The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-08-03
ORIGIN OF TOMATO
 DATES AGES BACK

Excepting our Scientists. there are comparatively few people in this eoun- try who ever stop to think of how many inpertant products that now minister to the health, sustenances and pleasures of mankind were added to the worlds supply by the discovery of America. A few of these are in 6cidentally mentioned in an interesting article on ssThe Tomato in the cur rent number of The Bulletin of the Pan American Union, by Edward Al bes who writes
 The greatest febrifuge known to- day-quinine- came into existence be- cause the Incas of Peru had discov- cred the medicinal properties of the bark of the Cinchona. treea the leaves of the coca plant, a South American product, have served to alleviate pain the world over by their essence-co-| caine; Indian corn. or naizes was un- known to the Old World before it was found to be the great food staple e the Americas; Irish as well as sweet potatoes had their first home in the New World: the delicious concoction known as chocolate. serving man as. both food and drink; had been known for centuries by the Incas of Reru and the Aztecs of Mexico before the Span iards found it in these countries and introduced it into Europe; tobacco. whose rings of aromatic smoke now circumscribe the earth. was added to. mans pleasures by the Indians of America Many other products 4nig ght be enumerated. but among them all perhaps none ministers more delight fully to the palate of the modern epicure than does the tomato, that Iucious, succulent, refreshing vegeta- ble-frIit which gratides the eye with | its beauty of color and forms stills hunger with it's meat, and assuages thirst with its juice
 The name s-tomato'' seems to be of Aztec origin, given asN Ntomatl by some authorities and as xitoTnate by others, and still persists in some few of the older Mexican town names, such as Tomatlan, Tomatepec, etc., and the general consensus of opinion among ibotanists seems to be that the plant land it's culture for edible purposes or siginated in Peru. whencetit spread to 1 ether sections of the Am ericas. It is certain, at any rate, that it was known | and cultivated for it's fruit centuries sbefore the Columbian sdiscovery.
 That the cultivated tomato was l known to some of the uropean 9bo- tanists over 36e years ago is evidenced l by the fact that two large varieties were described byi Matthiolus as early l as 1854. but for many years it was i only in southern Europe that the value of the fru. for use in soups and as a salad was recognized. It was quite generally used in Spain and Italy during the 7th century, but in Eng land and in northern Europe general | 1y the plant was grown only in botani- cal gardens as curiosity and for ornamental purposes. It was seldom | eaten. being commonly regarded as sunhealthy and even poisonous. This l belief probably arose because of the close resemblance of the plant to it's allied relative, the nigdtshade. or bel- i Iadonna. and had. of course. no foun- ] dation in fact. It was not until the early part of the 18th century that the tomato came into general use as 1 a food in northern Europe and even in the United States. Since about 1885, however, Che use and cultivation of the vegetable has grown to such an extent that it has now become one of the most important of our garden crops.
 When Ia successful process of can 4 min g the fruit was evolved the tomato industry at once assumed large pro- ] poTti ons. It was found that for all I cooking purposes the canned fruit was as good as that fresh from the vine, and as a. result the tomato has be- T come a staple food the year round. and millions of dollars are now invest ed in canning factories in the United
 
 tomatoes. From statistics conn piled by the National Gamers Association 1 for the year 1914 it is learned that among the tomato producing states Maryland ranked first with a prcduc- ton of 5.85O. 900 cases of canned to- natoes; Delaware second, with 1885, I 900 cases; Indiana, third. with 1,295,- 600 cases. The total production for the whole country amounted to 15.- I 222,o00 cases of tomatoes and about I 5,0o0,eoo eases of tomato pulp Cused in making catsup, sauces. soups, ete.) The total was therefore over 2o,000,- 000 cases of 24 two-pound cans each or an output of s480se0o,oo cans weighing 48o.ooo tons, and having ar approximate value of $28. 900, 900. Ii these cans were placed one on top o1 the cthers the resulting column would be very nearly 37.oo0 miles high, or if placed end to end in row, woule ancirclest the earth one and a half times ] at the equator. These figures dea