The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1915-07-31
ORIGIN OF THE TOMATO.
Was Known and Cultivated Long Be-
for Discovery of America.

Excepting our scientists, there are
comparatively few people in this coun
try who ever stop to think of how
many important products that now
minister to the health, sustenanee, and
pleasures of mankind were added to
the world S supply by the discovery of
America A few of these are Incl
dcntally mentioned in an interesting
article on ''The Tomato in the eur
rent number Of the Bulletin of the Pan
American Union, by Edward Albes, who
writes:
"The greatest febrifuge known to-
quinine-came into existence be
cause the Incas of Peru had discovered
the medical properties of the bark of
the Cinchona tree; the leaves Of the
cocoa plant, a South American product. |
! have served to alleviate pain the world
| over by their essence-cocoaine; In
| dian corn, or maize, was unknown to
| the Old World before it was found to |
| be the great food staple of the Ameri- |
| cas-; Irish rs we'll 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 Peru and the Aztecs OF
| Mexico before the Spaniards found 1t
! in these countries and introduced it into
/ Europe; tobacco, whose rings OF aro-
matte smoke now cireumscribe the
earth, was added to man s pleasures by
the Indians of America Many other
i products might be enumerated, but
among them all perhaps none ministers
more delightfully."- to the palate of the
modern epicure than does the toma-
i to. that lucious, succulent, refreshing
4 vegetable fruit which gratifies the
eye with its beauty of color and form,
stills hunger with its meat, and as
| SAUCES thirst with its juice
The name tomato seems to be of
Aztec origin, given as tomatl by some
authorities and as Xitomate by others.
and still persists in some few of tho
older Mexican town names, such as
+ Jonathan, Tomatcpec, etc, but the
general consensus of opinion among
botanists seems to be that the plant
: and its culture for edible purposes orig
mated in Peru, whence it spread to
! other sections of the Americas. 1t is
certain, at any rate, that it wasknOWn
!, and cultivated for its fruit centuries
+ before the Columbian discovery
. That the cultivated tomato was
: | KNOWN TO some Oh the European bOl-
r. anists over 500 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
of the fruit for use in soups and as a
salad was recognized. 1t was quite
e generally used in Spain and Italy dur
ing the 18th century, but III England
f and in northern Europe generally the
plant was grown only in botanical gar
& dcns as a curiosity and for ornamental
purposes 1t was seldom eaten, being
, commonly regarded as unhealthy and
: even poisonous. This belief probably
arose because of the close resemblance
II of the plant to it's allied relative the
nightshade, or belladonna, and had, OF
II course, no foundation in fact. 1t was
L not until the early part of the 10Th
century that the tomao came into gen
is eral use as food in northern Europe
n and even in the United States. Since
about 1885 however, the use and cul
n tivation of the vegetable has grown tC
n such an extent that it has now become
one of the most important of our gar
ID den crops.