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THE TOMATO
THE TOMATO
_By_ PAUL WORK
_Professor of Vegetable Crops, Cornell University_
_Editor of Market Growers Journal_
_ILLUSTRATED_
[Illustration: Printer's Logo]
NEW YORK ORANGE JUDD PUBLISHING COMPANY, INC. 1945
COPYRIGHT, 1942, BY ORANGE JUDD PUBLISHING COMPANY, INC.
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
_This book or any part thereof, may not be reproduced without
permission of the publishers, except by a reviewer who wishes to
quote brief passages in connection with a review written for
inclusion in a magazine or newspaper._
Copyright Under the Articles of the Copyright Convention of the Pan
American Republics and the United States August 11, 1910
[Illustration: FREDERICK J. PRITCHARD
1874-1931
_Originator of tomato varieties of improved type and resistant to
disease_]
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
INTRODUCTION 11
I. THE TOMATO IS A GREAT FOOD AND CROP PLANT 13
II. CHOOSE THE SOIL AND FEED THE PLANT 25
III. THE BEST IN SEED IS NONE TOO GOOD 38
IV. STRONG PLANTS FOR EARLY MATURITY AND HEAVY CROP 53
V. GOOD CULTURE FAVORS GOOD RETURNS 71
VI. TO TRAIN THEM UP OR LET THEM SPREAD 79
VII. THE ETERNAL BATTLE WITH INSECTS AND DISEASES 85
VIII. SKILLFUL SELLING CROWNS THE ENTERPRISE 93
IX. OPERATING IN THE RED OR IN THE BLACK 116
REFERENCES 119
INDEX 133
ILLUSTRATIONS
F. J. Pritchard _Frontispiece_
FIGURE
1. The tomato is the leader among greenhouse vegetables 19
2. The tomato flower 22
3. Long section of tomato flower 23
4. How nitrate nitrogen affects tomato growth 27
5. Effect of omission of phosphorus from complete fertilizer 33
6. Cultivating and side-dressing tomatoes 36
7. Types of tomato interiors 43
8. The Earliana tomato 45
9. Marglobe plant 48
10. Marglobe fruit 49
11. A good small greenhouse for plant growing 58
12. Plants for the early crop 61
13. Tin can prepared for sowing tomato seed 64
14. Plants that have been crowded and overgrown 69
15. Tomatoes pruned and trained with post, wire and twine 80
16. Fine clusters on trained plants 81
17. Resistance to fusarium wilt 87
18. Diseases of the tomato 89
19. Packing tomatoes on a farm 99
20. A California packing house 101
21. Puffiness is a common defect in tomatoes 102
22. The lug box 104
23. Lug boxes as loaded in car 105
24. The square braid basket 106
25. The Connecticut half bushel box 107
26. Repacked tomatoes 108
27. Cellulose film is used for repacked tomatoes 109
INTRODUCTION
Why should there be a book on tomatoes? The world is full of
bulletins of experiment stations, of articles in periodicals and of
general books on vegetables which include discussion of tomatoes.
An incomplete set of tomato bulletins includes over 350 documents.
Many of these are no longer available. Many are of no great value
but contribute this or that small item.
The task of a book like this is to offer between two covers, a
summary of what seem the most significant facts and opinions about
the third most important vegetable crop in the United States.
The tomato is one of the most rewarding crops for the home garden. A
little space yields heavily, from half a peck to a peck per plant
without difficulty. It grows well practically everywhere in the
States, affording high nutritional values whether used fresh or
canned. And people do like tomatoes, whether as salad, cooked
vegetable, or condiment.
Competition among growers and among districts makes three elements
necessary for commercial success:--quality in the goods, economy in
production, and effectiveness in marketing.
The grower must know his plant, what it is like and how it behaves
under various conditions and treatments. Then, he needs an
understanding of the economic factors that surround his enterprise.
Conditions in various sections and production for various purposes
are so diverse that dogmatic statement and general advice are
precluded. The aim is rather by means of available information to
help the reader to an understanding that will enable him to answer
his own questions for his own conditions and this far better than
any broad prescription could possibly do. Principles, possible
practices and examples of field programs are offered as guides for
self-help for home, school, hobby as well as commercial production.
A person who studies on this basis will not be thwarted by a sudden
shift of weather or market but will have at hand the necessary facts
and ideas to adjust his plan to changed conditions.
No attempt has been made toward complete citation of reference.
Those given will lead to others making possible a full survey of the
extensive literature.
The Tomato
I
THE TOMATO IS A GREAT FOOD AND CROP PLANT
Vegetable, Fruit or Berry,--what is the tomato? A standard query
this is and many an argument has raged about it. The answer is easy.
It is all three. By culture and use, it is a vegetable; botanically
it is a fruit and among the fruits, it is a berry being indehiscent
(non-shedding), pulpy, with one or more seeds that are not stones.
And they say the tomato is more truly a berry than the raspberry.
But that doesn't make much difference. The thing that matters is
that people like the tomato. It is easy to grow and nearly every
home garden has it. It is good to look upon--shapely, colorful and
of glossy sheen. A trained single stem plant with ripening fruit is
a genuine ornament in the garden. It is most gratifying to the
palate, fresh or cooked; soft and grainy, smooth and juicy in
texture, sweet and tart and with an appealing flavor all of its own
that few fail to relish. As juice or cocktail, adding color and
flavor to soup, as condiment or as side dish with the entree, as
salad freshly sliced or in jell, it is welcome with almost every
course and some ingenious chef or, more likely, some clever
housewife will, one of these days, fashion from it the dessert
supreme.
