Better tomato seed : season 1929-1930 [catalog] / H.P. Langdon & Son.

Historic, Archive Document

Do not assume content reflects current
scientific knowledge, policies, or practices.

Tomato Seed

eason IQ2Q= IQ30

♦

H. P. LANDDCIM & SCN

Qfo.r<Cm aio ofeeJsmen

CCNTTACLE, N. Y.

Vegetable Seed Trials

D. N. Shoemaker

ONLY a handful — yet it has more
than four thousand seeds. Each
seed will bea“chip of the old block.”
The factors of variety, earliness, qual¬
ity and prolificacy that will make or
lose your profit are already deter¬
mined — now before the
seed is even sown.

Is grown for you in the way you would grow it for yourself
— if you could afford it.

If you were to select your own tomato seed, how would
you do it?

“Well,” you’d probably say, “One has to know first just
what he wants.”

That is true. An Earliana plant with a wonderful crop,
but a few days late, is not worth much for seed, is it?
Neither is that extra early plant of Bonny Best, if for earli¬
ness it has sacrificed in yield and quality.

So you would first consider the season of each variety,
and in connection with this, the purpose.

You would have an ideal in your mind in choosing the
plant type. It must be prolific, of course, with a high per¬
centage of marketable fruit; vigorous, with neither too
much nor too little vine; disease resistant.

All these things and many others you would consider, if
you were saving your own seed.

Can we, your tomato seedsmen, do more than this? We
know tomatoes, of course. Our fields can be left until fully
ripe before selecting. We have absolutely no Wilt (seed
from infected plants will carry the disease). We are located
in the extreme north ( northeastern New York) where vigor
and stamina must be bred into a tomato if it is to mature a
crop.

The outstanding advantage, however, is this : When you
select an extra good plant, you can’t tell whether or not it
will transmit those good qualities through its seed. Chances
are that it will not. So you would have to plant that seed
in a plot by itself next year and prove it out — so far as a
single year would prove it. If you select ten hills to a va¬
riety and you grow, say, five kinds, you must carry on fifty
trial plots, to say nothing of a few trials of new varieties.

For a few ounces of seed this, naturally, wouldn’t pay
you. But for hundreds of pounds of seed, going to several
thousand enthusiastic gardeners, we can do just this.

[ Page Two ]

Briefly, the idea of line breeding is this:

A number of the best plants of a strain are chosen; the
seed of each plant kept by itself. When these separate plots
are grown the next year there will be a difference between
them — each one won’t be the same high class stock its par¬
ent was. Some of those fine plants will have failed to per¬
petuate their good qualities. The best plot, therefore, has
something the other plots have not; for its good family
traits, if we may call them that, are strong. The vigor, the
yield and quality of fruit that made the parent plant excep¬
tional have in this case been passed on to the next genera¬
tion. These traits will probably be transmitted again.

This plot, then, will have proven to some extent its
superior value as a breeding stock. The best plants will be
selected from it for the trials the next year.

Each year’s work in this way, using the finest plants
from the best plot of the year before, will gradually bring to
the strain a uniformity of type, a vigor, and a degree of
productiveness that can be reached by no other method.

s

Your seed is grown from the finest stock in the line
breeding plots. The young plants are rogued at transplant¬
ing for vigor, and in the field for purity of type. In gath¬
ering the crop only medium to large smooth fruit are taken
for seed. The plant, however, and not the individual fruit is
used as the basis of selection. Seed is taken from only
those plants high in vigor, yield and quality, as well as in
the other desirable characteristics of that variety.

The ripe fruit is ground promptly; the pulp washed out
at just the right stage of fermentation. The seed is very
carefully dried and thoroughly screened, leaving only
plump, vigorous stock. Any seed unsold after eighteen
months is discarded — only fresh seed will be sold.

Orders are filled postpaid within twenty-four hours, de¬
livery guaranteed.

[ Page Three ]

ADIRONDACK EARLIANA

(120 days, red)

Germinal ion Tests 88-96 %

The Adirondack Strain of Earliana has had twenty-four
generations of breeding toward one ideal — extra early fruit
of real market quality.

