Musings
Seed Story: Mansfield Tree Tomato
One of the biggest joys of growing seeds for us, is learning about their stories. We do a lot of research on the varieties we offer, because we are curious. We want to know: Who grew this variety? Where does it grow? What are its special qualities? Our thinking is that when you know the story of the seed, you know the potential of the plant.
This “Seed Story” is about the amazing Mansfield Tree Tomato.
Part I
We acquired seedstock for ‘Mansfield Tree Tomato’ (under one of its other names ‘Mammoth Prize’, we’ll explain) from the Seed Savers Exchange (USA). Their information indicated that this tomato was donated in the 1980s by Jane Hall of Fort Collins, Colorado who received the seeds from the USDA Cheyenne Field Testing Station. Two names were included for this record: ‘Mammoth Prize’ and ‘Giant Climbing’.
It became our passion project to find out more about this tomato using both online and archival resources. In particular, we used old seed catalogs to find out which companies had offered this tomato in the past. The first piece of the puzzle was to confirm that, yes, seed companies did list this tomato by both names. For instance, the 1944 Mills Seed Company catalogue listed the tomato as “Mammoth Prize or Giant Climbing”. And going further back in time, the 1935 Murvons Seed Company catalogue listed this tomato as “Mammoth Prize or Giant Climbing” (see image).
We thought that might be as far back as we could go. But then we came across an even older reference to Mammoth Prize in the 1910 seed catalogue of the Great Northern Seed Company of Rockford, Illinois. They listed a tomato called “Mansfield Tree or Mammoth Prize”. Where did the name ‘Mansfield Tree’ come from? That started us on another search. And this is where things get very interesting.
Part II
We found out that the ‘Mansfield Tree Tomato’ was first introduced to the seed trade by the gardener who developed it, William Mansfield of Wisconsin (see image). He started working on his tomato about 1870 and then offered it to seed companies to trial and eventually sell around 1890. In 1916, Mr Mansfield was interviewed for an article titled, ‘How Mr. Mansfield Grows Tomatoes’, in the Book of Trees, Fruits and Flowers of Minnesota.The author writes:
“Somewhere around 1870 Mr. Wm. Mansfield, of Johnsons Creek, Wis., commenced to apply what Gov. Hoard, of Wisconsin, told him was “persevering intelligence,” to the propagating and improving of the tomato, and he soon found out that the tomato was capable of almost unlimited improvement. He has made a specialty of the tree tomato, of which he says he has demonstrated to the world that in the Mansfield Tree Tomato he has produced one of the greatest wonders of the age. All who have seen them, tasted or grown them, with even a small degree of good sense, are loud in their praise for their good qualities: wonderful growth of tree, beauty of fruit, smoothness, solidity, flavor, earliness, etc.”
“Mr. Mansfield’s record twenty-six years ago, at Johnsons Creek, Wis., was: Height of tomato tree, eleven feet. Weight of single tomato, two pounds six ounces”
The ‘Mansfield Tree Tomato’ became very popular as soon as it was introduced to the seed trade. Many seed companies featured it prominently in their catalogues..
One of the earliest and best descriptions of this tomato was published in the Mills Seed Company catalogue of 1890. They included an engraving of Mr Mansfield and his tomatoes with a charming sign above the tomatoes that read, “There are no chickens up here” (see image). Here is their glowing account of the ‘Mansfield Tree Tomato’:
“New tomatoes seem to be the rage with seedsmen in the United States, each one trying to outdo the other by introducing new seeds. I have always made it a point to test new varieties of tomatoes as they are brought out and am careful to note the merits of each one separately. Last spring I heard of a new tomato in Wisconsin which was claimed to be a ‘Tree Tomato’, and which would grow ten feet high and produce larger tomatoes than any other variety in cultivation. I at once made an investigation, and the originator made claims which I could hardly believe, but I knew if they would produce tomatoes as he said, they certainly were the greatest tomatoes in cultivation. I was determined to give them a trial on my grounds, and at quite an expense I procured a supply of the plants direct from Mr Mansfield, the originator. They arrived late in May with tops somewhat broken, but I set them all out just to see what they would do.”
“The season was the worst one for tomatoes I ever saw, but in spite of that the ‘Tree Tomato’ grew very fast, and by September 1st, it was the grandest and most wonderful sight at my seed grounds; such vines I never saw before, and as to tomatoes, there was no end, which were smooth, of handsome color, and of immense size. I find the originator made claims which were true, not praising them any too much, and below I publish a letter received from him giving the history, so all can see what a wonderful tomato this is. After finding out that they were an excellent kind, I at once made arrangements with the originator for all the seed he had and now am able to offer the true and genuine seed, which can be procured of no other seedsman this spring.”
