The following article on ‘‘Tomato Seed Certification in Pennsylvania” by Dr. K. 
V. Lauer, Advanced Plant Pathologist of the Department of Agriculture of Pennsyl- 
>ania, which appeared in the February 15th, 1935, issue of the Market Growers Journal, 
vas originally delivered by Dr. Lauer in an address before the Vegetable Growers 
issociation at the Pennsylvania Farm Show, on January 23rd, 1935. 
MARKET GROWERS JOURNAL 
February 15, 1935 
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Washing Certified Tomato Seed. 
Tomato Seed Certification In Pennsylvania 
By K. W. Lauer,- Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture 
T HE purpose back of the toma¬ 
to seed certification work is to 
make available to the tomato 
grower a source of seed comparatively 
free of diseases, of good germination 
and which when grown under reas¬ 
onably favorable conditions will give 
a satisfactory crop of fruit which is 
uniform, characteristic as to variety 
and true to name. Certification 
should not be considered as a “cure- 
all'’ or as a guarantee against crop 
failure due to negligence on the part 
of the grower. We make no claim 
that Pennsylvania certified seed will 
outyield all other seed or that it 
will produce a good crop under ad¬ 
verse growing conditions, but we 
have learned during past years that 
buyers want good seed and that they 
are willing to pay a reasonable price 
for such seed if it carries the pro¬ 
tection certification affords. While 
there may. be other seed that will 
give just as satisfactory results as 
certified seed, unless a grower has 
absolute knowledge of conditions un¬ 
der which such seed was produced 
and cared for, it is hazardous to 
plant such stock. The protection cer¬ 
tification affords is good insurance 
against such seed-born diseases' as 
wilt, bacterial canker and against 
varietal mixture and general lack of 
uniformity of fruit produced 
We started tomato seed certifica¬ 
tion work in Pennsylvania in 1930 
and after five years experience, we 
feel that we have contributed a great 
deal to the improvement of at least 
several varieties. This improvement 
was accomplished through iue elim¬ 
ination of diseased stocks and of 
strains which lacked uniform varie¬ 
tal characteristics. Any improve¬ 
ment attained must necessarily come 
through selection, breeding and care 
of the seed stock. This selection and 
breeding work, of course, rests with 
the seed grower and the progress 
made will naturally depend on the 
ability of the seed grower to de¬ 
velop stocks that will retain these 
uniform, varietal characteristics over 
a period of several years. Stocks 
which do not retain and show these 
prominent individual characteristics 
associated with a particular variety 
are not certified. Our contribution 
to the Improvement work, and to 
progress in general, is through the 
elimination of inferior stocks and 
strains. 
During the spring of 1934 we 
changed the requirements in regard 
to varieties acceptable for certifi¬ 
cation. It is more or less commonly 
thought that some of the varieties 
now available fo the seed trade are 
renamed varieties or varieties which 
have nothing to recommend them 
over other existing varieties even 
though they may show slight differ¬ 
ences. Out of the scores of commer¬ 
cial tomato varieties now available 
to the seed trade, the United States 
Department of Agriculture In a re¬ 
cent publication conservatively esti¬ 
mated that eighty-five to ninety per 
cent of all tomatoes grown in the 
SUMMARY OF TO .MATO SEED CERTIFICATION IN PENNSYLVANIA 
1930 
Acres entered . 211.0 
es rejected . 155.5 
Acres certified . 55.5 
Pound* , 
Va riel les 
1930 
Earliana. 
Break O'Day . 
Pritchard . 
Bonny Best .. . . 200 
30.5 
101.5 
f Seed Ccr 
1932 
10S.0 
1932 
13 
1933 
291.5 
*1 75 
219 75 
10S 
1.058 
Vr 
