[Tom Wagner]

So you haven't yet grown King Umberto?

The plant I have is in a pot and I used the flowers early for pollen and did not allow any to set fruit and the later blooms that I crossed are just now growing well. I will look at them today to see if the shape is what I remember from the 1960's

When you do please tell me which traits are so great that you'd want to cross it with something?

Old English rhyme ("Something Olde, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue, A Sixpence in your Shoe"), and the four objects that the plant breeder adds to his breeding lines or carries with him on the big day of making a cross are just good luck charms

Yeah, the good luck charm of using tomatoes that might be old, new, borrowed, blue, but the Sixpence is left out. Oh, Wait! I could name a tomato Sixpence and include it in the breeding scheme!

No, I would not think King Umberto to be so valuable by itself. However, there is always hope that there is something there besides the name. There is a magical element of "Yesteryear, Today, and Tomorrow" of tomato breeding.

So you want "ancient varieties" as in pre-1800 ones. If so start out with Green Gage, named after the venerable English plum of the same name.

Carolyn, do you know of anyone who has varieties bred from Green Gage? I have the seed of Green Gage in my inventory but have not considered it directly for breeding.

The Plant Introduction series of Humberto type tomatoes are from Argentina, Brazil, and Bolivia from 80 years ago. Was it distributed around the world because of the Italians or was it desired for a trait we lost track of? I am afraid we don't grow these old varieties for quality reasons but I would like to bring back part of the old critter under a new hide.