The farmer and mechanic., 1915-08-03
THE TOMATO
(Press Bulletin OF the Pan
Union


try who ever stop 10 th.- -
many important produce ~
minister to the health tv
and pleasures of mankirs S.
TO the worlds supply by H.. ~---i
of America. A few of thu. 81
dentally mentioned in a- Ne
article on The Tomato - ing
rent number of The BuU..t.- -F-
Pan American Union, By F+-9 -9
AlbeS, who writes: "A!d
THE greatest febrifuea l
y-qu1nlne-came into ey,~-sr -
cause the Incas Of Peru h.,a ~. -
ered the medicinal properties
bark of the Cinchona tree tA ,Ae
Of the coca plant, South 3-s-l'es
product, have served 10 alleyista '-'Aa
the world over by their eSs4rC.. IN
calne; Indian corn, or maize o.5s ~
known to the Old World before +, ~.
found to be the great fo05 s+s-f'As
the Americas; Irish as We'll u
potatoes had their first homo -
New World; the delicious carn''..t-.e ,-.e
known as chocolate. seryIn-
both food and drink. had been IS -
for centuries by the Incas Of par,,.r,
the Aztecs of Mexico before tn, ST.
lardS found 1t in these countria. -.
introduced 1T into Europe roha~c,
W AloSC IlHSS VI aromatic SfTtE.
circumScribe the earth. was a5dea "
mans pleasures by the Indians =
America. Many other products rni,4t
be enumerated. but amone fhan, sn
perhaps none ministers NOR. daIrb..
fully to the palate Of the modern arf.
cure than does the tomato thar his.
ClOuS, Succulent, refreshing vegetable.
fruit which gratifies the eve with us
beauty Of color, and form. stills hun
ger with its meat, and aSsuaaes thirst
with it's juice
The name tomato" seems to D.. ~
Aztec origin, given as tomatl by some
authorities and as xitomate by ,thers
and still persists in some few Of the
older Mexican town names. such a.
TOmatlan, Tomatepec. etc. but the
general COncenSuS Of opinion among
bOtanistS seems to be that the plant
and it's culture for edible purposes
| originated in Peru, whence it spread
| to other sections Of the Americas Il
| is certain, at any rate that ii was
| known and cultivated for its fruIt
centuries before the Columbian dis
cOvery.
! That the cultivated tomato vas
| known to some of the European bot
anists over $50 years ago is evidenced
by the fact that two large varieties
were described by Matthiolus as early
as 1854, but for many years it was
| only in southern Europe that the
value value Of the fruit for use IN
| soups and as a salad was recognized.
| It was quite generally used in Spain
| and Italy during the 18th century,.
but in England and in northern E1-
| rope generally the plant was grown
only in botanical gardens as curl.
osity and for ornamental purposes
It was seldom eaten, being commonly
regarded as unhealthy and even 2oS'+
onous. This belief probably arose be.
cause of the close resem blance 4
the plant to its allied relative ua
nightshade, or belladonna, and nad.
Of course, no foundation in fact IL
was not until the early part or th'
18th century that the tomato cams
into general use as a food IL northe'h
Europe and even in the United states
Since about 1885, however, the pSs
and cultivation Of the vegetable Ia,
grown to such an extent that II AdS
Inow become one Of the most lH'Po''
tant Of our garden crops
When a successful prcess of cahh!l5
the fruit was evolved the tomato -.
dustry at once assumed large p'oyg.
tons. It was found that for az con-,
Ing purposes the CdAIIeN =
as good as that fresh from the VIZ
and as a result the tomato has pfco'nyx
staple food the year ronno, al
millions Of dollars are no" lnre5;;
in canning factories in the -
States, whose CHIEF output coha!S-S >,
tomatoes From statistics comp-it" -
the National Gamers Assoclati"h -.
the year 1914 it fs learned thaI ai,o-33
the tomato-producing States A4'y
ranked first with a production =
$4,000 cases of canned tO1-a.y@ss
Delaware second, with 1885 oyV - r1[.,
Indiana third with 1,295,ve9 "a
The total production for tt@ sas
country amounted to 15,2-ZQgV 80 80
Of tomatoes and about 5OVg.YVg -
Of tomato pulp (used IN n"4"7 ~
sup, sauces. soups, etc -
was therefore over 20,0ty,l9y
of "a two-pound cans each. eT ~ 80.
put Of SO,000.O0O cans, Wei5h.L5 {
) and having an approximate -,ra-s
$28,O0O,OOO. If these ca--S
placed one on top Of the othel' ---'a.s-.r
sulting column would be FeI? .
$4,000 miles high. or Il place - \