Matilda Brotherline's Tomato Adventure

Matilda was a real little girl who won a prize for her recitation skills in 1828. That is all I found in a quick search. She may have lived in a Frankstown home like the Jacob Lingenfelter family. His house was built in 1824.

The War of 1812 and Tomatoes

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The War of 1812  had even more to do with tomatoes, and seeds in general, than one would think!  The article below is an interesting view on how the war effected New Englanders.

The United States relied on Europe for most of its seeds until then. While people gave away seeds, traded seeds and sold their own extra seed stock, large commercial seed producers were more a product of necessity when the government stopped importation and then the  trade embargo of 1807 took effect.  We had some really fast ships that ran the blockades and cleaned up financially when they made it back with goods, but, in general,  the War of 1812 hurt merchants and caused depressions in many coastal towns.

In this illustration the Embargo Act of 1813 is personified by a huge 

terrapin, who seizes a violator of the law by the seat of his breeches.

Only For the Tomato Obsessed - Circa 1870 Tomatoes

James Gregory was the respected seedsman from Marblehead, Massachusetts.  If you read this article (I liked it) the problem consumers had in identifying what they were buying becomes clear. Articles such as this where a respected seedsman  gives a review of the current  available tomatoes were popular.  Without them you were just hoping the description was accurate.   Names were the hook to suck you in! Adding the word "Improved" to an older variety gave a tomato  new life.  Or simply relabeling a variety with a more snappy name. Complicating things, seeds offered didn't necessarily remain true to type over a decade or two. If you don't want to read it,  scroll down and see the great tomato engraving at the bottom of the page. Annual Report of the Secretary of the Massachusetts State Board of Agriculture,  Volume 19, Parts 1871-1872 From the Report of the Committee. James J. H. Gregory, Chairman

Over thirty years ago I sold the first tomatoes ever brought into the market of my native town. At that time we knew of but one variety—the large red ; a year or two after, some of the purple sorts began to creep in. For several years past I have raised for seed purposes upwards of twenty varieties of this popular vegetable. Amidst so many varieties the new beginner stands confounded, asking, "What shall I plant?" Let us first examine into the characteristics of some of these varieties, and then, having these before us, we shall be prepared for a discussion of their merits. 

The old classification was into Large Red and Round Red; Large Red meaning a large-sized tomato of an irregular shape, and Round Red, any flat-round or spherical sort. 

Grouping together such of the varieties now before the public as admit of being thus classified, under Large Red, Alger, Chihuahua; and under Round Red, Wonder, General Grant (#9 in illus.), Charter Oak, Mammoth Cluster, Essex Early (#3 in illus.), Crimson Cluster, Orangefield, Powel's Early, Trophy (#2 in illus.), Valencia Cluster, Boston Market (#8 in illus. plus, see a pretty engraving at bottom of this page), Tilden (#4 in illus.) New Mexican, DeLaye, Rising Sun, Lester's Perfected, or Fegee, and New White Apple, Grape, Cherry and Plum. Some of these grow a little irregular, but for the most part are round in shape.
 Subdividing into spherical and flatround, I should put into the first class Mammoth Cluster, Charter Oak, Orangefield (#12 in illus.), Essex Early, New Mexican, New White Apple, Grape, Cherry and Plum. Let me here note, that, probably owing to a growth interrupted by drouth, the second setting of the fruit of a round variety may be irregular in shape. Into the second class go the remainder, with the limitation that Tilden's Tomato, DeLaye, Cook's Favorite, Maupay, Keyes Trophy, and Rising Sun, hold nearly an intermediate position. Early York, Philadelphia Early, Hubbard and Dwarf Scotch, would be classed with Large Red, except for their size. The Fig Tomatoes, yellow and red, make a class by themselves. 

Suppose a beginner was asked which of the sort he should plant for Large Red; I remark that Alger is early and prolific; Chihuhua is very late, enormously large, but apt to decay before fully maturing. I also add that the Round Red sorts are much the more popular in the market. Of the Round Red kind I will here remark, that for want of proper care in selecting seed stock, and also from a natural tendency to deteriorate, which may be influenced by locality and season, they will sometimes grow irregular in shape. Of those named, Cook's Favorite has so deteriorated with me, that for the future I shall not grow it. Tilden, though yet an excellent tomato, is not so regular in shape as when it was first sent out. (By the way, the same was said of the General Grant tomato by 1886.  It had become less smoothly spherical.)

