Inheritance of some traits in a tomato cross

A good tomato variety is one which, meets the need of the industry at a given time. As mechanical harvesting of tomatoes increases, many good hand-harvest varieties are declining in usage. The VF36 variety of tomato was introduced in 1960 and "became the most important variety for processing in California in 1964 and 1965, "but "by 1966 was becoming obsolete. Its obsolescence was due to progress in mechanical harvesting fruit characteristics dominate a variety. One major requirement of a tomato variety for mechanical harvesting is uniform maturity, which in turn includes a short blooming period and a concentrated fruit set. Characteristics like fruit size, shape, smoothness and color are important for mechanical harvest and market demand, for machine harvesting, fruit size may have to be reduced to decrease the incidence of damage caused by the harvester, for the same reason globular-shaped fruit with a shallow basin at the stem end may be desired. Smooth fruit may be more acceptable than ribbed fruit. Early ripening, more locules, uniform red color, ability to set fruit under a wide temperature range as well as to yield an economically satisfactory crop every year are certainly of fundamental importance. Certain vine characters are also desirable and suitable for machine harvest. Determinate varieties yield as much as indeterminate varieties and have a more concentrated maturity period. A short picking period and lover picking cost are the advantages of determinate types. They also may be ground grown, •which eliminates staking cost. Number of clusters and florets per cluster may be important both in respect to total yield and to facilitate machine harvest. In fact, current trends are towards smaller, more compact determinate vines with adequate leaf cover to protect fruit from sunburn. In short, it may be said that, with increased cost of labor and general culture, future varieties are likely to be of the "one-pick" type small, very compact plants with a concentrated set of fruit.