The Mills Seed Company (1890) description continues:
“Under date of October 15th, 1889 Mr Mansfield, the originator writes–”I will state facts and nothing but facts: – The Mansfield Tree tomato has been originated by me after eighteen years of careful selections and special methods of cultivation, until it has attained the heights of 10 feet and 7 inches for the tree, and a weight for a single tomato of 3 ¼ ounces and a diameter of 6 inches, with testimonials of over 60 pounds of ripe fruit to a single tree, of a quality that surpasses all others. Fruit ripens from July 4th until frost. I have one tree laid by for a sample, to show you or any of your customers, which measures 10 feet and 7 inches, and can show testimonials to back all my statements, and you can stake any money on them on my account, and come on for the vouchers. I had my first ripe tomato on July 4th, and a fine one it was. My best trees, July 25th, stood 7 feet high, and I had tomatoes on them that were five inches in diameter at that time and still growing. They were then all liberally loaded with fruit from the blossom up to five inches, and run up as high as seventeen on one stem, and always of superior quality. They are as solid all the way through as a hard boiled egg, and but very few seeds in a tomato. There are several other tomatoes that have been called Tree Tomatoes, but all have proved to be poor, worthless, and sour tomatoes, but the ‘Mansfield Tree Tomato’ has proved to be all is claimed for it, and sends back to me from sample seed sent out, most wonderful accounts from Dakota to Vermont, and from the Lakes to Florida and California.”
The May Seed Company of St. Paul, Minnesota published another good description of the tomato in 1893 and included a lovely colour image on their back page (see image):
“This variety has created the greatest sensation since its introduction two years ago.This past season it grew to a height of over fifteen feet, and produced Tomatoes of enormous size and the most delicious flavor. All who have tasted the Mansfield are loud in their praise of its fine quality, wonderful growth and beauty of its fruit. Mr William Mansfield has spent twenty years in growing and experimenting with the Tomato and success at last crowned his efforts. We have grown almost every tomato that has been introduced for a number of years, and must confess we have never seen anything that could equal the Mansfield in growth and productiveness. Last season we procured a large supply of seed but sold out a number of times, and were obliged to pay an enormous price to Mr Mansfield for all the seed he could furnish.”
The same 1893 May Seed Company catalogue also included a note and a few reviews about the tomato that were originally published by the newspaper The Chicago Inter-Ocean (see image):
“We are in receipt of a basket of Tree Tomatoes from an old subscriber, William Mansfeld. Not one weighs less than one pound, and several over that. The fruit is solid and the flavor delicious. Mr Mansfield has been perfecting the fruit for 20 years. He says that he gets fruit from July 4th until frost. The tree stands 11 feet high, loaded for 8 feet with ripe fruit, and with green fruit to the top. Many samples measure six inches in diameter and weigh two pounds each.”
“Colbergen, Neb. Sept 12 – I think the Mansfield the finest tomato I ever tasted; my trees are 8 to 10 feet high and loaded with nice large fruit. The tomato I send weighs just 2 ½ pounds. I cannot too highly recommend them.”
“Runyan, KY. – I have just eaten one of the Mansfield Tomatoes, taken from the choicest plant I had. It weighed 3 ½ pounds. J.C. Bonder M.D.”
“Haywards, CAL. – I was very successful with all of the seeds I got from you, and the tree tomatoes were the best I ever ate. Carl Mohr.”
“Waldo, ARK – The Tree Tomato is over 10 feet high, and did well. I had one tomato that weighed three pounds one ounce. Your seeds are the best I ever had. C.V. Elgin.”
Part III
How did the ‘Mansfield Tree Tomato’ become the ‘Mammoth Prize’ tomato?