It is extra early; the earliest market variety of which we
know. The fruit has given up much of the cussedness of the
old type Earliana; it is smooth, quite deep, and firm. Seed
cells are small and with thick walls. The color is a good
hearty red extending, for an Earliana, remarkably well back
toward the stem. The vines, though compact, are vigorous
and prolific.

While the Earliana variety has its limitations, as has the
extremely early type of any fruit, an improved strain such
as this can make you money. Over most of the country the
demand is strong — and the price high — for the first home
grown tomatoes.

Getting first on the market is partly in knowing how, and
then using that knowledge. Start, of course, with seed that
will appreciate what you do for it. Read all you can about
growing tomatoes. Experiment in a small way with the
methods of other folks; perhaps you can adopt some of
them to advantage.

The idea that the use of acid phosphate tends to hasten
maturity is more than a theory; it is a fact that has been
demonstrated over and over. Technical Bulletin No. 28
from New Hampshire gives some interesting results from a
number of field tests along this line.

Because the first early plants are well advanced in ma¬
turity when set in the field, therefore easily checked, and
because the ground is yet cool and with little available nitro¬
gen, the use of nitrate water when setting is of especial ben¬
efit to this early crop. Read over the suggestions on page
sixteen and try it out next year.

Plan your sowing schedule so that you may have stocky,
vigorous plants ready to blossom when setting time comes.
And give them room, right from the seed bed. A soft, spind¬
ling plant may mature a crop of sorts, but the real tomatoes
come on plants which have had a chance to properly de¬
velop. This is especially true with extra early varieties.

[ Page Four ]

MISSOURI —

Feb. 13, 1929 — This makes five consecutive years I have used
your Earliana and I do not find anything that beats them for
earliness and quality of fruit. I also had splendid luck with
3rour Bonny Best last season.

SOUTH CAROLINA—

Jan. 25, 1929 — I have great success with your Earliana
tomato.

MAINE —

Jan. 2, 1929 — I sowed j our Earliana last year and it was the
best I have ever obtained, and I raise several thousand boxes
each year.

OHIO —

Jan. 26, 1929 — Have been using your seed for several years
and there is none better.

NORTH CAROLINA—

Dec. 31, 1928 — Your Earliana tomato is by all odds the best
early variety I have ever tried.

A Fine Type of Extra Early Fruit
ADIRONDACK EARLIANA

[ Page Five ]

BONNY BEST (L angdon Strain )

(126 days, red)

Germination Tests 88-98%

The improvement shown by this strain the past few
years has been a source of much satisfaction to us, as well
as of profit to our customers.

It has gained in earliness, yet retained its heavy yield.
More— it has increased in yield. Several tests alongside
other strains have given it first place in earliness, and usual¬
ly first place in total crop as well. That means something,
for Bonny Best has always been early enough for good
money and noted as a heavy cropper.

The fruit qualities are fine. It picks uniformly a good
packing size, a little larger than Bonny Best used to be. The
old tendency toward cracking of the skin has largely been
overcome. Smooth, round, well colored, firm — it is in every
way an excellent packing tomato.

Unless you are seriously troubled by wilt you can use
this strain of Bonny Best for second early with every con¬
fidence. It is just naturally the best.

If you have extra early soil give this strain a trial as
first early. It will ripen a little behind the Adirondack
Earliana, but the heavier yield may more than make up. If
you have a piece of ground that is especially fertile, yet
early and warm, try a few extra early plants pruned to one
stem and staked. Pruning will hasten maturity by several
days, on rich soil; you may want to go into it on a larger
scale another year. Many growers are finding it profitable.

For canning crop the Bonny Best has been very popular.
It is now being challenged by the Marglobe, however, even
where wilt resistance need not be considered. The Mar-
globe, a little later in maturing, may produce a slightly
heavier crop. It will require several extra pickings for the
same bulk, though, for its ripening is delayed over quite a
long picking season.

Marglobe has been advised to replace Bonny Best for
greenhouse work. Where wilt is a factor Marglobe, being
resistant, probably is better. If wilt is not troublesome
Marglobe cannot, in our opinion, compete with this strain
of Bonny Best in the greenhouse.