Let us now classify our tomatoes with reference to earliness. First, however, let us dismiss the Cherry, Grape, Plum and Fig sorts, with the remark that with the exception of the Fig they are all early sorts; that for flavor they cannot be surpassed; that they are all highly ornamental; that they are the best sorts for preserving in sugar; that they, particularly the Grape and Fig, are highly ornamental when seen growing, or brought on the table for decorative uses; and, finally, that the Fig, as its name would indicate, is fig-shaped, and has been so nicely preserved as to make quite a good imitation, in both appearance, color and flavor, to the fig of commerce.

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Discussing the tomato with reference to size, I class Dwarf Scotch, Early York, Hubbard, Essex Early, Keyes, General Grant, Charter Oak, New White Apple and Orangefield, as below the average; and believe their peculiar place (of all but Orangefield) to be as early tomatoes, though in yield both Early York and General Grant are hard to surpass. The Trophy is decidedly the largest of tomatoes yet introduced that are available for market. The spherically round tomatoes are more apt to fail in filling out solid than the flat-round sort, and particularly is this true after the hottest part of the season is past. They are also more liable to be green, unripe and cracked near the stem than the other sorts. Tomatoes differ as much in flavor as do different varieties of apples; and soil and seasons appear to have some influence. Some are very sour, some sweet, others at times bitter, and again at times a rotten flavor is present. The quantity of the crop depends a great deal on its earliness. I have had a yield at the rate of over one thousand bushels of ripe tomatoes to the acre.

I pass from the general discussion to the merits and peculiarities of some of the varieties. I find both Alger and Keyes (see article at bottom of this page...Mr. Keyes was from Worcester, MA, which is near my town) to be tomatoes of excellent flavor, and these are each distinguished by a foliage very similar to and suggestive of the potato, to which the tomato family is allied; the flavor of each of these vegetables suggests the other; and the fruit of the tomato suggests strongly the ball of the potato. The Boston Market tomato is of good market size, is early, colors well all over and fills up very solid. This is the favorite sort around Boston, where leading market gardeners have their different strains. Around New York this kind has not always given such satisfaction, the gardeners there appearing to lay more stress on size than on some more valuable characteristics, which have to be sacrificed. General Grant closely resembles Boston Market, but is somewhat smaller, and perhaps rather more solid; it may be a little earlier and is somewhat smoother. I consider this but a strain of the Boston Market. The Mammoth Cluster is large, round and showy, but is too inclined to be hollow to be considered an acquisition. Orangefield and New White Apple make a class by themselves. They may be called fruit tomatoes; there are no other sorts that equal these for eating uncooked, as we eat an apple. They are somewhat small in size, but of elegant shape and color, contrasting beautifully with each other when brought on the table in a dish in their natural state. They peel as readily as a peach, and their flavor is unsurpassed. The vines of Dwarf Scotch, De Laye and Wonder are all dwarf in their habits and growth. DeLaye is a superb tomato, both in color and quality, when you can mature the fruit; but it is very late and quite a shy bearer, so much so as to be of no value except for its curious habit of growth, the leaves being very dark green, and exceptionally thick, while the stalk is very stout. Wonder, I have grown but one season. It somewhat resembles DeLaye in habit of growth and bearing qualities, though the plant is larger and more productive. Dwarf Scotch is the most dwarf variety having the habits of the common sort with which I am acquainted. I consider it valuable to those gardeners who seek an early kind, and have but little room to spare. Keyes's Prolific was much over-praised when first introduced, and a reaction in public sentiment has caused it to be ranked lower than it deserves. It is early, a fair bearer, yielding fruit sweeter than most varieties. Maupay is a large, solid, handsome, late sort, having quite a basin around the stem. Early York is somewhat irregular in shape, very early and very productive. Pejee and Lester's Perfected are so  standard kind throughout the New England and Middle States. However excellent in every other respect a tomato may be, a purple color is death to its prospect for general market purposes. The Tilden does best with me on low, rich land, where it grows to a large size, fills out well, and its color is of a peculiarly brilliant scarlet. Like the Lester, it appears to be more popular in private gardens than in the public market. The Trophy is the largest of all tho round kinds. On my grounds, grown on a large scale, it proves to be as a whole, very symmetrical and remarkably solid for so large a variety. I consider it a tomato of great promise, and know of no other variety that I would sooner recommend for family use or for market purposes. It will not yield in number equal to many other sorts, but then the magnificent size makes all amends. I had a number of clusters this season that had nearly a peck in each.

