921 and 1922 the work was continued on about 
the same scale. Marked progress is being made, particularly in 
quality, yield, and disease resistance. Unfavorable seasons have 
interfered somewhat with selection for extreme earliness. 
The most promising strains from which most selections were made 
in 1922 are Karliana, Golden Ponderosa, Earliana x Scarlet Ponderosa, 
Searlet Ponderosa x Earliana, Golden Ponderosa Burbank, and 
Burbank x Golden Queen. 
DEMONSTRATION GARDEN 
In the spring of 1920 a garden, practically an acre in size, was 
started to determine the possibilities of farm-garden production. 
The patch is 160 by 272 feet. It is divided into four plats, each 68 
by 160 feet. The vegetables are grouped into four main classes— 
root crops, legumes, vines and potatoes, and leaf crops—and, as 
nearly as possible, each class occupies one of the four plats of ground. 
A rotation is practiced, so the legumes follow the roots, the vines and 
potatoes follow the legumes, the leaf crops follow the vines and pota- 
toes and are themselves followed by the root crops. One of the four 
plats is manured each fall, the manure being applied in advance of 
the leaf crops. 
The rows are 160 feet long, and (except the onion rows, which are 
18 inches apart) 3 feet, 6 feet, or 9 feet apart. The wider spacings 
are for vines. This arrangement allows most of the cultivation to be 
done with horses. The allotment of space to the different vegetables 
was based on estimates of production and the requirements of a 
family of five, with a surplus for disposal. The plan of the garden is 
shown in Figure 5. 