[ Page Six ]

The Best Second Early
BONNY BEST (Langdon Strain)

MASSACHUSETTS —

Jan. 31, 1929 — Have used your seed for fifteen years and
think it the best I can buy.

LOUISIANA—

Jan. 7, 1929 — Last year I grossed $43.15 from a plot six feet
wide and seventy-two feet long.

IOWA—

Jan. 19, 1929 — For our greenhouse crop we want the very
best obtainable at any price, for as you know cost of seed means
nothing in comparison to loss of crop. I have been buying your
seed for three years and never saw anything to equal it.

MASSACHUSETTS —

Jan. 20, 1929 — Beally could not buy elsewhere if I w7anted to
as everyone says, “I want the same kind of tomatoes you sold
me last year.” Germination last year was great.

NORTH CAROLINA—

Jan. 18, 1929 — I have tried your seed in the past, and in all
my thirty-five years gardening I have concluded they are superior
to anything I have ever grown.

[ Page Seven- ]

REDHEAD

(126 days, red)

Germination Tests 88%

An interesting development of this variety was shown
in the trial plots of 1926. A plot from seed of 1923, of strong
germination, had been included for comparison. The plots
from later seed were surprisingly better — they were one
week earlier; equally vigorous, yet with a more compact,
less-sprawling growth; more prolific. It is seldom that such
a change can be noted in three years time.

Improvement since then has been more gradual, as with
the other varieties; however, Redhead is pretty well up to
Bonny Best in value for second early. These two varieties
are much alike, any preference is largely a personal one.
We like Bonny Best. How ever, both are immensely popular
- — and worthy of it.

BAER

(128 days, red)

Germination Tests 96%

A good choice on dry, light soils, as it will set less fruit
hut mature them larger than Redhead or Bonny Best will do
there. It is a thoroughly dependable variety, but a couple
of days later in ripening and possibly not quite so produc¬
tive as Bonny Best on the better soils.

JEWEL, STONE and RED ROCK

(132-135-140 days, red)

These midseason varieties are well known and regularly
used by many of our customers. We are very sorry to say
that, due to early fall freezes, we could secure only enough
of these varieties for our stock planting next year.

For convenience of you who have been using Jewel and
Stone, we are buying some of the best stock we can buy,
listing it of course at the market price. We believe that,
under the circumstances, it is as good as you can get.

Red Rock, however, is another matter. This variety has
not had the attention by seedsmen which it deserves ; we are
doubtful whether we could buy seed on the market which
would compete with an improved strain of Marglobe. For
this year, therefore, we are offering only Marglobe for late
midseason and fall use.

[ Page Eight ]

Resistant to Wilt and Nailhead Rust

MARGLOBE

(142 days, red)

Germination Tests 8k%

This introduction by Mr. F. J. Pritchard, of the Bureau
of Plant Industry at Washington, has attracted much atten¬
tion from all over the country.

It is a midseason variety of strong, though not excessive,
vine growth, and matures a heavy crop. The fruit is dis¬
tinctly globe shaped and a very attractive red in color.
There is no depression at the stem end, no hard rind, and
very little tendency toward cracking. It is an excellent
shipper; its splendid table quality also commends it.

Marglobe is strongly resistant to Fusarium Wilt and to
Nailhead Rust, two of the worst diseases which a tomato
grower must combat. In the areas subject to infection they
can be controlled only by the planting of resistant varieties.
And the welcome given Marglobe — Florida changed over
half her planting from Globe to Marglobe in two years time,
wilt infected areas everywhere are turning to it more and
more — such a welcome labels this as one of the most im¬
portant introductions yet given the tomato grower.

[ Page Nine.]

Price of Langdon’s Twenty dour Year Selection
and Line Bred

No. 1 — Run of the field. Vl Oz., 25c; Vz Oz., 40c; 1 Oz., 60c; 2 Oz.,
$1.20; 4 Ox., $2.00; 8 Oz., $3.60; 1 pound, $6.40.

No. 2 — Double selection, by vine and fruit. Vs Oz., 30c; Vl Oz., 50c;
V2 Oz., 75c. Less than one-half pound, $1.25 per Oz.; V2 pound, $9.50;
one pound, $18.00.

