Ramapo - not really different from others?

17 years ago

Dr Bernard Pollack (the breeder of Ramapo) discloses some interesting things in a recent interview about Ramapo and similar varieties of that era.

It is very much like others of that period because it shares the same background.

According to Dr Pollack, "If you tasted Rutgers, Stokesdale, Earlina, Marglobe, Pritchard, Big Boy and Early Girl they would all taste very much like Ramapo ... since we plant breeders were all using germplasm from the same gene pool."

He disclosed that the parents were KCA , a line from Campbell's Soup that was resistant to fusarium wilt, and Abbie, named for Dr Pollack's daughter, which was resistant to verticillium. Abbie's origins were from an early maturing line from the University of North Dakota (he didn't disclose which line but did mention it was still segregating when he received it - thus it was not something named and required more work when he received it before naming it 'Abbie').

Sounds like once again reminiscing and "branding" won out over reality.

It also goes on to talk mention the negative qualities of Ramapo - later production (that's probably why Abbie was introduced into the the common Campbell's line), lower yielding, softness and short shelf life.

I have said this many times before and will repeat it. Many of the Campbell's lines really are worth trying! They may not have fancy colors, names or histories available but there taste is truly "tomato" (not just really sweet or really tart but full of the character). KC135 and C1943 are two I really like and have donated to the yahoo seed bank of Mary-Anne's group.

There are many open pollinated ones that are going to be like Ramapo. One might try them out if they are looking for that old tomato taste.

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Comments (8)

carolyn137
17 years ago
There are many open pollinated ones that are going to be like Ramapo. One might try them out if they are looking for that old tomato taste.

*****
I agree and Break O Day is one of them that comes to mind that I especially like and others might include New Yorker, Valiant and the like.

Other hybrids bred about the same time as Ramapo F1 that I like as hybrids include the Harris varieties Moreton Hybrid, Supersonic and Jet Star.

And I do like Ramapo F1 as well as the OP version that many others have grown and liked.

The following was posted in July, 2008 here at GW, an intersting perspective when Dr. Pollack's son-in law was asked about Ramapo F1 parentage:

******
Posted by naplesgardener: I assume the real parentage of Ramapo is secret...
Posted by hoosiercherokee: Besides, what are the two parents of Ramapo? What are your bets both of them are vintage commercial varieties?
I got my Ramapo seeds from the son-in-law of Dr. Bernard Pollack, who developed the the variety at Rutgers. He's probably the anonymous "retired plant genetecist" mentioned in the Times article. Here's Bernie's reply to my question about the parents of the Ramapo:

"...No secret. Ramapo is the result of a cross of KCA x Abbie. KCA is a breeding line I got from a plant breeder working for the Campbell Soup Co. in NJ and Abbie (named after my daughter) from a breeding line I received from a plant breeder friend in North Dakota. This line was still segregating so I made selections from it and purified the type I was interested in. Takes about 7 years of inbreeding..."

Carolyn
mule
Original Author
17 years ago
Folks should go back and look at the Campbell's material. Really good stuff.

I gave away the majority of my seeds to the Tomatomania seed bank.

I'll have to look and see what I have left. If I do I will send them to Trudi.
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tumblingtomatoes
17 years ago
I think sending seeds to Trudi is nice, then lots of people out there can try them, I got seeds from her & am very pleased & appreciative. I'd like to know more about the Campbell's varieties cause kids recognize the name & would be likely to eat them up! hah!
trudi_d
17 years ago
Bless you Mule, thank you, I can use whatever you send.

It's coincidence that we're talking about 'Jersey Tomatoes', but this afternoon I sent OP maters to a school in NJ--this wasn't a classroom or a youth club in the school, this was request for seeds for the whole entire school. Kudos to their librarian who started googling about heirloom tomatoes and stepped up to the plate to start an outdoor garden program for all their students--every student and teacher in every class will have their own seed packets to sow; that's a lot of seeds.

I've been fortunate to distribute the tom seeds of so many people. I see patterns in requests which are very often influenced by agrilogue but lately the economy is influencing the list requests. I have had a huge increase in requests for what I call the 3Rs ~ round, red and reliable tomatoes. Nostalgia has always been a force behind choosing heirloom tomatoes; however, if the economy continues to tank it will be reliability that will replace nostalgia and classic OPs and hybrids will have their day again. It doesn't matter if JetStar, Ramapo, Marglobe, New Yorker, Bonny Best, Heinz# or Cambells#, etc, are a little similar in taste--they're all good croppers and many have some disease resistance; I don't see the future of tomatoes as being swayed by nostalgia, the focus will shift to reliable varieties because that is what is needed.

T
trudi_d
17 years ago
Agrilogue is a contraction of Agriculture and Dialogue, hence Agrilogue.
mule
Original Author
17 years ago
There will likely be more releases from this program.

The ones they can promote and get around the softness issues may stick around.
trudi_d
17 years ago
I agree, flavor is always a plus but logisitics is the all important determining factor om agriculture.
yugoslava
17 years ago
Reading all things relating to Ramapo tomato I gather Campbell created tomatoes for their own use. Would that be before tomatoes were bred for long distance travel? Reading about these crosses it appears to me Campbell s' was looking for flavour and prolific fruiting, which is not the case with tomatoes sold in supermarkets any time of the year at least when it comes to flavour.