Adaptation of Varieties
Whatever may be their botanical origin, the modern varieties of
cultivated tomatoes vary greatly in many respects, and while these
differences are always of importance their relative importance differs
with conditions. When the great desideratum is the largest possible
yield of salable fruit at the least expenditure of labor, the qualities
of the vine may be the most important ones to be considered, while in
private gardens and for a critical home market and where closer
attention and better cultivation can be given, they may be of far less
importance than qualities of fruit.
=Habits of growth.=--Whether it be standard or dwarf, compact or
spreading, is sometimes of great importance as fitting the sorts for
certain soils and methods of culture. On heavy, moist, rich land, where
staking and pruning are essential to the production of fruit of the best
quality, it is of importance that we use sorts whose habits of growth
fit them for it; while on warm, sandy, well-drained land, staking and
pruning may be of little value, and a different habit of growth more
desirable. We have sorts in which the vine is relatively strong growing
with few branches, upright, with long nodes and small fruit clusters
well scattered over the vine. They are usually very productive through a
long season but generally late in maturing. Stocks of this type are
sometimes sold, I think improperly, as giant climbing, or Tree tomato.
The Buckeye State is a good type of these sorts. (Fig. 31.)
[Illustration: FIG. 31--BUCKEYE STATE, SHOWING LONG NODES AND DISTANCE
BETWEEN FRUIT CLUSTERS]
Other varieties make a stout and vigorous but shorter growth, with more
and heavier branches, shorter nodes and many small medium-sized clusters
of fruit well distributed over the plant and which mature through a
fairly long season. These sorts are usually very productive and our most
popular varieties generally belong to this type, of which the Stone
(Fig. 32) is a good representative of the more compact and the Beauty of
the more open growing.
[Illustration: FIG. 32--STONE, AND CHARACTERISTIC FOLIAGE]
Other varieties form many short, weak, sprawling branches, with
usually large and sometimes very large clusters of fruit produced
chiefly near the center of the plant and which mature early and all
together. Plants of this type will often mature their entire crop and
die by the time those of the first type have come into full crop. The
Atlantic Prize (Fig. 33) and Sparks Earliana are examples of this type.
In sharp contrast with the above is the tomato De Laye, often called
Tree tomato. This originated about 1862 in a garden at Chateau de Laye,
France. In this the plant rarely exceeds 18 inches in hight, is
single-stemmed or with few very short branches, the nodes very short,
the fruit clusters few and small. From this, by crossing with other
types, there has been developed a distinct class of dwarf tomatoes which
are of intermediate form and character and are well represented by the
Dwarf Champion (Fig. 34). Early maturity is sometimes the most important
consideration of all, though, because of increasing facilities for
shipping from the South, it is less commonly so than formerly. For
shipping and canning it is generally, though not always, desirable that
the crop mature as nearly together as possible, that it may be gathered
with the fewest number of pickings and advantage taken of a favorable
market; while for the home garden and market a longer season is
desirable.
[Illustration: FIG. 33--ATLANTIC PRIZE, AND ITS NORMAL FOLIAGE]
=Foliage.=--Abundant, broad and close, or scanty cut and open foliage is
sometimes of importance, according to whether the location, season and
other conditions make it desirable that the foliage protect the fruit
from the sun or admit the sunlight, with as little obstruction as
possible, to the center of the plant. In different sorts, we have
gradations from those in which the leaves are so deeply cut as to have a
fern-like appearance, to those like the Magnus, or potato-leaved, in
which the margin of each leaflet is entire, and from those in which the
leaflets are so few and small as to scarcely shut out the light at all
to those in which they are so numerous that the light can hardly
penetrate to the center of the plant. The Atlantic Prize is an
illustration of the scanty foliaged sorts, and the Royal Red or Buckeye
State of those in which it is more abundant. As to color, the foliage
varies from the dark blue-green of the Buckeye State to the light,
distinctly yellowish-green of the Honor Bright.
=Varietal differences as to fruit.=--These are often more important than
those of vine. For canning, for forcing, and some other uses and for
certain markets, a medium and uniform size is a very important quality,
while in other cases uniformity is not important and the larger the
individual fruits, provided they be well formed, the better. We have
different sorts in which the size of the fruit varies from that of the
Currant, which is scarcely 1 inch in circumference, to that of
Ponderosa, of which well-formed specimens over 20 inches in
circumference have been grown.
[Illustration: FIG. 34--DWARF CHAMPION. NOTE CHARACTER OF FOLIAGE]
=Shape.=--It is always desirable that the outline of the vertical
section shall be a flowing line with a broad and shallow, or no
depression at the stem end and as little as possible at the opposite
point; but the relative importance of this, or whether the general
outline shall be round or oval, either vertically or horizontally,
forming a round, long or flat fruit, is largely determined by how the
fruit is to be used, and by individual taste. A round fruit is best
for canning; a long one is the most economical for slicing, though some
prefer a flat one for this purpose. It is always desirable that the
outline of the horizontal section shall be smooth, flowing and
symmetrical, and if there be any distinct sutures that they shall be
shallow and broad; but the relative importance of this, and whether the
outline be round or oval, is wholly a matter of individual taste. Some
people and markets prefer one shape and others a very different one.