No. 3 — Triple selection, by vine, fruit and interior. Our best. Vs Oz.,
$1.00; Vl Oz., $2.00; V2 Oz., $3.00; 1 Oz., $5.00; 4 Oz., $18.00. No dis¬
count for less than four ounces.

Particular care is given the selection of this No. 3 Ear li¬
ana. Earliness is of prime importance. Productiveness
and vigor are essential. The quality of the fruit must have
rigid inspection. After the selection of plant and fruit
by outward appearance each fruit is cut individually, by
hand, for inspection of the interior construction. A good
market tomato will have few seeds and small cells, thick
walls, no green or pithy core, will be well colored. Only
those fruits showing a high standard of perfection in this,
as well as in plant type, are used in the selection of this No.
3 Earliana.

The location at which this seed is grown is worthy of
consideration. We are north of the Adirondacks, four
miles from the Canadian Line, with a growing season of
only about three months and a half free from frost, with
generally cool days and many cold nights. This has with¬
out doubt been a factor in the improvement of these strains.

OUR WARRANTY i" Z'tfZi

tested and proven to be of good germination. We will replace
free of charge any seed which does not germinate under favorable
conditions, providing our stock has not been sold out. Naturally,
we can go no further than this in guaranteeing your success.

[ Page Ten ]

LATER VARIETIES

% oz.

V2 OZ.

1 oz.

2 oz.

4 oz.

8 oz.

BONNY BEST, Langdon

strain

(extra selected). .

$1.00

$1.50

$2.50

$4.50

$8.00

$14.00

BONNY BEST, Langdon

strain

(selected) .

.50

.75

1.25

2.25

4.00

7.00

REDHEAD (selected) . .

.50

.75

1.25

2.25

4.00

7.00

BAER (selected) .

.50

.75

1.25

2.25

4.00

7.00

MARGLOBE (selected) .

.50

.75

1.25

2.25

4.00

7.00

STONE .

.20

.30

.50

.90

1.50

2.75

JEWEL .

.20

.30

.50

.90

1.50

2.75

All Fruit for No. 3 Seed Is Hand Cut for Inspection
ADIRONDACK EARLIANA

[ Page Eleven ]

“An Economical Fire-heated Hotbed” . Circular No. 65

Agricultural Exper. Station, A & M College, Miss.

“Hotbeds” . Bulletin No. 45

Extension Service, Conn. Agri. College, Storrs, Conn.

“Coldframes” . Bulletin No. 46

Extension Service, Conn. Agri. College, Storrs, Conn.

“Early Tomato Growing in New Jersey” . Circular No. 103

Agricultural Exper. Station, New Brunswick, N. J.

“Tomato Diseases” . Bulletin No. 51

Dominion of Canada, Department of Agriculture, Ottawa, Canada

“Tomato Wilt Investigations” . Technical Bulletin 20

Agricultural Exp. Station, Manhattan, Kan.

“Effect of Phosphorus upon the Yield and Time of Maturity of

Tomato” . Technical Bulletin 28

Agricultural Exper. Station, Durham, N. H.

“Growing Tomatoes for the Canning Factory” . Bulletin No. 96

Extension Service, College of Agri., Ithaca, N. Y.

“Tomatoes As a Truck Crop” . Farmers Bulletin No. 1338

Bureau of Plant Industry, Washington, D. C.

“Some Experiments with Tomatoes” . Bulletin No. 218

Agricultural Exper. Station, Lexington, Ky.

“Preparation of Fresh Tomatoes for Market”. .Farmers Bulletin No. 1291
Bureau of Plant Industry, Washington, D. C.

“Tomato Leaf Spot, and Experiments with Its Control”. .Bulletin No. 177
Agricultural Exper. Station, State College, Pa.

“Tomato Mosaic” . Bulletin No. 261

Agricultural Exper. Station, Lafayette, Ind.

“Experiments in Spraying and Dusting Tomatoes”. ... Bulletin No. 230
Agricultural Exper. Station, Blacksburg, Va.

“Tomato Diseases in Florida”..... . Bulletin No. 185

Agricultural Exper. Station, Gainesville, Fla.

“Tomato Seed Selection”. . . .Bulletin No. 173

Agricultural Exper. Station, Bozeman, Mont.

