Evening star., 1947-02-09
Tomatoes for Home Gardens
Varieties Differ in Size and Acidity;
Resistance to Disease Is Factor
By w. H. Younamon

smaller fru1ted, very early var1etleS
that have received considerable at
tention in recent years. They are,
at best, only three to five days
earlier than the preceding varieties,
but because Of their scanty foliage,
they sun scald in this area and are
of use only for the first pickings. A
more practical approach would be
to purchase few potted plants and
give them extra care. In that way
early fruit would be obtained from
vines that could be expected to con-
tinue to produce through the sea-
son. The flavor Of these small
fruited varieties seems to be more
mild, making them excellent for
eating.
The so-called small-fruited TO-
matoes, cherry, pear and plum
(either red or Yellow are different
from those mentioned above which
are more closely related to the
standard garden sorts. Gardeners
grow the cherry, pear and plum
tomatoes for preserves and for use
in salads. One or two vines, how
ever, will supply all of the fruit
needed for such purposes as they
are very productive.
Some Yellow Varieties.
Among the yellow tomatoes we
have Jubilee, Yellow Queen, Orange
King and Yellow Ponderosa, Jubilee
is orange -colored and Of excellent
flavor, being mild and relatively
free of acidity. Most gardeners who
like the yellow tomatoes prefer
either Jubilee or orange King. All
have about the same maturity Pc
riod as the other standard garden
sorts. None are classed as disease
resistant although Jubilee seemed
to be more resistant to the potato
blight than any other variety in my
garden last season. Yellow Queen
has rather scanty foliage.
Within the last three years sew
eral hybrid varieties have been Of
fered and some now appear to be
worthy of consideration. Normally
hybrids are more productive than
the -pollinated varieties. The
first tried out, however, did not
seem to be superior in any way to
the Marglobe. This may not hold
with the more recent introductions.
For the making of tomato paste
many gardeners have adopted the
Italian variety, San Mariana, a
long cylindrical-shaped tomato that
is quite meaty. ! 1t has an excel
lent flavor and is only slightly acid.
There are several strains of the
San Mariana. They vary in size
of fruit as well as productiveness.
The plants are especially suscep-
tible to diseases of the foliage. The
fruits are orange red.
Ox-Heart and Ponderosa.
The so-called pink -fruited toma-
toes are not widely grown, al
though the Ox-heart is a favorite of
many. 1t is relatively solid, has
small seed cavities with few seeds
and is mild. 1t takes the Ox-heart
nearly as long to reach fruiting
stage as the Ponderosa. CThe true
Ponderosa is more nearly pink than
scarlet red.) There is consider
able confusion between these two
varieties and some seed houses sell
them as the same. However, there
is a marked difference in shape Of
fruit, acidity and flavor. A new
pink -fruited tomato, Sweetmeat, Is
considered wilt-resistant. It is
early, rather small fruited and
worthy of trial in local gardens.
Inasmuch as the home gardener
seldom has need for more than two
or three dozen plants, it will be i'm
practicable to grow many varieties,
so it is suggested that not more
than half dozen plants of an early
maturing variety be grown. The
remainder should be of one or more
of the main crop, leavy-fruiting
varieties, preferably Of the disease
resistant ones. -