Size and smoothness of fruit are the factors which control price in some
markets, while in others these points are quite secondary to color and
character of flesh.
We have sorts which vary from the perfectly spherical ones of the grape
and cherry, to those in which the vertical diameter is less than a third
of that of the horizontal section; and the pear-shaped in which the
vertical diameter is twice or thrice that of the longest horizontal
section, and from those in which the outline of both the vertical and
horizontal sections is smooth and flowing to those in which the vertical
section has a deep indentation at both the stem and opposite ends, and
those in which the horizontal section is broken by deep indentures and
sutures often disposed with great irregularity.
For shipping long distances, for the rough handling, and for the easy
preparation for the fruit for canning, a thick, tough skin is desirable,
while for home use it is objectionable. Freedom from blemish or skin
crack is also often an important quality, and we have sorts which vary
greatly in these respects. The color of the skin, whether purple, red,
yellow or white, is a matter of taste. In some markets the choice is
given to purple fruit, like the Beauty, while in others it can only be
sold at a reduced price. There are few who would care to use either
yellow or white fruit for canning or cooking in any way, but many prefer
them for slicing, or like to use them with the red for this purpose; we
have sorts showing every gradation from white or light yellow in color
through shades of red to dark purple-red, and still others which show
distinct colors in splashings and shadings.
=Character of flesh.=--Many consider that the greater the number of cells
and the larger the proportion of flesh to that of pulp and seed the
better. This may be true of itself, but the fruit-like acid tomato
flavor which most people value is found chiefly in the pulp, and the
fruit which has not a due proportion of pulp and flesh seems to be
insipid and tasteless. Again, the division into many small cells is
often connected with a large and pithy placenta and unevenness in
maturity and coloring, which faults often more than overbalance any
advantage from small cells and thick flesh. The size and character of
the placenta are important qualities.
In some sorts it is large, dry, pithy and hard, extending far into the
fruit even to below the center; and sometimes seems to divide into
secondary or branch placentas or masses of hard cellular matter, while
in other varieties it is small and so soft and juicy as scarcely to be
distinguished from the flesh. Usually, but not invariably, the large and
pithy placenta is correlated with large-sized fruit having many cells;
where this is the case it practically necessitates the cutting away and
wasting of a large proportion of the fruit in preparing it for canning,
so that the canners usually prefer round, medium-sized fruits.
The character of the interior of the fruit varies greatly in different
varieties. Both the exterior and divisional walls vary in thickness and
in consistency. In some varieties they are comparatively thin, hard and
dry; in others, thicker, softer and more juicy. In some cases there is
but little interior wall, the fruit being divided into but few--even but
two--cells of even size and shape, while in others there are many cells
of varying size and shape. Varieties also differ greatly as to the
amount, consistency and flavor of the pulp and the number of seeds. It
requires from 300 to 500 pounds of ripe fruit to furnish a pound of seed
of Ponderosa, while with some of the smaller, earlier sorts one can get
a pound of seed from 100 to 200 pounds of fruit.
=Coloring and ripening.=--Uniformity and evenness in coloring and
ripening are an important quality. Tomatoes generally color and ripen
from within outward, and from the point opposite the stem upward, but
varieties differ in the evenness and rapidity with which this takes
place. It is always desirable that the ripening be as even as possible
and that there be no green and hard spots either at the surface or in
the flesh, but often perfection in this respect is correlated with such
lack of size and solidity as to counterbalance it. Rapidity in ripening,
in a general way, is desirable for fruit to be used at home, and
undesirable in that which is to be shipped.
The time a tomato fruit will remain in usable condition and the amount
of rough handling it will endure without becoming unsalable are most
important commercial qualities depending largely upon the combined
effects of the form and structure of the fruit, solidity and firmness of
the flesh and ripening habit. In all these respects we have varieties
which differ greatly, from the Honor Bright, which requires as much time
to ripen, and when ripe is firm-fleshed and will remain usable as long
as a peach, to those which 24 hours after reaching their full size are
fully colored and ripe, and in 24 hours more are so over-ripe and soft
that they will break open of their own weight.
These are only some of the varietal differences of the tomato. Are such
differences of practical importance? I think they are, and that a wise
selection of the type best suited to one's own particular conditions and
requirements is one of the most essential requisites of satisfactory
tomato culture. How important it seems to practical tomato growers may
be illustrated by an actual case.