The yellow and white varieties are closely allied; the white being of a light straw color, and each of these has a sweet flavor peculiar to them. It is somewhat singular that this fact is true of several kinds of berries, among which white varieties are exceptional. White strawberries are sweeter than the red sorts; the same is true of white raspberries, currants, blackberries and I think I may add the white varieties of grapes. (If you haven't been to Seed Savers, check out their selection of heirloom types.  Here is a white tomato.)

As food for stock, tomatoes should be of a value analogous to apples, as they are closely allied, the acid of each being malic. Cows will eat them ravenously, consuming nearly a bushel of green ones at a meal. I have not seen much increase in the flavor of milk when tomatoes are fed green, and have never fed them ripe. As tomatoes will yield over a thousand bushels to the acre, and are already on the ground, requiring no shaking off, this comparative value is held worthy of a test by experimenters. The large yellow sorts would probably be the best kinds to grow.

Tomato vinegar is largely manufactured in New Jersey, by a patented process, but into which, it may be very safely assumed, sweetening in some form enters. It is said to be very profitable.

Some hue and cry has been lately raised about the tendency of the use of the tomato to produce cancerous diseases. I have as yet seen the name of no reputable physician connected with this theory, and as the acid of this fruit is identical with that of the apple, I presume the charge would be as reasonable against one as the other.

As regards the cultivation of the tomato, this is so generally understood that hardly more than a remark is required under this head. The tomato will not grow in the open air before the ground has become warm, and all planting earlier than this serves but to injure the plant. They are oftentimes started too early in hot beds, and because overgrown, are spindling before they can be transplanted out into the open air. I would not advise to plant the seed under glass earlier than April 1st, nor to transplant it into the open ground earlier than May 20th. Those planted for an early crop should be put in ground not very rich.

James J. H. Gregory, Chairman.

I really like tomato engravings!

General Grant, The Tomato of 1870

Less than 10 years before this tomato was named, this country was fighting one of the bloodiest wars we have ever known.  To name a tomato after General Grant seems frivolous given how recently in 1870 more than tomato sauce was reddening the land.

However...from the good tradition of marketing your product, as a name to proclaim your tomato victorious over all others, it can not be faulted!  I certainly don't...but it still seems odd.  Maybe that's because we no longer name our veggies after people...the Colin Powell Potato, or Obama Aubergine.  We do have the Bush Bean come to think of it, but you know what I mean.

This tomato was so heralded in so many publications that I had to take notice.  I assume Washburn and Co. were excellent promoters of their tomato, but it also seems it was a very good tomato for that time!  Commented upon was the fact it was a smooth round fruit, as are most of our modern store tomatoes.

I can't figure out why Mr. Waring (above) is charging the HUGE sum of $5 for 25 seeds.  Then again, on eBay you find people offering stuff at bizarre prices...fishing for a lunatic I suppose. Or, more likely, it is just a clever way to get us to talk about the General Grant!  Cool.

115 Years Ago: The Arrival of the Spring Seed Catalogs

I enjoyed reading this and hope you do as well.  In 1899 Edward Payson Roe wrote the book Play and Profit in My Garden.  It was interesting for me to find his comments on many of the seedsmen I am following...Thorburn, Vick and Landreth for starters.

1899

Play and Profit in My Garden

By Edward Payson Roe

The spring catalogues are now arriving, and they are enough to give one a perfect fever over gardening. Lying before me is one that is a marvel of good taste and beauty, sent out by Mr. James Vick, if Rochester. 

In it advertising becomes a fine art. So suggestive and accurate are the engraving of vegetables, and especially the flowers, that we recognize old friends at a glance, and the latter stand out so clearly on the page, that it would seem that we could gather them into a bouquet. In sending out thousands of such catalogues, or rather pretty little volumes of one hundred and thirty two pages, Mr. Vick may justly be regarded as a public benefactor, for they cannot fail to greatly increase the love for rural life; and they certainly impart much practical instruction in regard to it, while at the same time offering for sale the varied contents of the largest seed store in the world.

Looking as if it "meant business," R. H. Allen & Co.'s Catalogue, with its sober, solid appearance, catches my eye. It is an old friend, and has laid on my table every spring for ten years or more. Direct, simple, plainly indicating the best varieties among the many candidates for favor, it always inspires confidence. How often in the wane of winter I have looked through its pages, and marked the kinds I decided upon raising.

I can assure the ladies that the bliss of looking through the fashion-plates and ordering the spring styles, is not to be compared with the deliberation on the seeds you intend raising. Then only less welcome, because less familiar, are the catalogues of Peter Henderson, B. K. Bliss & Sons, Thorburn & Co., Bridgeman, Flemming, Landreth, Briggs & Brother, and others; and between them you are like a gourmand, who, instead of being invited to sit down to one feast, has placed before him a dozen banquets at the same time, and is bewildered how to choose.

