Note: Information is dated. Do not rely on it.

Tomato. A common garden vegetable, native to South America. It was formerly called the love apple, and was considered poisonous. It is now widely cultivated in the temperate regions. In gardens the plants are sometimes supported by stakes to keep the fruit off the ground, but in field culture they are left unsupported. They are used largely for canning in this country. An acre of tomatoes will yield five to twenty tons of fruit, and a ton of fruit will produce almost four hundred three-pound cans. The popular tomatoes are the large, smooth, red kind. The fruit varies in color from dark red to yellow, and in size from a currant to the globular form two to four inches in diameter.

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