Historical background information for varieties handed down from bygone days.
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February 2, 2017 | #24 | ||
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Wyoming
Posts: 759
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Quote:
I tentatively believe that the cool light enables the green fruit to continue ripening a little bit more as it would have in the garden than if the fruit was ripened in a dark area. And snow jokes aside, by the time there is much mature green fruit, we are often beginning to have pretty cool nights . . . and I think most tomatoes ripen better if they've never experienced temps much below 50 F . . . so ripening temps indoors, even in a cool area indoors, may be more favorable for the tomatoes than the outside night time temps. But as Carolyn mentioned, the cooler climate here may produce results different from those seen in warmer areas. On the other hand, in hot areas, many have air conditioned houses, so it may not be that different after all . . . I just don't know. Ripening indoors does also prevent damage from critters (Malamute excepted), wet weather, etc . . . and that benefit is the same everywhere. I have grown "long keeper" varieties and while they were OK, they didn't seem to warrant the garden resources they consumed, especially since other varieties seem to keep just as well, if treated as one is supposed to treat long keeper tomatoes -- pick mature green and let ripen slowly indoors. But I did notice that Zolotoe Serdtse and Medovoe Serdtse ripened slowly and still had nice fruit around when most of the others had been eaten or processed -- probably at least a couple of months after picking, maybe longer. Might be worth a try if you're testing keeper tomatoes, anyway, to see what they do for you. Quote:
And, it's true, sadly, that most sources I've found say that Aristocrat is "believed to be extinct" or has "no known sources for seed" . . . which is why I mentioned it in this thread, and who knows, maybe one of these days . . . The Burpee Quarter Century you mentioned is interesting. Though not receiving that name until 1901, it had been introduced in 1896, only three years after Livingstone introduced Aristocrat . . . which seems to have been very popular for some years. Having a stated lineage, it probably wasn't just a renamed Aristocrat, but especially considering the 1906 reference "it might be called an improved Dwarf Aristocrat", the tomato eventually named Quarter Century might have been a deliberate attempt to duplicate Aristocrat. (Livingstone said he'd found Aristocrat in a field of Dwarf Champions, probably, he believed, an accidental cross with one of his better reds. Quarter Century was a 3rd generation offspring of a deliberate cross of a good red tomato with Dwarf Champion . . . which would mean that the initial cross was done about the time that Livingston's juicy description of the new Aristocrat -- and the released variety itself, appeared in public.) Below is Livingston's 1893 description of Dwarf Aristocrat, which I think explains its appeal for me . . . also interesting that portions of the later description of Quarter Century could almost have been lifted from Livingston's description of Aristocrat, but Aristocrat seems to have had a larger combination of appealing features that Quarter Century (and other Livingston tomatoes) lacked. ---------- From "Livingston and the Tomato" 1893 p. 42-44 16. Livingston's New Dwarf Aristocrat Tomato.— It would seem after all that has been said of the tomatoes already described, that no more could be added, or any other improvements made on them; yet there are many more points of excellence to be attained, some of which I claim are found in this new dwarf tomato which will be introduced this year—1893. It has a strong, erect, bushy stalk, that is often one and a half inches in diameter. Because of its erect bearing and dressy appearance it is called " The Aristocrat." The plants are so stalky and stiff from the time they come out of the ground that they reset without wilting or falling down, and are therefore not stunted; nearly a week on "first early'' is gained in this way. Plants can be set much closer than those of other varieties ; at least one-half more will be required to set the same plot of ground. With this advantage, and their extra productiveness, I believe under special cultivation they will produce one-third more to the acre than other kinds. It begins to bear with the earliest varieties, and does not cease bearing until frosts kill the vines. Yet because of its erectness, bushy habits, and close standing in the field, it is saved from the early frosts, and only the hard freezes in the fall will reach the fruit hid up under its foliage, and thus bears abundantly when other kinds have been entirely killed. The fruit has the peculiar quality of keeping in a dry, cool room, before decay sets in, for three or four weeks after they cannot longer be trusted in the open field. It is also a large sized tomato, of a bright glossy red color, very fine fieshed and flavored, uniformly smooth, and is an all purpose tomato for shippers, canners, market gardeners, and for fancy and remumerative home-culture. In a word, it carries the good qualities of its forerunners among my varieties, and has some others peculiar to itself. I prophesy a brilliant future for our Aristocrat. |
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