So, what's new in tomato culture

[ContainerTed]

I use a lot of The Gutenberg Project free books in my Nook. Lately, I've been collecting gardening books and most are very old. You can find out a lot about tomato history and stuff you don't hear or see anywhere else. Here's an example of how we think we might know when certain type of tomatoes came to be.

This is from The Project Gutenberg EBook of Tomato Culture by Will W. Tracy, Published in 1907. In the beginning of Chapter 2, I found this to be an interesting discussion of tomato colors and shapes.

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"=Different types now common=, according to Sturtevant, have become known
to, and been described by Europeans in about the following order:

1. Large yellow, described by Matthiolus in 1554 and called Golden apple.

2. Large red, described by Matthiolus in 1554 and called Love apple.

3. Purple red, described by D'el Obel in 1570.

4. White-fleshed, described by Dodoens in 1586.

5. Red cherry, described by Bauhin in 1620.

6. Yellow cherry, described by Bauhin in 1620.

7. Ochre yellow, described by Bauhin in 1651.

8. Striped, blotched or visi-colored, described by Bauhin in 1651.

9. Pale red, described by Tournefort in 1700.

10. Large smooth, or ribless red, described by Tournefort in 1700.

11. Bronzed-leaved, described by Blacknell in 1750.

12. Deep orange, described by Bryant in 1783.

13. Pear-shaped, described by Dunal in 1805.

14. Tree tomato, described by Vilmorin in 1855.

15. Broad-leaved, introduced about 1860.

The special description of No. 10 by Tournefort in 1700 would indicate
that large smooth sorts, like Livingston's Stone, were in existence
fully 200 years ago, instead of being modern improvements, as is
sometimes claimed; and a careful study of old descriptions and cuts and
comparing them with the best examples of modern varieties led Doctor
Sturtevant in 1889 to express the opinion that they had fruit as large
and smooth as those we now grow, before the tomato came into general use
in America, and possibly before the fruit was generally known to
Europeans."

And we all thought striped tomatoes were something new.