In 1893, the Mills Seed Company (‘There are no chickens up here’, mentioned above) changed the name of the ‘Mansfield Tree Tomato’ in their catalogue to the ‘Mammoth Prize’ tomato in response to a contest they ran. The ‘Mammoth Prize’ contest initiated two years earlier had encouraged customers to purchase ‘Mansfield Tree Tomato’ seeds (from them) and grow the largest or most ‘Mammoth’ tomato they could. From that point on Mills Seed no longer called the tomato the ‘Mansfield Tree Tomato’, rather they called it ‘Mammoth Prize’, although the description of ‘Mammoth Prize’ was similar to their earlier catalog description (1890) of the ‘Mansfield Tree Tomato’ and included a drawing of a tall tomato with chickens underneath it. Other seed companies at the time (see above, Great Northern Seed Company) considered the two tomatoes to be the same. We are confident they are the same tomato. The immensely knowledgeable French tomato database ventmarin.com also considers them synonyms. Their research suggests most seed companies dropped Mansfield’s name from the tomato by 1910. Another example, the Archias Seed Company carried ‘Mansfield’s Mammoth Tree Tomato’ in the early 1900s until they renamed it in their 1906 catalog as ‘Archias Mammoth Tree Tomato’ – but they kept the description the same (‘The greatest wonder of the ages. The fruit is of massive size, flesh very thick…”) and included a drawing of a tall tomato with chickens underneath it (just as the Mills Seed Company had).
All things considered, the most appropriate name for this tomato is the ‘Mansfield Tree Tomato’ – the name given to it by William Mansfield – rather than the many other synonyms this tomato has had over the years.
One more thing: Why the reference to chickens with this tomato? As explained in the 1907 Olds Seed Company catalog, the Mansfield tomato “can be readily trained to grow out of reach of chickens.”
Growing the ‘Mansfield Tree Tomato’ tomato today
In our experience, the ‘‘Mansfield Tree Tomato’ does not get to the heights advertised in the early seed catalogs, however it can get to 7 feet tall. Nor were the tomatoes as large as advertised in the early seed catalogs, ours were closer to 150 grams (5 oz). But the plants were productive and the fruits a beautiful and distinctive rosy-pink to crimson-pink (not tomato red), which fits with early descriptions of the tomato. Early catalogs describe the colour of the ‘Mansfield Tree Tomato’ as “unique” and “handsome” and similar to ‘Henderson’s Ponderosa’ tomato (which is rosy-pink). Also, our tomatoes look alot like the ‘Mansfield Tree Tomatoes’ visible in the picture of Mr Mansfield published in 1916 in the book Book of Trees, Fruits and Flowers of Minnesota (mentioned earlier, see image).
Why we think the ‘Mansfield Tree Tomato’ is the original ‘Giant Tree’ tomato. And the ‘truth’ about ‘Giant Tree’ tomatoes.
In early seed catalogues (1890s -1930s), the Mansfield Tree Tomato was known as the ‘Giant Tree’ or ‘Giant Climbing’ tomato. Seed catalogues usually embellished its attributes and typically described it as being up to 12 or 15 feet tall and having large fruit, up to 3 pounds (see below for a description of contemporary ‘Giant Tree’ tomatoes). In 1941, another ‘Giant Tree’ type of tomato was introduced, Burgess’ ‘Climbing Trip-L-Crop’ tomato. Historic pictures of the ‘Climbing Trip-L-Crop’ from old Burgess seed catalogues show a massively tall tomato and the catalogues declared vines grew between 10 and 18 feet. You might be wondering if these 2 tomatoes are the same? They are not. The Climbing Trip-L-Crop has potato leaves. The ‘Mansfield Tree Tomato’ aka ‘Mammoth Prize’ has regular leaves. In 1944, the Mills Seed Company catalogue (mentioned and pictured above) offered both varieties for sale: (1) The ‘Climbing Trip-L-Crop’ and (2) the “Mammoth Prize or Giant Climbing” aka ‘Mansfield Tree Tomato’.
What about ‘Giant Tree’ tomatoes today?
If you do a google search for ‘Giant Tree’ tomato, you will find some rather unbelievable pictures of tomatoes with huge fruit, huge production and huge plants. These pictures are mostly hype. But based on our research, we think the Burgess’ ‘Climbing Trip-L-Crop’ tomato (introduced in 1941) is the likely suspect for the contemporary ‘Giant Tree’ tomato based on leaf type, fruit shape/colour and plant height (although, again, the contemporary photos are usually embellished). Burgess was a well-known seed company and their seeds of Climbing Trip-L-Crop were widely distributed; it is reasonable to think that this tomato would have been re-selected by different growers over the years for its giant traits.
To sum up a very long story: we suggest that the Mansfield Tree Tomato is the original ‘Giant Tree’ tomato based on chronology; the Mansfield Tree Tomato was developed before the Climbing Trip-L-Crop (and other ‘Giant Tree’ tomatoes) and offered in the seed trade much earlier. Although, today, in terms of plant size and fruit size, the ‘Climbing Trip-L-Crop’ is probably bigger than the ‘Mansfield Tree Tomato’.