As by a winter fire we turn over these dainty pages, what visions they conjure up to the imaginative amateur ! "Conover's Colossal Asparagus!"  How that sounds! but from brief trial I am coming to the conclusion that it does not sound too large. Farther on, the eye is

startled by "Egyptian Blood " oh!  “Egyptian Blood Turnip Beet, the earliest variety grown," and we breathe freer. What names they give these innocent useful vegetables! Why "Egyptian Blood”?  Who wants so sanguinary an association while weeding his early beets?  Now here is something sensible: "Large Flat Dutch Cabbage." That is very appropriate. The carrot list commences badly. "The Early Horn!" I hope none of my readers take it, early or late. Then here is "Carter's Incomparable Dwarf Dark Crimson Celery." Such a name as that certainly requires a carter. "Early Russian" or "Rushin," as it is generally pronounced, is a good name for a fast cucumber, but I protest against "Blue Peter Pea."  I told you the onion was irrepressible and supreme in every age ; for see, they have named the last variety discovered, "New Queen," and I promise you she will maintain her rank when so many of her degenerate sisters are losing theirs. Other queens may frantically sway their sceptres in vain, but a breath from her will cause many to grow sick and faint. Long live the new Queen—onion. For the sake of our Democratic friends, I will add that she is described as having a " white skin." Here is something called Scorzonera. The idea of asking your youngest child if he would take some of that for dinner! We come next to a squash called " Hubbard," probably in honor of the good old lady of that name, in hopes that her "cupboard" will never be "bare" of the delicious pies it makes. 

Strange! here is one called the "Boston Marrow". The profanity of suggesting in faintest allusion that the marrow of Boston enters in a squash! We hardly know what we are coming to in the way of Tomatoes. Every year there are several novelties so far superior (according to the catalogues) to anything else known, that it would seem perfection might be reached in this vegetable, if nothing else earthy. Two or three years ago, we had a variety named General Grant, indicating that all competitors were vanquished. We bought General Grant, sowed it, hoed it, and ate it, and were satisfied. General Grant didn't disappoint us—never. It was a good tomato, solid all the way through; and though not so large as some others, was very prolific. We hoped to "have peace" on the tomato question. But so far from being satisfied, like the people, with the great namesake for eight years, the seed-growers all proved Liberal Republicans on the tomato question, and every spring new candidates are pressed upon us. And now, Mr. "Smith" has sent out a novelty that renders it almost impossible to wait till next July before seeing the wonder in fruit. The only thing that can be done at present is to buy the seeds at twenty-five cents per half dozen or so.

Tomorrow's Blog - The General Grant Tomato

Flower Shell: Blast Your Way to a Better Meadow!

I don't care if this is a fantasy or not...it is darned cool.  Folks who like to go bang but not kill anything could stalk around and have a great time! Their website has some more graphics and videos.

(http://www.flowershell.com/  does not exist anymore. July 2017) 

Philadelphia's John Wanamaker Delivers The Seeds

While mail service has certainly gotten poorer since I was a kid when mail came through our door's mail slot twice a day, as a country we are way ahead of where we were before 1890.  65% of Americans lived in rural areas where if you wanted your mail you rode to town to get it.

But the day came when mail came to almost everyone.  On October 1, 1896, rural free delivery (RFD) service began in Charles Town, Halltown, and Uvilla in West Virginia. Within a year, 44 routes were operating in 29 states.

It must have been an incredible feeling of being connected to the world!  Rural Free Delivery, championed by John Wanamaker, who served as Postmaster General from 1889 to 1893, embodied a service to the people who deserved as much as the city dwellers enjoyed, and also as a boon to business men (like Wanamaker himself) who saw the 41 million people as an under-tapped market.

Mail order made the seed business thrive. I have been collecting images of company letterheads.
First is some fun stuff, then the older, more sedate examples.

Rice has the coolest stationary I have bumped into!! This is 1895.

Twelve years later!  It would make my day to get this in the mail!! 

 Back again to 1895...

 Uh...one 1915 cow horn?

 This 1876 letterhead looks the way I thought it should - mixed fonts and gewgaws.

I feel snoopy when I read old letters.  It feels oddly exciting...time traveling.

Never occurred to me anyone had to buy a horse chestnut!

Color!  But this is a nice reminder of why word processors are a good idea...or even ball point pens.