Nor have we exhausted the list of forms in which the tomato may be
served. In addition to its simplest cooked form, stewed or turned
hot from the can, it may also be baked, stuffed or not, or it may be
escalloped and cooked with rice, spaghetti or other foods. Fried,
before fully ripe, and served with brown gravy, it is most popular
in many a home.
Ketchup or catsup is one of our most widely used condiments and
chili sauce many like even better. Green tomato pickles, chow chow,
piccalilli carry the piquant tang of the tomato to enliven the
winter table. And tomato juice, plain or dressed up with spices,
vinegar or lemon juice has become a great staple of our groceries, a
standard send-off for any meal from breakfast snatched on the
morning sprint to work on through to the most elaborate of
banquets.
The tomato, by reason of its natural acidity, is readily sterilized
and so can be preserved easily in glass or tin. It ranks first among
the "big three" canned vegetables; the other two being sweet corn
and peas. By far the great bulk that goes to the factory is put up
with the addition of nothing more than salt. In addition to the
condiments, puree and paste are manufactured in commercial
quantities. The Italians dry tomatoes extensively in the sun,
slicing the fruits, and later flavoring them to taste for various
winter uses.
Though the tomato was not recognized as a valuable food until about
a century ago, its merit is now universally accepted. Bob Adams used
to call it "the poor man's orange" for it is rich in vitamins and in
malic and citric acid, possessing besides, a fine appetizing flavor
which is as truly a value in nutrition as it is a pleasure.
Actually, the tomato is mostly water, of rather low protein and
carbohydrate content but this does not detract, for other foods are
dependable for these staples of nutrition and most of us eat too
much of them.
The tomato is a youngster among the vegetables. In contrast to the
onion of Egyptian lore and the cucumber reputed to have been used
in Western Asia many centuries ago, the tomato is not reported
until the herbalists of the 16th century recorded its culture in
Italy and England--but with little of the esteem now accorded. The
name seems to be of Aztec origin and two distinct wild forms--one
corresponding to our cherry or currant varieties and the other to
our larger, flatter, less regular fruits of many cells,--are to be
found wild in Latin America. Its American origin is generally
accepted.
Commercially, the tomato is a great crop. Among the vegetables, it
is outranked only by the potato and the sweet potato.
The following table gives a few figures on the tomato crop:
======================================================================
| | _Acres_ | _Value_
| | _Thousands_ | _Million dollars_
|_1929-38_+-------------+---------+------+------
|_Average_| | |_1929-38_| |
| |_1939_|_1940_|_Average_|_1939_|_1940_
----------------------+---------+------+------+---------+------+------
U.S. for canning | 369 | 358 | 386 | 19 | 24 | 24
for fresh market | 177 | 210 | 204 | 24 | 34 | 29
+---------+------+------+---------+------+------
Total | 546 | 568 | 590 | 43 | 58 | 53
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Average yield for market is about 116 bushels per acre and the
average price $1.26 per bushel. The government reckons a bushel at
53 pounds, or about 38 bushels per ton.
The average cannery yield for 1929-38 was 4.15 tons; for 1939, 5.58
tons; and 1940, 5.39 tons. This shows a material increase. The
average cannery price for 1929-38 was $12.54 per ton. Yields by
states varied widely in 1940 from 2.7 tons per acre in Arkansas with
Indiana at 5.5 to 7.5 in California. In northeastern states, it is
considered that about a seven ton yield is necessary for the farmer
to break even. In New York, it costs about $60.00 to grow an acre of
tomatoes to first picking. With a good yield, picking and delivery
costs about $3.00 a ton.
Leading market states are Texas, 40,000 acres; Florida, 31,000 and
California, 22,000. Tomatoes are grown in a very large number of
states--23 or 24 states showing 1,000 acres or more for market.
Leading cannery states are Indiana, 74,000 acres; California,
52,000; Maryland, 51,000; and New Jersey, 33,000. California, also
Pennsylvania and Ohio have shown recent large gains.
Large quantities grown in town and country home gardens are not
included in these figures and probably also many grown on small
scale for market.
After all, however, the United States Department of Agriculture
estimated per capita consumption of fresh tomatoes at 17.7 pounds,
about one medium sized fruit per week per person. Consumption of
canned tomatoes is less than a third of the fresh consumption. These
figures include estimates for rural and urban home gardens. So, we
can hardly be said to be gluttons for tomatoes nor even to meet a
fair health standard, even considering all vegetables together.
After all, it does not have to be tomatoes even though their high
nutritional value is recognized.
[Illustration: FIGURE 1.--The tomato is the leader among greenhouse
vegetables.]
In commercial greenhouses, the tomato has replaced lettuce as the
principal crop and it is likely to remain an important under-glass
crop until such time as the South finds practical means of getting
it to market with first-class quality--perhaps, harvesting the fruit
when it first shows color.
