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From CHAPTER I. HISTORICAL NOTES. Tomato, botanically known as Lycopersicum esculentum, is a native of the tropical parts of South America, from whence the Spaniards originally introduced it into Europe in the sixteenth century. Formerly the fruits were commonly called Love Apples. This name is said to have been applied to the fruits because our forefathers conceived the idea that they possessed the power of exciting lovable feelings within the human breast. The name we now apply to the fruits is derived from the Spanish word Tamate. The Tomato belongs to the natural order Solanaceae, and is therefore a near relative of the Potato, which originally came from the same country. If one of the round fruits called Potato Apples be culled from potato haulm in summer and cut open, and its structure compared with the fruit of the Tomato, it will be seen that the two are practically alike. There is, however, this difference: the fruit of the potato is poisonous, whereas that of the Tomato is wholesome. The Tomato is said to have been first introduced into England in 1596. For a long time after its introduction its merits as a food were very little appreciated; in fact, it was regarded merely as a curiosity. On the Continent, however, it was held in high esteem, the Italians especially being exceedingly partial to its use as food. Gerard, a sixteenth-century writer, .alludes to the pomum amoris (or Love Apple) as growing in his garden. He says: Apples of love do growe in Spaine, Italie, and such hot countries, from whence myself have received seedes for my garden, where they do increase and prosper. This appears to be the earliest reference to the Tomato in our gardening literature... ..

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9781544257181

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