In a certain section of New Jersey the money-making crop is early
tomatoes, and they are grown to such an extent that from an area with a
radius of not exceeding 5 miles they have shipped as much as 15,000
bushels in one day, and the shipments will often average 8,000 bushels
for days together. They have tried a great number of sorts, but have
settled upon a certain type of a well-known variety as that best suited
to their conditions and needs. Seeds of this variety which are supposed
to produce plants of the exact type wanted can be bought from seedsmen
for 10 cents an ounce and at much lower rates for larger quantities,
but when one of the most successful growers of that locality, because of
change of occupation, offered seed selected by him for his own use for
sale at auction, it brought $3 an ounce. This price was paid because of
the confidence of the bidders that the seed could be depended upon to
produce plants of the exact type wanted for their conditions; and I was
assured that the use of this high-priced seed actually added very
largely to the profits from every field in that vicinity in which it was
used, but the use of some of the same lot of seed by planters in Florida
resulted in financial loss because the type of plant produced was not
suited to their conditions and requirements.
A wise answer can only be given after a study of each case, and no one
can do this so well as the planter himself. He should know, as no one
else can know, his own conditions and requirements, and should be able
to form very exact ideas of just what he wants, and the doing so is, in
my opinion, one of the most important requisites for satisfactory tomato
growing. I also believe that it is as impossible for a man to answer
offhand the question, "What is the best variety of tomato?" as for a
wise physician to answer the question, "What is the best medicine?"
=Varietal names= and descriptions mean something quite different in the
case of plants like the tomato, which are propagated by seed, from what
they do with plants like the apple and strawberry, which are propagated
by division. In the latter case all the plants of the variety are but
parts of the primal origination, and so are alike. A description is
simply a more or less complete and accurate definition of what a
certain immutable thing really is, but in the case of plants propagated
by seed the variety is made up of all the plants which accord with a
certain ideal. Bailey says, "Of all those which have more points of
resemblance than of difference," and a description of the variety is of
that ideal which in common practice is not fixed, but may and generally
does vary not only with different people but from time to time. The only
foundation for varietal names in plants of this class is an agreement as
to the ideal the name shall stand for. Under modern horticultural
practice when anyone has been able to secure seed most of which he is
reasonably sure will develop into plants of a distinct type different
from that of any sort known to him, he has a distinct variety, so that
it is not surprising that we should find that American seedsmen offer
tomato seed under more than 300 different names, and those of Europe
under more than 200 additional, so that we have more than 500 varietal
names, each claiming to stand for a distinct sort. Now it is quite
possible--indeed, it is certain--that we might have 500 tomato plants
each different in some respect, either of vine, leaf, habit of growth,
or character of fruit, from any of the others and that these differences
might make plants of one type better suited to certain conditions and
uses than any other; but it is very certain that these 500 names do not
stand for such differences. It is doubtless true that a portion--though
I think but a small portion--of these different sorts exist simply as a
matter of commercial expediency; but by far a greater part of them exist
because one has found that plants of a certain character were better
suited to some set of conditions and requirements than any sort with
which he was acquainted, and having secured seed which he thought would
produce plants of that character, has offered it as of a distinct sort.
It is probable that a better acquaintance with sorts already in
cultivation would have prevented the naming of many of these stocks as
distinct varieties. What is of far more practical importance, the same
name does not always stand for precisely the same type with different
seedsmen, or even with the same seedsmen in different years; nor are the
seedsmen's published descriptions such as would enable any one to learn
from them just what type he will receive under any particular name, or
which sort he should buy in order to get plants of any desired type.
Seedsmen's catalogs are published and distributed gratuitously at great
expense, and are issued, primarily, for the sake of selling the seeds
they offer. They answer the purpose for which they are designed, in
proportion as they secure orders for seeds. Will this be measured by the
accuracy and completeness of their descriptions? I think that it needs
but slight acquaintance with the actual results of advertising to answer
in the negative, and whatever your answer may be, the answer given by
the catalogs themselves is an emphatic no.
In a recent case I looked very carefully through the catalogs of 125
American seedsmen who listed a certain variety which is very markedly
deficient in a certain desirable quality, and found that but 37 of the
125 mentioned the quality in connection with the variety at all and of
these but 7 admitted the deficiency, while 30 told the opposite of the
truth. Even if a complete, exact and reliable description of a variety
was published by disinterested persons, one could not be sure of getting
seed from seedsmen which would produce plants of that exact type, since
there is no agreement or uniformity among them as to the exact type any
varietal name shall stand for.
One way of getting seed of the exact type wanted is to do as the South
Jersey growers did: go to work and breed up a stock which is uniformly
of the type wanted; but this involves more painstaking care than many
are willing to give, though I think not more than it would be most
profitable for them to expend for the sake of getting seed just suited
to their needs.
A second and easier way is to secure samples of the most promising sorts
and from the most reliable sources and grow them on one's own farm;
select the stock which seems best for him and buy enough of that exact
stock for several years' planting, and in the meantime be looking for a
still better one. Tomato seed stored in a cool, dry place will retain
its vitality for from three to seven years.