Solution Culture
The tomato has been widely used in experiments in solution-culture
of plants, sometimes called "hydroponics." The method has been in
use for decades for research purposes, but has been widely
publicized of recent years as a possible method of commercial
culture. A high degree of control of factors governing growth is
undertaken and difficulties are proportionately increased. Hence no
extensive commercial development has occurred. A good presentation
of the method has been offered by Hoagland and Arnon.[1]
The Tomato Plant
To manage a crop, one must needs know the plant. To know the various
characters of the tomato helps one to master its culture.
The tomato belongs to the night shade family, the Solanaceae of the
botanist, along with the potato, tobacco, petunia, pepper, eggplant,
night shade, jimson weed and many other plants useful and noxious.
The tomato is a warm-season crop, sensitive to frost but reasonably
resistant to heat and drought, thriving under a wide range of
climate and soil. A frost free season of seventy-five to ninety days
will mature home garden tomatoes in useful quantities if good plants
are set but over 120 days are needed for economical commercial
production. Plant growing requires six to eight weeks previous to
setting out-of-doors. Each fruit requires about six weeks from
blossom to ripeness. The fruit ripens best for yield, color and
quality when the weather is warm and sunny. Low temperatures without
frost are not favorable for growth and prolonged conditions of this
sort may "check" the plant and retard the response when higher
temperatures come.
The tomato is sensitive to extreme day-length, setting fruit at 7 to
19 hours but not at 5 or 24 hours.[2]
The tomato responds readily to fertilizers and to moisture, coming
quickly into vigorous growth after unfavorable conditions, unless
too badly stunted.
As long as moisture and nutrients are available and other conditions
are favorable, a tomato plant will continue to branch and blossom
and make fruit almost indefinitely. A pruned single stem plant in a
greenhouse at Cornell once reached a length of over 40 feet during a
year and a half of growth. Thus, it is really a herbaceous
perennial grown in northern climates as an annual.
The plant branches freely at leaf joints but fruit clusters are
formed along the bare stem,--a habit not common among plants. Some
varieties are "determinate" in habit, sometimes miscalled
"self-pruning," as branches only attain limited length.
[Illustration: FIGURE 2.--The tomato flower. Varieties differ in
protrusion of pistil beyond the stamen column. If style is too
short, pollination may fail; also, if too long. A long pistil
increases danger of damage from heat and drying out.]
Hot, dry winds often damage floral parts and the blossoms drop
without setting fruit.
Smith[3] has shown that pollen grains germinate best at 85 deg. F.,
almost as well at 70 deg. F., poorly at 50 deg. F. and very poorly at 100 deg.
F.
[Illustration: FIGURE 3.--Long section of tomato flower.]
The flowers of the tomato are borne in simple racemes or, in some
varieties, in compound clusters. The flowers are normally on the
plan of 5 but cultivated varieties may have six or eight sepals and
petals. Sepals are narrow and may be as much as an inch long. Petals
are united at the base. Stamens are united by the anthers
surrounding the style and stigma. The ovary or little tomato is
above the calyx but, as it grows, it carries corolla and stamens
outward until they, with stigma and style, drop off. Length of style
is a fairly important character in its bearing on pollination and on
susceptibility to heat and wind injury.
Seedless Fruits
Recent experiments by several workers have demonstrated the
possibilities of inducing development of fruits without pollination
(parthenocarpy) by means of certain chemical compounds, notably
indolebutyric acid, although others are effective.[4] This method
yields seedless fruits and promises to be of value in insuring a
yield of fruits under conditions unfavorable for natural setting.
II
CHOOSE THE SOIL AND FEED THE PLANT
Almost anywhere that other things will grow, the tomato thrives--so
far as soil type is concerned.
Florida grows tomatoes on coral soils that appear too poor to
produce any useful crop. The fields of South Jersey are very sandy
but tomatoes do well despite costly control of moisture and
fertility. In some canning sections, clay loams and even clay soils
are used. The ideal is a medium sandy loam, well supplied with humus
for good water holding capacity. Lighter soils are generally
earlier. Tomatoes on drouthy soils are likely to suffer from blossom
end rot as well as from poor growth. Good drainage is required. Muck
or peat soils will grow tomatoes but they are not commonly used for
commercial production.
Liming is not important for tomatoes even on fairly acid soils,
assuming, of course, that the very small actual calcium requirement
of the plant is met. This is generally confirmed by experiments but
it does not preclude the merit of lime in favoring green manure
crops which, in turn, make the soil more suitable for tomatoes.
The dominant element in most sound tomato fertility programs is
phosphorus with nitrogen second and potash third. Recommendations of
general application are not possible but each need must be met
before other beneficial additions can be fully effective.
In the home garden, a program that keeps up fertility for other
crops will suffice for tomatoes. In commercial production,
especially for canning, where prices received are usually low, the
program must be neatly cut to fit the soil, the crop system, the
value of the tomatoes and the costs of materials. A canning crop in
those sections where yields are almost bound to be low, will not
justify heavy investment in fertilizer. Where much is spent for
irrigation, plant growing, staking and pruning, one cannot afford to
curtail the fertilizer investment that will bring maximum return.
[Illustration: FIGURE 4.--How nitrate nitrogen affects tomato
growth. Plants, grown in quartz sand, with plenty of other
nutrients, received definite amounts of nitrate, in one application.
