t is large, dry, pithy and hard, extending far into the
fruit even to below the center; and sometimes seems to divide into
secondary or branch placentas or masses of hard cellular matter, while
in other varieties it is small and so soft and juicy as scarcely to be
distinguished from the flesh. Usually, but not invariably, the large and
pithy placenta is correlated with large-sized fruit having many cells;
where this is the case it practically necessitates the cutting away and
wasting of a large proportion of the fruit in preparing it for canning,
so that the canners usually prefer round, medium-sized fruits.

The character of the interior of the fruit varies greatly in different
varieties. Both the exterior and divisional walls vary in thickness and
in consistency. In some varieties they are comparatively thin, hard and
dry; in others, thicker, softer and more juicy. In some cases there is
but little interior wall, the fruit being divided into but few--even but
two--cells of even size and shape, while in others there are many cells
of varying size and shape. Varieties also differ greatly as to the
amount, consistency and flavor of the pulp and the number of seeds. It
requires from 300 to 500 pounds of ripe fruit to furnish a pound of seed
of Ponderosa, while with some of the smaller, earlier sorts one can get
a pound of seed from 100 to 200 pounds of fruit.

=Coloring and ripening.=--Uniformity and evenness in coloring and
ripening are an important quality. Tomatoes generally color and ripen
from within outward, and from the point opposite the stem upward, but
varieties differ in the evenness and rapidity with which this takes
place. It is always desirable that the ripening be as even as possible
and that there be no green and hard spots either at the surface or in
the flesh, but often perfection in this respect is correlated with such
lack of size and solidity as to counterbalance it. Rapidity in ripening,
in a general way, is desirable for fruit to be used at home, and
undesirable in that which is to be shipped.

The time a tomato fruit will remain in usable condition and the amount
of rough handling it will endure without becoming unsalable are most
important commercial qualities depending largely upon the combined
effects of the form and structure of the fruit, solidity and firmness of
the flesh and ripening habit. In all these respects we have varieties
which differ greatly, from the Honor Bright, which requires a