Professor of Vegetable Crops, Cornell University Editor of Market Growers Journal   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  ...

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 th

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 i

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. Tomato

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, requ

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

The tomato is not especially exacting as to care after it has been set out-of-doors. It will do business if given half a chance. At the same time, much can be done to favor earliness, good yield and high quality. In general, tomatoes are set in field or garden as soon as danger of frost is reasonably past. Suppose May 1st is average date of last killing frost. Growers would make general plantings from May 18th to 25th though, in rare instances, frost might occur as late as May 28th or 30th. The

Growers attending conventions will often stay up half the night to argue about training and pruning tomatoes and to debate the details of their favorite procedures. For home garden, the method is strongly commended. Many market gardeners follow the practice and it has gained materially of recent years in New England. Some market reports quote staked tomatoes separately and at a materially higher level than fruit from unpruned plants. Most of the southern shipping sections follow the practice and

The tomato, in most regions, is not one of our most "pestered" crops. Although over thirty diseases of tomatoes are discussed in books and bulletins, most of them are only occasionally serious or are subject to definite control methods. Enemies are generally worse in the warmer climates. Most home garden tomatoes and many commercial crops are grown without benefit of spray or dust. If trouble arises, county agent or college specialist can usually advise, suggesting methods suitable for local con

The most skillful production is in vain if marketing is not done well. At the same time, the quality of the goods is the principal factor in making the price and in moving the goods. Even then, if costs in production and marketing are too high, the enterprise is a failure. The differences between high and low quotations on the same market the same day, are usually fairly wide,—say, $1.75 to $2.50; or $0.75 to $1.25; or $0.20 to $0.25 per basket. These differences are sufficient to make the diffe

Happily, the home gardener does not need to keep books with his tomatoes. If he likes the culture and the product, he need not inquire further. Not so with the commercial grower. After all skill has been exercised in growing and selling, the books must show black and not red. This calls for good management and judgment not only as to what is best for the tomatoes and for the consumer but also how much one can afford to spend to gain a given advantage. Fortunately, quality, yield and economy gene

This book is not a monograph in the scientific sense and no attempt has been made to cite references for all statements. This list is intended to include the publications that are likely to prove most useful to one who wishes to read further about tomatoes. There are many others of great value, most of them being included in bibliographies in the works cited below. Unless otherwise stated, references are to publications of the state experiment stations, addresses of which may be obtained by writ