A4, None. D5, 8 grams. F2, 32 grams. J4, 256 grams. N4, Soil and
manure. (1 ounce = about 28 grams).]
The task of this chapter is not to tell the grower how best to
provide fertilizer for tomatoes but to help him in making his own
plan for his own need. Research results and practical experience
both contribute. One may well consult neighbors, county agent and
extension specialist, as well as the many books and bulletins that
are available.
Nitrogen
Nitrogen is very important to insure the growth of vine without
which a good crop may not be expected. Lands vary more widely in
nitrogen content than in phosphorus and potash. Sandy soils are
commonly deficient in this element and often difficult to keep
supplied. Here liberal applications are needed. Up to a hundred
pounds[5] of actual nitrogen may prove profitable where other
conditions justify. Heavier soils, well managed and manured during
rotation, require less nitrogen and fair results may be obtained
with no fertilizer where investment must be kept to a minimum.
Form of nitrogen to be used is largely a matter of economy though
nitrate for part of it may be desirable early in the season when
soil is cold and nitrification slow. Nitrate is desirable for side
dressing but even here ammonia and other forms are now considered
suitable when the soil is warm.
Failure to Set Fruit
Why do tomatoes sometimes run to vine with failure to set fruit?
This is an old, old query and, since 1918, has been, directly or
indirectly, the occasion of more research projects than any other
horticultural topic. Kraus and Kraybill[6] set the ball a-rolling
with a paper which called attention first to the observations of
Klebs in Germany in which he emphasized the fact that external
conditions influence conditions within the plant which in turn
influence performance--a veritable chain of causation. Kraus and
Kraybill then undertook to relate performance (vegetative growth and
fruitfulness) to internal conditions, chiefly carbohydrate and
nitrogen content of the plant tissues. These, in turn, were traced
back to treatments applied to the soil.
They suggested four combinations of vegetation and fruitfulness in
plants as follows:
1. Non-vegetative and non-fruitful. Plants whose carbohydrate
supply has been cut off, say by removal of leaves which make
carbohydrates. These plants were low in carbohydrate and high
in nitrogen.
2. Vegetative and non-fruitful. These plants were well
supplied with both carbohydrates and nitrogen. They were of
the sort we describe as having "run to vine."
3. Vegetative and fruitful. These plants were well supplied
with carbohydrates, but not so liberally supplied with
nitrogen, thus, providing a balance between the two that was
favorable for a good crop.
4. Non-vegetative and non-fruitful. These plants had ample
opportunity for carbohydrate making, but were underfed with
nitrogen and so could not perform well in either vegetation or
fruit-making.
Kraus and Kraybill conclude that there are certain balances between
these two groups of compounds--nitrogenous and carbohydrate--which
determine the nature of the plant's performance--whether there will
be too little vegetative growth to permit a crop, whether the plants
will "run to vine" or whether they will show good growth of both
foliage and fruit.
From experiments in the same field, using definite amounts of
nitrate of soda per plant, Work[7] concluded that while adequate
carbohydrate supply is necessary for fruiting, excess carbohydrate
did not, in itself, occasion unfruitfulness but was more likely to
represent an accumulation of material unused by reason of deficiency
in some other factor--often nitrogen.
It was shown that nitrate of soda does not injure tomatoes until a
concentration in the soil is attained which is strong enough to
plasmolyze the cells, that is to withdraw water from them by
osmosis. Nor were a wide variety of nitrogen and moisture and manure
treatments sufficient to induce the Bonny Best variety to "run to
vine." Some varieties are subject to this trouble, mostly of the
large, late types.
Murneek[8] has shown that the fruitfulness of a plant may greatly
affect its internal condition, its vegetative performance and its
later setting of fruit. A heavy load of developing fruit, with
limited soil resources, tends to limit growth and setting. Removal
of fruit induces renewal of vegetative growth and of fruit setting.
Failure to set fruit favors vigorous vine growth. This failure may
be traceable to various causes. (1) To damage to floral parts as the
blasting of the pistil by heat and drouth. Flowers of some varieties
show tendency toward elongation of pistils with subsequent failure
to develop normal fruit. Smith and Howlett have shown that
environmental conditions as well as heredity influence this
elongation. (2) To injury by insects as thrips. (3) To the character
of the variety used, the Bonny group being very slightly susceptible
to failure from over feeding with nitrogen while some late sorts
readily "run to vine." (4) Shortage of nutrient elements as nitrogen
or phosphorus or others. (5) Lack of adequate light or short day. In
such cases, there may be excess of nitrogen for current need with
resultant over-development of leafage. Thus, excess vegetative
growth may be a result as well as a cause of poor setting.
Phosphorus
Fertilizer experiments fairly generally point to the frequency with
which phosphorus is the limiting factor among nutrients in tomato
production. MacGillivray[9] has studied the phosphorus content of the
various parts of the plant, concluding that this element is important
throughout and not alone in seed making or in rapidly growing parts as
has been believed. Hepler and Kraybill[10] found some years ago and
others more recently have confirmed the influence of liberal phosphorus
treatments upon earliness.
[Illustration: FIGURE 5.--Effect of omission of phosphorus from complete
fertilizer in Western New York.]