“Selecting and Saving Tomato Seed” . Bulletin No. 250

Agricultural Exper. Station, Lafayette, Ind.

“Greenhouse Tomatoes” . Farmers Bulletin No. 1431

Bureau of Plant Industry, Washington, D. C.

“The Pennsylvania Forcing Industry” . General Bulletin No. 396

Penn. Dept, of Agriculture, Harrisburg, Pa.

“Economic Results in the Pollination of Greenhouse Tomatoes”

. . Bulletin No. 55

Agricultural Exper. Station, Corvallis, Ore.

These up-to-date bulletins, issued free by the stations,
cover nearly every phase of tomato growing. Give them a
trial on your present problems, and file the list for future
reference.

[ Page Twelve ]

One of the questions about tomatoes most frequently
asked by you folks is, “How can I get ’em earlier?” And
that question is just as hard to answer as it is important.
To say that one should set stocky plants early as possible
into warm, fertile soil doesn’t go very far.

“Blocking” of the plants in the coldframe is a practice
not so generally known and used by growers over the coun¬
try as it should be. It has many of the advantages of bands
or pots, is easier, cheaper, and if properly done has some
advantages all its own.

The coldframes are smoothed out to a uniform depth of
five inches below the soil level, and then about two and one-
half inches of finely composted manure (no fresh manure)
leveled carefully over the bed and watered down. This is
covered with about the same depth of sandy compost or
rich sandy loam.

Plants are transplanted to these beds about a month be¬
fore time for field setting, giving them four or five inches
spacing each way. A spotting board is used for convenience
and to insure even spacing and straight rows. Ten days or
two weeks before the plants are to go to the field, they are
ready to be “Blocked” which consists of cutting down be¬
tween each row of plants so that every plant stands in its
own four or five inch cube of soil and compost. To avoid
wilting or shock, the rows are usually cut in one direction
and then, in a couple of days, cut the other way. A wide
bladed hoe with the shank straightened out makes a con¬
venient tool for this work. After cutting, the beds are well
wet down so that the crevice between each block is filled
with sand and so that the plants receive no setback.

The first beneficial effect to be noticed is a check in the
tendency of plants at this time toward excessive top growth.
The plants are making growth, but they are putting it into a
new fibrous root system. Every root tipped by blocking
immediately branches, so that the block is soon filled with
fine roots. When the plants go to the field, each one sepa¬
rates readily from its neighbor, and each has a large undis¬
turbed root system in a solid block of rich compost. These
roots, unlike the condition where they have run round and
round the inside of a pot, are keenly alive and growing.

[ Page Thirteex ]

Where top pruning is practised, it usually consists of
pinching out all side branches, leaving one main stem which
is tied at intervals to a stake set close beside each plant.
Careful observation will show that a shoot or branch will
start from the base of nearly every leaf stalk and later on
from the base of the plant; these are pinched out as they
appear so that no vitality is wasted through unnecessary
growth and subsequent heavy cutting. The fruit clusters
appear at short intervals the whole length of the stalk, on
the opposite side from the leaf stems and branches, and are
readily distinguished.

A practice of “leaf pruning” of younger plants is fol¬
lowed by some growers which is in direct contrast to the
single stem method. It consists of cutting off the tips of all
the leaves, about a week before the plants are set in the
field; after which the plants are allowed to grow in the
usual manner. Two advantages are claimed. One is that
excessive top growth is checked and the stems and leaves
hardened by the exposure to light. The other is that the
growth of branches is stimulated, with consequent early
setting of a large number of fruit clusters.

A third practice is that of pinching out the tip of the
plants just before the first buds appear, so that the side
branches will start earlier. Advocates of this method claim
that, although the crown cluster of fruit is lost, each one of
the side branches will bear a cluster just about as early.

These three outlines are given, not as recommendations
for general field use, but because most growers like to ex¬
periment and see for themselves. The field pruning is an
expensive proposition, nevertheless some growers on rich
soil make money at it. The second plan especially has the
serious possibility of widespread infection of disease.
Where no disease is present, however, and where the plants
simply wont stand any longer and can’t be moved to the
field, it is sometimes the best way out. As to pinching out
the tip of the plant, it also is liable to spread disease, and
we do hate to see that crown cluster lost. However, some
growers find it a good idea.

