THE TOMATO TEXT

Produced by Charlene Taylor, Betsie Bush, Scanned by Ray Bush and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net -------------------------------------- Transcriber's Note. Hyphenation has been standardized. -------------------------------------- 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