Potash
The potash requirement of the tomato has not been as thoroughly
studied as the requirement for the other two major elements. It is
thought that potash has a part in building up sugars into more
complex carbohydrates.
The consensus of fertilizer experiments suggests that potash is less
important on most soils than phosphorus and nitrogen but that if
these elements are in good supply, increased yields from potash are
likely.
Lanham in Texas was unable to find a relation between potash
fertilization and resistance to shipping hazards.
Stable Manure
Stable manure has long been recognized as useful for tomatoes. It is
generally considered better to apply it to the preceding crop or at
least the preceding fall than to use it just before setting of
plants. If spring application is necessary, it is better to use well
rotted manure. Stable manure is low in phosphorus. An approximate
statement would be that 10 tons of manure is roughly equivalent to
one ton of a 6-3-6 fertilizer. Thus, 1,000 pounds of 18%
superphosphate would bring the analysis to 6-12-6 which would be
generally regarded as a good balance.
A recent publication[11] from Pennsylvania emphasizes the value of
manures and of phosphorus.
Placement and Side Dressing
Recent experiments have shown the desirability of placing fertilizer
close to but not in contact with the roots of the young plants. When
newly set and before new roots have developed is the time when
nutrient material close at hand is needed to give the plant a
vigorous send-off. Transplanters have been devised with attachments
to place the fertilizer in bands at each side of the row of tomatoes
and about two inches deep.
Recent experiments, notably by Sayre[12] of New York, have shown the
advantage of dissolving fertilizer materials in the water used for
transplanting tomatoes. One combination of materials consists of
ammo-phos, 14-48, 2 parts and potassium nitrate, 1 part. Five to
eight pounds of this mixture are dissolved in 50 gallons of water
and about 1/4 pint or 1/2 cup is applied to each plant, usually by
the transplanting machine. There are other suitable mixtures of
nutrients for this purpose. A very small investment in starter
solutions has shown material increase in total yield. The practice
places immediately available nutrients in the soil at the time and
place to be of maximum usefulness to plants that have been severely
root-pruned and have not yet had opportunity to rebuild the root
system.
[Illustration:
_Courtesy Campbell Soup Co._
FIGURE 6.--Cultivating and side-dressing tomatoes.]
Another critical stage in tomato growth comes when much fruit has
been set in the clusters and demands upon plant and soil are
especially heavy. At this stage, side dressing with nitrogen is
helpful in maintaining plant growth and providing resources for
growth and maturing of fruit. On sandy or nutrient-deficient soils,
more than one side dressing may be advisable. Sodium nitrate is
commonly used but other materials are suitable after the soil has
warmed up. Side dressing with fertilizer in solution has been
recommended recently by Tiedjens of New Jersey.
III
THE BEST IN SEED IS NONE TOO GOOD
A tomato crop may be much poorer than the seed from which it grows
but it can be no better.
The tomato seed is short-oval and flattened in shape, covered
thickly with short silky hairs. The embryo or baby plant is coiled
in a spiral and imbedded in the endosperm (reserve food supply).
Three or four years is generally given as the life of the seed but
it often remains viable much longer--up to 10 or 12 years in extreme
cases. Good seed should germinate 85% to 90%.
Tomato seed sprouts readily, requiring fairly warm temperature, say,
70 deg. to 75 deg. F. for best results. It germinates very slowly at 40 deg. to
50 deg. F.
Breeding
Being a major vegetable crop, the tomato has received much attention
from plant breeders. Objectives sought include good cannery type,
resistance to the fusarium wilt and other diseases, better
greenhouse forms, improved general market and home garden sorts, and
varieties adapted for arduous conditions such as hot and dry summers
or very short growing seasons.
The tomato is largely but not wholly self pollinated and pollen is
not carried far. Thus, it is not difficult to breed to practically a
pure-line condition.
Tomatoes for seed are usually ground up and the seed and fine pulp
are separated from the skins and coarse material by screening. The
juice, fine pulp and seeds are allowed to ferment from 24 to 48
hours, or until the jelly-like pulp is readily washed away. After
washing, the seed is dried in thin layers and stored. A bushel of
tomatoes may be expected to yield 2-1/2 to 4 ounces of seed and an
acre of tomatoes, from 100 to 225 pounds. These vary greatly
according to varieties and conditions.
Wellington[13] and others have shown that first generation seed from
crosses of suitable varieties show a marked increase of vigor
(heterosis or hybrid vigor) over either parent or over the later
generations. This fact would seem to offer possibilities in
practical use, but it has not thus far proved of value.
Selection Methods
Many growers find it profitable to save their own tomato seed. The
plant is an annual, the important characters are quite readily
observed and natural crossing is not serious. For these reasons, the
enterprise is not as difficult as with most vegetables, although, if
done well, it makes heavy demands in labor and care at a time when
the grower has much else to do.
The first step in selection is to establish clearly the ideal to be
sought, recording it in detail on paper for future reference.
Selections should be made on the basis of the plant, not of the
individual fruit. It is the plant that is reproduced and the seed
from "crown clusters" is no earlier than seed from later settings.
The field should be searched soon after blooming time and plants
that appear promising should be marked. These plants should be
examined three or four times as the season advances, and markers
pulled from plants that do not measure up to the desired standard.
