Beth Shattuck, age 13, of Jackson, miss., for her question:
WHERE DID THE TOMATO FIRST GROW?
Probably no other garden product has as many uses as the tomato. This very popular fruit was first domesticated by the Indians of Central America. But it had spread to both North and South America long before Columbus arrived.
Early explorers took the seeds of the tomato to Europe where the plant was at first raised only for decoration. A superstition soon arose that the tomato stimulated love. Because of this, the tomato was called the love apple.
Early colonists in the New World brought tomato seeds with them. In Virginia, tomatoes were grown in flower gardens.
Thomas Jefferson was one of the first to eat tomatoes. But it wasn't until several years after the Civil War that the tomato became a popular food.
The tomato is one of the best sources of vitamins A and C. Tomatoes today are used in salads and in many prepared foods.
Today the tomato is the leading crop among those canned in the United States. It is also one of the most important market garden, truck farm and greenhouse food crops.
Market garden tomatoes come from almost every state and are grown near most cities. The leading tomato growing states include California, Florida, Indiana, New Jersey and Ohio. Ontario leads the Canadian provinces in growing tomatoes.
The greenhouse tomato growing industry centers in northern Ohio.
Plant breeders have done much to improve the tomato and to add to its usefulness. Its yields have been doubled and varieties with larger, smoother, more even shapes and meatier pulps have been developed.
Several varieties have been bred to resist tomato wilt, a common and serious disease.
Better methods of handling and canning the tomato have also been developed.
Although botanists consider the tomato a fruit, many people consider it a vegetable because it is generally used as a vegetable.
Tomato plants aren't hard to grow. It is a warm season crop that is usually transplanted. Plants that are six to eight weeks old are taken from the greenhouses or hotbeds and transplanted to a field or garden about two weeks after the last frost of spring.
Usually tomato plants are set about four feet apart in four foot rows. In small gardens they may be set in 30 inch rows 18 inches apart and trained to grow on stakes or on trellises. This means that the secondary stems must be removed and the plant must usually be tied to the stake.
Staking increases the yield on a given area of land, but it also decreases the number of tomatoes per plant.
Slicing or table tomatoes are harvested while the fruit is still somewhat immature. Fruits to be shipped long distances are packed just as they begin to turn pink. Cannery tomatoes and soup tomatoes must not be picked until the fruits are fully ripened.