TOMATO, an animal plant of the "nightshade" family, the fruit of which was for a long time not generally considered fit for food.
The origin of the tomato has not been positively ascertained though there is reason to believe that it was first found in South America, and that it was cultivated centuries ago in Mexico and Peru. Several varieties were known in England toward the close of the 16th century and Gerard, the surgeon and botanist, speaks of it, we think, in his " History of Plants," having himself intro duced it into the Kingdom as an exotic. Dodoens, the Nether lands herbalist, mentions the tomato as early as 1583 as a vegeta ble to be eaten with pepper, salt and oil. It was used in cooking by the Malays more than a century and a half since. It is ex tensively raised in Southern Italy, and employed there as an ac companiment to nearly every dish, particularly macaroni. But neither there nor anywhere else in Europe is it as commonly eaten as it is here separately and in quantities. In England it is spar ingly produced, requiring a hotbed in the spring, and consequent ly high priced. The Italians formerly called it golden apple, and now call it love apple, as it was once designated in this country. The appearance of the tomato on the table has greatly increased in Europe within a few years, but in no land is it a regular dish much as it is used as a sauce abroad—as in the United States.
They ripen in July and August in the United States, but are brought from the West Indies in May and Jane. They are used
in many forms, entering largely into the making of sauces, soups, and mixed pickles. Immense quantities are preserved in cans, and the consumption of the fruit in this form is rapidly extending over Great Britain and Europe.
Dr. Bennett says "that when used as an article of diet, it is al most a sovereign remedy for dyspepsia and indigestion. Either cooked, raw, or in the form of catsup it is a most healthy article of food." Canning. The tomatoes first undergo a scalding process, be. fore being taken into the factory in wooden pails. Here they are handed to women for paring. The women and girls are seated around tables, and at five cents a pail they can earn fair wages. The tomatoes are next inspected to detect any unpeeled tomatoes. Then they are passed through a funnel-shaped machine into the cans, after having been cut the passage. The contents of the cans are slightly compressed and a portion of the juice poured off. The top of the can is then quickly soldered on by a workman, who uses a heavy iron, heated by gasoline for the purpose, or by an apparatus called a capping machine. The canned tomatoes are now loaded on trays, and conveyed to the " bath " room, where they are placed in vats of water heated by steam, and slowly cooked. After this they are allowed to cool, carried to the store house and labelled.