Suppose ten plants remain; all fruits from each of these may be
saved, keeping the seed of each plant separate. All or part of the
seed may be planted in separate rows the next year for further
selection and to note which parents best transmit their excellent
points. If only a small amount of seed is required, direct
selections may be made for use in planting for the general crop. If
a larger amount of seed is required, seed from one or two of the
best plants should be planted in multiplication plats. Off-type
plants should be removed from such plantings, but otherwise all the
seed may be saved for use. Repeated selection results in constant
improvement until the stock becomes a "pure line" or practically so.
Lindstrom of Iowa has led in research on the genetics of tomatoes,
chromosome relations and mode of inheritance. Many scientific papers
deal with inheritance methods and results. The Yearbook of
Agriculture (U.S.D.A.) for 1937 contains a valuable chapter on
tomato breeding. It may also be had as Yearbook Separate 1581.
Certification
As with certain other kinds of seeds, certification service for tomatoes
has now been set up in several states. Certification is a most useful
incentive toward care in breeding and handling and affords valuable
assurance to the buyer. It is necessary to know just what is guaranteed
by the certificate. It is at the same time wise to be informed as to the
inclusiveness and methods of the certification.
The Ideal Variety
In breeding for better varieties of tomatoes, the following are some of
the characters to be sought:
(1) A vigorous vine which is necessary to produce abundant
fruit and to protect from sunscald.
(2) Resistance to disease especially to fusarium.
(3) High productiveness with moderate number of fruits per
cluster--say, 5 to 8.
[Illustration: FIGURE 7.--Types of tomato interiors. 1, 5. Small fruited
sorts. 2, 6, 9. Bonny Best. 3, 7, 10. Chalk Jewel. 3, 7, 11. Stone. 4,
8. Earliana. 12. Ponderosa.]
(4) Evenness of maturity. This is somewhat out of line with
the nature of the tomato but much could be accomplished toward
the goal of varieties that make their crop and are gone,
eliminating long picking periods and the drag of inferior
fruit toward the end of the season. The so-called
determinate habit of some varieties such as Pritchard is a
step in this direction.
(5) Size suitable for expected use and for market demand.
Greenhouse tomatoes are generally smaller than those for
cannery. Uniformity of size is increasingly important with
wide-spread use of the lug-box pack and of small consumer
cartons.
(6) Globular to oblong shape is desirable for market but is
less important for cannery. Form should be symmetrical, even
and smooth.
(7) Color should be deep and rich, fully and evenly developed,
inside and out. Red is generally preferred to pink. The
difference between red and pink tomatoes does not reside in
the flesh but in the presence of yellow pigment in the skin of
the former while the skin of the latter is without pigment.
Yellow tomatoes are also extant.
[Illustration: FIGURE 8.--The Earliana tomato. A picture of a single
fruit cannot adequately describe a variety. 1-3. Rough types, common in
older strains. 4. Typical interior. 5, 6. Stem end. 7-9. Good type
resulting from selection. 10-12. Pointed-round type occurring frequently
in improved strains. A. Unusually large cluster. B. Typical Earliana
cluster showing compound branching. C. Unbranched cluster of Bonny Best
for comparison.]
(8) Skin should be thick and tough. This safeguards against
damage on the way to market and favors ease of peeling. Those
saladists who serve sliced tomatoes with skins unremoved, may
call for a thin, tender skin but this practice finds no
encouragement from discriminating partakers.
(9) Flesh should be abundant in thick walls with a minimum of
watery pulp surrounding seeds. In general, a structure of many
small cells is desirable.
Varieties
_Earliana._--The earliness of this old and popular variety outweighs
its demerits where this character is required. The past ten years
have seen material improvement.
Earliana is early, of small vine, with small leaves and leaflets.
Clusters are compoundly branched, with many fruits. The fruits are
of medium size, deep oblate, cross section often elliptical rather
than circular. There are many rough irregular fruits, varying in
this respect with breeding and conditions of growth. Color is red,
not too deep and tending to be poorly developed at the stem end.
Interior consists of many small cells with thin walls.
_Bison._--represents a group of varieties bred for rigorous climates
of our most northerly states. A. F. Yeager formerly of North Dakota,
later of Michigan, now of New Hampshire has led in this
development.
_Victor._--is a new variety bred originally by Yeager but introduced
by K. C. Barrons of Michigan. It affords smoother, deeper and better
colored fruits about as early as Earliana. It is determinate in
habit and shy in foliage, increasing danger of sunscald. Rich soil
and ample moisture are needed for its best development. _Bounty_ and
_Home Garden_ are similar.
_Penn State._--Penn State, developed by C. E. Myers of Pennsylvania,
is not as early as Earliana. It is similar in fruit characters
though distinctly better in color and shape. It is marked by short
branches (determinate habit) and is designed to give an early crop
to be followed by prompt abandonment of the planting. It is not to
be confused with Penn State Earliana.
_Bonny Group._--This group embraces our leading second early
varieties widely used for home garden, greenhouse, market and
cannery in the north. It includes _Bonny Best_, _John Baer_ and
_Chalk Jewel_ with many additional names and with much confusion of
characters among them.
Bonny Best is second early and of medium plant growth. Fruits are
deep oblate to flattened globe, even and smooth, of good red color,
with few large, thick-walled cells.
