Evening star., 1947-02-09

should wait to SOW tomato seed
in fats or pots. It takes eight to
ten weeks to grow plants from seed
to transplanting size.
The gardener should give lit
tie thought as to the tomato varie-
ties to be started and their respec-
tive values in the home garden. AS
one might expect to find in any
fruit or vegetable that is as, inn
portant as the tomato, plant breed
ers have developed many types with
their color, shape and qualities
varying widely Some gardeners
prefer large tomatoes; others seek
disease resistant ones. Some varie-
ties are meaty with thick walls and
small seed cavities. There is con-
siderable variation in the degree OF
acidity.
The Ponderosa, a huge tomato
that has been widely planted for
many years and still popular, should
be compared with some of the new
er disease-resistant varieties that
are gaining in popularity. Still
newer are the "determinant" varie-
ties that do not have quite the
spreading habit of growth that the
older varieties do. If you desire
extra early fruit there are the
smaller fruited varieties from the
northern experiment stations. All
have their advantages and disad-
vantages.
Ponderosa Has Large Fruit.
The Ponderosa might well be
taken as a basis of comparison. 1t
tends to have deep folds in the
skin, which is a disadvantage for
peeling and ,wasteful. 1t is not dis
ease resistant and hence is subject
to the common diseases OF the
foliage which in some years are
severe in this area. The Ponderosa
does not ripen uniformly, often hay
ing green cap" when mature.
The fruits are very large and the
vines are relatively productive.
There is a considerable variation
in the strains sold under the variety
name.
Some gardeners now consider the
Marglobe as the standard garden
variety OF tomato. It is fairly pro-
ductive and of relatively strong
growth, although the foliage is a bit
lighter than that Of the Ponderosa.
The fruits are of fair size although
not in the same class as that of the
Ponderosa. The fruits are free Of
folds and ripen uniformly without
the Objectionable green cap" In
wet seasons there is tendency for
them to crack about the stem end,
but seldom<as bad as with the Pom
derosa. The vines are resistant to
several of the foliage diseases.
The Rutgers variety, which is
quite similar to the Marglobe, is be-
lieved to have a slightly higher re-
sistance to the foliage diseases than
the Marglobe. Otherwise the two
are quite similar, both as to growth
and productiveness.
Potato Blight Hits Hard.
Pan America, the newest Of the
disease resistant varieties, is claimed
to be the most disease resistant of
all varieties. However, none OF the
varieties are in any way resistant to
the potato blights which were SO
destructive in 1946. With many
local gardeners Pan America is not
as productive as the Marglobe and
Rutgers. These three varieties have
sufficient foliage to protect their
fruit from sun scald. They begin
to bear in 73 to rs days.
For early varieties there are the
Bonnie Best, Break O'Day, Pritchard
and Earliana, which fruit in So to
66 days. Break O'Day and Pritch-
ard are the only ones classed as
disease resistant. The fruits are
relatively smooth and ripen uni
formly. All seem to be productive
under local conditions. The foliage
is ample to protect the fruits and
stem cracking is about the same on
all varieties. Pritchard seems to
have more of "determinant"
habit of growth than the others.
Break O'Day is recommended for
rich heavy soils rather than the
lighter sandy soils.
Bounty, Victor and Valiant are