Alexander W. Livingston (1821–1898) was an American horticulturist and seed company founder. He developed some of the first tomato varieties that were suitable for commercial production. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's 1937 yearbook declared that "half of the major varieties were a result of the abilities of the Livingstons to evaluate and perpetuate superior material in the tomato." Livingston's first breed of tomato, the Paragon, was introduced in 1870.[1][2]
Biography
editLivingston was born on October 14, 1821 (some sources say 1822) in Reynoldsburg, Ohio.[3][4]
He married Matilda Dickey Graham in 1840. They had 10 children.[4] Their house in Reynoldsburg was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1994.[5]
He was working for another seed grower when he purchased his own farm land near Reynoldsburg and eventually purchased his employers farm land.[1]
He was interested in growing tomatoes that had a uniform roundness, size and better flavor. He would select tomatoes with those characteristics and save the seeds and plant them the next year. After several years of doing this, he had a tomato that he felt was good enough to market. He and his company would go on to develop seventeen varieties of tomato.[4]
He eventually started the A.W. Livingston's Sons seed company in Columbus, Ohio.[3]
Livingston died in 1898.[1]
Bibliography
edit- Livingston and the tomato, A. W. Livingston, 1893
References
edit- ^ a b c "Our History". reynoldsburg.gov. Archived from the original on February 28, 2024. Retrieved August 18, 2024.
- ^ Boswell, Victor R. "Improvement and Genetics of Tomatoes, Peppers, and Eggplant," Yearbook of Agriculture, 1937, pp. 179–81. U.S. Department of Agriculture. Retrieved August 18, 2024
- ^ a b "Father of the Modern Tomato". heartlandscience.org. The Ohio Academy of Science. Retrieved August 18, 2024.
- ^ a b c Ohio SP Livingston, Alexander W., House at the National Archives and Records Administration Retrieved August 18, 2024
- ^ "National Register Information System – Livingston, Alexander W., House (#94000593)". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. Retrieved August 18, 2024