[Illustration: FIGURE 9.--Marglobe plant.]
Varieties and strains of this group vary in growth and yield, in
size, shape and earliness of fruit and in suitability for
greenhouse, market, cannery and juice. _Stokesdale_ and _Scarlet
Dawn_ are meritorious newer names in the group.
_Marglobe._--This variety was developed by the late Dr. F. J.
Pritchard from a cross between Marvel, a French variety lending
resistance to fusarium and Globe, an old variety of fine size and
shape. It is widely used, north and south, for market--green or
ripe, for cannery and to some extent, for forcing.
[Illustration: FIGURE 10.--Marglobe fruit.]
Marglobe is a midseason variety, with large vine and foliage,
resistant to fusarium and nailhead spot. Fruits are nearly globular,
shapely and smooth, medium to large, scarlet red, with medium number
of thick walled cells. Marglobe is rather subject to deep radial
cracks.
_Pritchard_ is of the general type of Marglobe but is earlier, with
short branching habit and resistance to nailhead rust and to
fusarium, and, perhaps, is less subject to cracking.
_Greater Baltimore_ is used chiefly for canning in long-season
districts. It is late, with large vine, large flat fruits of
excellent scarlet red, outside and in, with many thick walled cells.
_Indiana Baltimore_ is a variant widely grown in the mid-west for
cannery.
_Rutgers_ was developed by L. G. Schermerhorn at the New Jersey
Experiment Station for fine juice and canning characters--color,
flavor and substance. Growth is vigorous and yields are heavy;
fruits are large, flattened and well colored.
_Gulf State Market_ is a second early shipping tomato, generally
harvested green. It is flattened in shape, of well developed pink
color and good interior.
_Comet Group._--These trace mostly to English or other European
origin and are increasingly used for greenhouse and for staking
out-of-doors. Comet is small, flattened, slightly corrugated about
the stem, of fine even red color, very firm and solid, with few very
thick walled cells. Other names are _Sunrise_, and _Lord Roberts_.
Several American forcing strains have been developed with at least
one parent of this group--_Ideal_, _Grand Rapids Forcing_, _Field
Station Comet_, _Trellis_, _Michigan State Forcing_, _Lloyd
Forcing_, _Blair Forcing_ and others.
_King Humbert_ and _San Marzano_ represent the small Italian oblong
tomatoes that are prized for their thick walls, fine color and
suitability for puree, paste and soup.
_Ponderosa_ is popular for home garden, a "beef-steak" tomato of
very large size, irregular shape, flat, pink, with many small cells
and of very mild sub-acid flavor. It is best grown to single stem.
_Oxheart_ is large, heart shaped, pink and very meaty. Others of
this general type may be had in red, yellow and orange flesh. In
general, the whole group lacks in prolificacy.
_Oddities._--Tomato fanciers often plant seed of Red and Yellow
Pear, Cherry, Currant, Peach with its fuzzy skin, Plum and others.
They are prized for preserves and for decoration. Ground Cherry or
Husk Tomato is not a true tomato but belongs to a different genus
(Physalis). It makes excellent preserves. Well do I remember
sneaking off from the other kids for solitary plunder of the little
row that was usually in Grandma's garden.
Comprehensive descriptions of leading varieties of tomatoes have
been published by the United States Department of Agriculture in
Miscellaneous Publication 160, the result of statistical and verbal
notations over several years at five widely scattered stations of
the country.
IV
STRONG PLANTS FOR EARLY MATURITY AND HEAVY CROP
One of the ways to make money from tomatoes is to mature them early,
selling while the price is still high. There is a big difference
between $.10 a pound and $.10 a basket. Shipped and ripened green
wrap tomatoes cannot be very cheap on northern markets even though
Southern growers may realize little for them.
Another way to profit is to grow good plants to sell. Judging by the
spindling, crowded, soft or over-hardened plants so common in stores,
there should be great opportunity here and, as a matter of fact,
many market gardeners do well in this business realizing welcome
returns when other income is negligible.
To market ten-cent-a-pound tomatoes from out-doors requires good
plants--plants that have passed through their youth nearly or fully
up to blossoming time with benefit of heat and shelter and that are
ready to keep up vigorous growth in face of the demands of
fruiting. A few scattering fruits matured early do not suffice.
Even for cannery, good plants are required. In most regions, plants
are not as good as they should be. All too often, outdoor seed bed
plants are set where cold frame or at least cloth cover should be
employed. Further north, cold frame plants or second run or other
inferior plants are used instead of the best. That is why many
canning companies have greenhouses and grow plants for their
farmers.
And in the home garden, the quality of vine ripened fruit along with
the satisfaction of early maturity are goals worth striving for.
Plant growing is a game of skill. It calls for keen observation,
constant and faithful attention to small details, and a high order
of workmanship in the various operations. Furthermore, when a
considerable number of plants are to be grown, it calls for good
organization and rapid work if costs are not to be unduly increased.
A transplanter who makes three motions where two will suffice is
likely to turn profit into loss, for the loss of a second when
repeated thousands of times makes many hours.
