Campbell and Heinz tomatoes

[Douglas14]

I'm contemplating ordering one or two of the following varieties from a seed company:
Campbell 1327
Heinz 1350
Heinz 1439
I'd like to hear experiences/thoughts on these varieties. Of interest is taste, texture/meatiness, and production. Do these varieties tend to be on the firm side, as I assume they were bred mainly for processing(I could be wrong here). Do you know when any of these varieties were bred?

[Mischka]

As Suze and others can tell you, I'm a huge fan of Heinz 1370.

I can't say enough good things about this one and it's a shame that the less-glamorously named Heinz/Campbell commercial varieties are under-utilized by home gardeners.

Sure, they're plain-Jane red and look nondescript but they also taste good and I grow for taste, exclusively.

The older commercial lines were bred for taste and not for shipping endurance. Back then, the canneries and processing plants were not far from the fields where the tomatoes were grown.

I'd love to see more folks here try them. I think they would be pleasantly surprised.

[Tom Wagner]

I probably wouldn't have replied to this message except it reminded me that an organic grower in SW Washington near Longview wanted me to do some breeding with one or more of the Heinz varieties. He also wanted me to extract some OP lines out of some Hybrids like Bingo. I believe he gave me plants of other hybrids that were no longer going to be available. So I took some of his plants and I saved seed to work with for the year 2008. The fella down there especially wanted me to cross the Bingo Hybrid and Bingo recombinants to the Heinz types.




My fascination with those varieties were mostly in my memories, and I would have to go to my annual breeding work notes to jog my brain by reading hand written details.




Most of the Campbell/Heinz varieties that are mentioned were being developed nearly 50 years ago or so. I have found that I liked a lot of varieties from that era and used them in many crosses. Since those crosses and segregations were reds, they lost ground to more uniques colors, stripes, and shapes. I should go back and find viable seed of some of the progenies of these lines just to maintain them.

A very brief history



Campbell 1327
developed by the Research and Development Division of Campbell's Soup Company over 50 years ago.



Heinz 1350 VF TOMATO
Determinate.) [Introduced 1963. Developed by the H. J. Heinz Co
Parentage: Eastern State 54-1878-3 x Experimental Hybrid from O.S. Cannon

'Heinz 1439 - Breeder and vendor: H.J. Heinz Co., Bowling Green, Ohio. Parentage: Heinz 1350 x Campbell 135. Characteristics: determinate, firm, crack resistant fruit. Resistance: verticillium wilt, fusarium wilt. Similar: Heinz 1350. Adaptation: midwestern United States and southern Canada.

A proposition. Why not try a combination of the Campbell 1327, Heinz 1439/Heinz 1350 and three other varieties and see how an indeterminate variation does for you.
Namely....

• Ozark Pink V

Developed from a complex pedigree involving 'Bradley', 'Arkansas Traveler 76', 'Heinz 1439', and 'Campbell 1327'

Mischka mention the Heinz 1370, so I am including the source data on it as well:

Heinz 1370 -. Parentage: Cornell 55-539 x E.S. 54-1878-B.
1962.



Tom Wagner

[Douglas14]

Thank you Mischka and Tom! I will do an internet search for Heinz 1370. I appreciate your responses.

[Suze]

I grew Heinz 1370 in '06 and '07 because Mischka suggested it to me, and I thought it was a pretty darned good tomato. :-)

[mdvpc]

Suze-Nice looking photo-all the Heinz varieties I have grown tasted like store tomatoes. May have to give 1370 a try.

[nctomatoman]

I've read in several books on tomatoes that the flavor standard amongst all of the Campbell and Heinz varieties is actually reputed to be Campbell 146. I've got seed but have yet to grow it out.

[tomatoaddict]

The older commercial lines were bred for taste and not for shipping endurance. Back then, the canneries and processing plants were not far from the fields where the tomatoes were grown.

That makes good sense. Probably why the older ones taste better.
Thanks M, now I want to grow the 1370. Trying to figure out where I can squeeze it in.

[gdionelli]

I grew Campbell 1327 last summer and didn't find it to be outstanding in any way. The taste and texture were good, not too firm, pretty looking tomatoes (rather uniform), but mine was not a heavy producer.

[barkeater]

Thats good to know Craig about Campbells 146. I just ordered it from Sandhill.

I love Campbells 1327, ever since I grew it as a commercial crop in 1972. In my home garden, it is a large determinate, bearing from 18-22# per plant. When I have warm summers it has that excellent "tomatoey" flavor, like Rutgers.

It is my favorite for making salsa. It's a smooth 7-8oz. globe with no core, so the skin slips off easily after scalding. It is so solid red and meaty, making it perfect for chopping up, so it holds its shape through the canning process.

[kimpossible]

Is there just a "Heinz" (no numbers). The info I have is it was developed in 1936 in Bowling Green, Ohio.

[Colorado_west]

I do grow some Campbell 1327. Canning tomato. But if the CTV comes in it does take them pretty much out. Where Better Boy Hybrid and Early Girl hybrid seems to with stand it a lot better. I do like Cambell's 1327 and will planting some again.

[nctomatoman]

Barkeater, a report on Campbell 146 would be great after you give it a grow - I was reading in a book last night that it is indeed considered the flavor standard of all of the Campbells.

Another that is worth trying for those who are interested in these sorts - we found JTD sitting in the USDA collection a few years ago - it was one of the first Campbell canning tomatoes, named after J. T. Dorrance - and a parent of Rutgers. I grew it and was very pleased with the production and flavor. I sent it to Mike Dunton - and Victory now carries it. Would make a nice comparison experiment with the others.

[barkeater]

Craig, you can count on a report. JTD would be nice to try too some day, if I order from Victory.

I'd also like to try Rutgers 39, which is indeterminate. Harris carries it in their market growers catalog, but maybe I can order it if I put the order code in with my home gardener order. Was Rutgers originally indeterminate (like JTD) when developed in 1928?

[nctomatoman]

The whole Determinate/Indeterminate thing is really quite confusing with regards to these. I've always found both Rutgers and Marglobe to be indeterminate - which makes sense (Marglobe was created by crossing two indeterminate varieties - I am not all that sure about JTD; it did not grow all that tall for me, but was not like the classic determinates I've tried, such as Taxi). I will have to look back on my tomato history stuff - the first true determinate was Cooper's Special in the 1920s, which was used to develop another determinate, Pritchards Scarlet Topper. Both Cooper and Pritchard were used in breeding subsequent varieties.