Personally, we are inclined to think that for most condi¬
tions, top pruning of any kind isn’t so important as gener¬
ous spacing in the plant beds. With plenty of room right
from the start a plant will be short and stocky, well rooted,
vigorous enough for an early and a heavy crop.

[ Page Fourteen ]

CORRECT system of fertilizing
has a good deal to do with early
maturity, as well as with total
yields. Several experiment sta¬
tion tests have seemed to indicate
that large amounts of potash are
not needed by tomatoes, in fact a
decrease in yield and a delay in
maturity was often caused by
heavy applications. We may as¬
sume, then, that ordinary applica¬
tions of mixed fertilizer rather low in
potash will take care of that element.
Nitrogen is the element which pro¬
motes a heavy growth of vines. It is very
important for a quick, strong growth and a heavy set of
fruit. On the other hand, an over supply will result in
dense growth of vine at the expense of fruit and will delay
maturity. This is not common on soils adapted to early
crops, however. We can usually be quite generous with
nitrogen to good advantage, except on soil where the growth
of vines is naturally strong.

It has been demonstrated that phosphorus does have a
definite effect in hastening the maturity of the tomato. This
effect seems not so much gained by shortening the period
between blossom and ripe fruit as by the promotion of rapid
early growth, so that a large number of blossoms and fruit
are produced early. Very many soils are low in phosphorus.

In the absence of definite, practical information as re¬
gards one’s own piece of ground, it is generally considered
that 1000 pounds to the acre of 5-10-5 fertilizer should give
good results. Less nitrogen may do on some rich soils,
especially if much manure is used; more phosphorus in the
shape of acid phosphate may prove to be profitable.

Most seed and plant beds have sufficient nitrogen for
best results, through the use of composted manure. In fact,
fresh manure must be carefully avoided because the nitro¬
gen in it will cause too rapid, soft growth. It does seem,
though, that all plant beds should have a reasonable appli¬
cation of acid phosphate. One pound to twenty-five square

[ Page Fifteen ]

feet of bed space should be sufficient. Though not strictly
a fertilizer, ground limestone should also be considered
here in connection with seed beds. Its regular use improves
growing conditions, both in regard to the physical condition
of the soil and in control of damping off of seedlings. One
pound of ground limestone to eight or ten square feet of
bed is a good application.

Nitrate of soda may be used to very good advantage at
field setting time. The plants are, of course, thoroughly
wet down the evening before taking up. This watering
tends to dilute the food supply in both soil and plant tissues,
just when food is most needed. An application of dry
nitrate at the rate of one pound to seventy-five square feet,
scattered evenly over the bed just before watering and while
the foliage is dry, is quickly dissolved by the water and
taken up by the plant. This gives it a strong reserve of food
to carry over the difficult time of transplanting.

Where water is used in field setting, the addition of one
pound of nitrate to twenty-five gallons of water used is de¬
cidedly good practice. For convenience, the nitrate is first
dissolved in hot water at the rate of one pound to the quart ;
then a quart of this solution is added to every twenty-five
gallons used and stirred just a little to insure mixing. To¬
matoes thrive on this. If used with other crops, though,
test it out on a few plants first. Cauliflower, for instance,
find it a little too strong for best results.

A few memoranda: Seed required, one or one and a quar¬
ter ounces to the acre. Depth of sowing, % inch. Cover bed
with newspapers. Temperature 70-75 while germinating, 60
while breaking ground, then 65-70 day, 55 night. Water
sparingly as plants get older; make roots look for it. Avoid
chilling with ice cold water. Spray with Pyrox before set¬
ting in the field. Have cutworm bait ready. Set plants deep;
cultivate soon. Late cultivations, very shallow.

Remember, whether it’s a report of last year’s results,
questions, some new idea worked out which you are willing
to share, or just to say “hello”, a letter from you is always
interesting and welcome. We’ll be looking forward to it.

Sincerely yours,

November, 1929. H. P. LANGDON & SON.

[ Page Sixteen ]

“Not What it Costs
What it Does”