The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-09-21
VEGETABLES TO ORDER
REMARKABLE IMPROVEMENT MADE
IN "GARDEN TRUCK"
Gardeners Have Produced SeedIess
Tomatoes, Climbing Cucumbers
and Other MarveIs.
New York Mail and Express.

Never in the history of market garden
ing have such fine fruits and vegetables
been seen in the local markets as now.
and all because the man with the hoe-at
least. he who helps to supply the big cities
with their daily supply of fresh garden
truck-is more wide-awake TO the demands
of the hour han his city brother gives him
credit for being.
If one were TO compare the flavor, SUBJ
stance, appearance and general good quail
tiles OF the vegetables sold here ten years
ago with what are offered in the markets
to-day, the difference would be striking,
even to those who know little of such mat
tiers.
Probably no more striking example of the
progress made in the time mentioned can
be found than is furnished by the tomato.
Here is an humble product of the garden.
beloved by all men who nave a proper
fondness for good things, that has been so
changed and improved of late as hardly
TO know itself. And it is strange, yet true.
that the improvement in the tomato has
been due largely to the discovery OF that
popular ailment, appendicitis.
When the surgeons first established the
fact that appendicitis and collie were not
one and the same thing, and begun to
operate for the relief and cure OF appen
dicitis. there was much discussion as to the
cause of the then dread affliction. The
conviction soon became general that it was
due to the presence of foreign bodies in
the appendix, such as fruit and vegetable
seeds, and, thereupon. the doom of the
tomato was sounded because of the many
seeds contained in it. There were large
and small and highly colored tomatoes in
the market. but ali were full of seeds.
Here then was a serious situation con-
fronting the big tomato growers, as well
as gardeners generally.
MET THE SITUATION.
There were then and there are still men
who make a speciality of tonnage growing
and who originate all the new varieties
that are offered to the owe These did
not despair. but said If the public wouldn't
eat a tomamto with seeds in it they'd
grow a tomato without seeds. And they
did. Not entirely without seeds, TO be sure,
but with so few seeds in them as to justify
the assertion OF the orginators that they
had produced a seedless tomato; where
upon the tomato was restored to popular
favor.
But that was not the only change made in
the tomato. Without the great number of
seeds they were found to be far sweeter
in flavor. This flavor was retained while
the size and solidity were increased, until
to-day there are tomatoes running up to
six inches in diameter, from two TO four
pounds each in weight. that are as solid
as a piece Of meat, defy all sorts Of wealth.
the coming of frost and of which as high
as twenty tons have been taken from a
single acre. The tomato specialists are
justly proud of their accomplishment
But Improvement in other directions has
been just as great and often without such
good reason Many gardeners objected to
the old way OF growing lima beans. They
1tIpst uyant ~ o0 m tha axnanco Of QUITTING
poles and sticking them in the ground
for the beans to run up on, II ii took the
beans a long while to mature. anyway so
they turned out a bush lima bean, which
grows only two feet high, needs no sup
port and upon which the beans mature
quickly and in great quantities. While
they were at IL they originated a new lot
of string beans which were ready for the
market all of two weeks earlier than the
usual kinds, which were really stringless
and SO tender they snapped when not
picked carefully. That was another big
stride
BIG STRAWBERRIES.
Then the men who know more about
strawberries than most folks could dream
Of thought they'd see what they could do.
First they increased the size of the berries
until they had shown specimens almost
as big as ones fist, with whole fields aver
aging a dozen to a full quart measure.
LACA NACJ A4PAOHCa AN AofOA VI GNC O6
berries until they were as sweet as the
wild berry. After that varieties were in
troduced that were earlier than others,
which extended the season for this fruit.
Not satisfied with that, a progressive
Frenchman brought forth a strawberry
that is a marvel in its way, for 1t produces
three crops in a year and Is practically
ever-bearing until killed by frost. These
berries can be picked in the spring, in the
summer and again in the autumn. France
was so proud of this achievement that the
originator received a certificate from one
of the big societies.
In the meantime the fellow whose hobby
is a perfect cucumber was not idle. Some
one objected to the irregular shape of the
| cucumber, and so the cucumber sharp grew
a strain of cucumbers that were of a uni
formly perfect shape and deep green In
color and seemed about perfect until an
| other grower thought there were too many
protuberances-warts. the growers call
them-on these latest ones. So he went to
work and grew them so there were very
few warts on them, and the spines, or
ribs, were all even and a regular distance
apart. Another cucumber man thought they
were mighty fine on the outside, but ought
to ave fewer seeds, and so he grew them
with fewer seeds. 1t seems that nothing
more could be done when an enterprising
Jap" probably disliking to see cucum-
bers spoiled by lying on the ground. placed
before the world a climbing variety that
grows on poles and which, like the French.
mans strawberries, bears continually until
4 hlllCd Wy llOot-
HUMBLE ONION MADE PROUD.
The struggle for supremacy in the vari.
Gus lines continued. and slowly. like the
tortoise, the humble onion pressed forward
for recognition. Spain produced a large
onion that was fine grained, of mild flavor
and almost white. The native onion grow.
ers thought 1t was fine and that they could
turn out something just as good. IL not bet
ter. They tried and succeeded. and during
the proper season the fine, big white onions
on sale in all the fancy fruit stores, which
the dealers call Spanish onions. are the re-
suit of that effort. They are Spanish onions
only to the uninitiated buyer. for they have
been no nearer Spain than Long island Oh
New Jersey, where they are grown.
Despite the fact that these onions are
often fifteen inches around. and grow sc
freely that close to two thousand bushel:
Of them nave been taken from a single
acre. they are so mild and tender that any
one can eat them without Ill effect. Physi
clans regard them with much favor. be-
cause they induce a natural sleep, and pa
TENTS who could by no means eat the ordi
nary, strong onion can partake OF then
freely. As IL is. the homegrown produce
to-day excels all the onions brought from
abroad. not excepting the far-famed onions
OF Bermuda.
What has been told here simply fur
nishes an idea of the great progress made
In this humble line of industry. Every
vegetable on the market has been improved