The grower who is producing tomatoes for first-early maturity wants
a plant that will withstand the rigors of transplanting and of
inclement weather which may follow, that will start immediately into
growth, and that will mature fruit in good quantity at the earliest
possible date. This usually means a plant about ten inches tall,
with heavy, firm, dark-colored stem (though not over-hardened), a
heavy body of dark, healthy foliage, and a cluster of blossoms, with
possibly a fruit or two already set. If the buds in the axils of the
leaves have begun growth, no harm will be done.
Many growers are doubtful whether it is well to have fruit set on
plants when they are transplanted in the field, as they claim that
the little tomatoes are often lost and in any case the progress of
the plant is retarded. Such plants must be handled with great skill.
If they are severely checked when taken to the field, other and less
advanced plants may do as well. There is danger in having plants too
far advanced, and an unexpected delay in field setting may result in
spindling and over-hardening that may prove disastrous. A vigorous
and properly hardened plant that is younger will do better under
such circumstances. Some growers protect themselves by having plants
of more than one sort.
Open-bed Plant Growing
With favorable conditions and careful methods, good plants can be
grown in open beds but they must be grown and used where the season
is long or be grown in the south and shipped north.
Soil should be free of disease and nematodes, of good physical
character, full of humus and nutrients.
Seed may be sowed a week or two after "average date of last killing
frost" which may be learned from county agent or weather bureau.
Further south planting times are gauged by the time tomatoes are to
be set and by experience as to safe or reasonably safe sowing dates.
Rows are usually a foot apart, more or less. Good plants call for
sowing thinly, 6 to 12 seeds per foot, but several seeds per inch
are not unusual. One may expect a million plants per acre with close
planting or 40,000 plants per pound of seed.
Southern Plants
Many millions of tomato plants are grown in open fields in the south
to be sent to home gardeners in small parcels on seedsmen's orders,
to be sold to commercial growers or to be delivered on contract to
canners.
A suitable climate and soil, good seed, freedom from disease and
insects and good handling and packing are all required for
satisfactory results. In far too many cases, these requirements have
been sadly neglected and a good deal of distrust has been
engendered. Here, as in buying seed, one must discriminate among
good and poor growers. Canners who order in millions can send men
south to investigate and supervise with good results.
Georgia now has a certification service for plants that helps
greatly to build up and maintain high standards.
Growing Early Plants in the North
Varied programs of plant growing are in vogue in the temperate and
cooler regions. A simple cold frame with or without transplanting
may be employed. Seedlings may be started in hotbed or greenhouse
and then transplanted to cold frames to finish the job. Some sow
seed early, transplant once in the greenhouse at 1-1/2 or 2 inches
each way and then again to cold frame with wide spacing say, 4 x 4
inches or using pots or dirt bands.
For this method, as much as twelve weeks may be allowed but if space
permits, excellent results may be achieved in seven or eight weeks
transplanting but once to pots or to 4 x 4 inches in flat or bed.
[Illustration: FIGURE 11.--A good small greenhouse for plant
growing.]
The Place to Grow Plants
For northern climates, greenhouses are practically required.
Canneries or other large growers, have wide houses similar to those
used for winter maturing crops. A market gardener may have a little
house of 10' x 20' to 20' x 60' or larger as needed. If one does not
object to some inconvenience and discomfort, a hotbed may be
used--heated with hot water or electricity, or as in years past,
with fermenting manure. Cold frames may be covered with glass sash
as in the case of hotbeds, or cloth may be used. There are also
materials consisting of wire cloth filled with cellulose film.
Special mats of straw or of quilted burlap may be used for extra
cover and large growers often employ coarse manure, straw or marsh
hay.
Many a tomato gets its start in life in a small flat in a kitchen
window--perhaps, in a cigar box. Such seedlings may then be carried
forward in hot bed or cold frame.
Beds, Flats and Pots
Growing plants directly in ground beds in the greenhouse and
directly in the soil in the hotbeds or cold frames, is rather
common. However, the use of flats or plant boxes in plant growing
offers a number of advantages as compared with planting in the bed.
Transplanting can be done at benches under conditions of comfort and
convenience which make for efficiency. Moisture can be more
precisely controlled and flats can be shifted if some plants grow
faster than others. Plants can be moved with more dirt on the roots,
and this is a great advantage when plants are sold and hauled some
distance, though, of course, pulled plants are handled more cheaply.
On the other hand, the first cost, and the maintenance and storage
of the flats must be considered. Flats may be set on the ground in
the greenhouse without use of benches.
Flats are of many dimensions, ordinarily six to ten per sash or
about 18 x 22 inches or 13 x 18 inches outside measure. They may be
made of lumber from used boxes, but they ought to be uniform in size
and made to fit beds without loss of space. The more durable kinds
of wood, cypress or chestnut are preferred. Some growers make the
bottoms of the flats of square-mesh galvanized screen (hardware
cloth), about five or six meshes to the inch. This allows roots to
penetrate the soil of the beds, permits root pruning by shifting,
and there is no wooden bottom to rot.
Some growers use clay pots for plants which are receiving special
care. Their cost is an obstacle though they are used repeatedly.
Such pots also hold less soil for the area occupied than flats or
square dirt bands.
[Illustration: FIGURE 12.--Plants for the early crop. 1. Shows
plants in paper bands of excellent proportion and thrift but not yet
in bloom. 2. In blossom but fruit has not yet set. 3. Similar to 2
but a little further advanced and has actually set fruit.]