The Project Gutenberg eBook ofThe Tomato

The Project Gutenberg eBook ofThe TomatoThis ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online atwww.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.Title: The TomatoAuthor: Paul WorkRelease date: November 18, 2011 [eBook #38051]Language: EnglishCredits: Produced by Charlene Taylor, Betsie Bush, Scanned by RayBush and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team athttp://www.pgdp.net*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TOMATO ***

This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this ebook or online atwww.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this eBook.

Title: The TomatoAuthor: Paul WorkRelease date: November 18, 2011 [eBook #38051]Language: EnglishCredits: Produced by Charlene Taylor, Betsie Bush, Scanned by RayBush and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team athttp://www.pgdp.net

Title: The Tomato

Author: Paul Work

Release date: November 18, 2011 [eBook #38051]

Language: English

Credits: Produced by Charlene Taylor, Betsie Bush, Scanned by RayBush and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team athttp://www.pgdp.net

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE TOMATO ***

Professor of Vegetable Crops, Cornell UniversityEditor of Market Growers Journal

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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 Conventionof the Pan American Republics and theUnited States. August 11, 1910

FREDERICK J. PRITCHARD

1874-1931

Originator of tomato varieties of improved type and resistant to diseaseFREDERICK J. PRITCHARD1874-1931Originator of tomato varieties of improved type and resistant to disease

CHAPTERPAGEIntroduction11I.The Tomato is a Great Food and Crop Plant13II.Choose the Soil and Feed the Plant25III.The Best in Seed is None too Good38IV.Strong Plants for Early Maturity and Heavy Crop53V.Good Culture Favors Good Returns71VI.To Train Them Up or Let Them Spread79VII.The Eternal Battle with Insects and Diseases85VIII.Skillful Selling Crowns the Enterprise93IX.Operating in the Red or in the Black116References119Index133

F. J. PritchardFrontispieceFIGURE1.The tomato is the leader among greenhouse vegetables192.The tomato flower223.Long section of tomato flower234.How nitrate nitrogen affects tomato growth275.Effect of omission of phosphorus from complete fertilizer336.Cultivating and side-dressing tomatoes367.Types of tomato interiors438.The Earliana tomato459.Marglobe plant4810.Marglobe fruit4911.A good small greenhouse for plant growing5812.Plants for the early crop6113.Tin can prepared for sowing tomato seed6414.Plants that have been crowded and overgrown6915.Tomatoes pruned and trained with post, wire and twine8016.Fine clusters on trained plants8117.Resistance to fusarium wilt8718.Diseases of the tomato8919.Packing tomatoes on a farm9920.A California packing house10121.Puffiness is a common defect in tomatoes10222.The lug box10423.Lug boxes as loaded in car10524.The square braid basket10625.The Connecticut half bushel box10726.Repacked tomatoes10827.Cellulose film is used for repacked tomatoes109

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 commercialsuccess:—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.

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 intexture, 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 inWestern 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:

1929-38AverageAcresThousandsValueMillion dollars193919401929-38Average19391940U.S. for canning369358386192424for fresh market177210204243429Total546568590435853

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 isrecognized.

Figure 1.—The tomato is the leader among greenhouse vegetables.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.

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 possiblemethod 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]

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 areneeded 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 ofgrowth. 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 limitedlength.

Figure 2.—The tomato flower. Varieties differ inFigure 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° F., almost as well at 70° F., poorly at 50° F. and verypoorlyat 100° F.

Figure 3.—Long section of tomato flower.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 eightsepals 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.

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.

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 favoringgreen 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 maximumreturn.

Figure 4.—How nitrate nitrogen affects tomato growth. Plants, grown in quartz sand, with plenty of other nutrients,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 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 sidedressing but even here ammonia and other forms are now considered suitable when the soil is warm.

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. Plantswhose 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.

1. Non-vegetative and non-fruitful. Plantswhose 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 vegetativegrowth 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.

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 uponearliness.

Figure 5.—Effect of omission of phosphorus from complete fertilizer in Western New York.Figure 5.—Effect of omission of phosphorus from complete fertilizer in Western New York.

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 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 equivalentto 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.

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 potassiumnitrate, 1 part. Five to eight pounds of this mixture are dissolved in 50 gallons of water and about ¼ pint or ½ 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 rootsystem.

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