Need help, Carolyn - what happened to Feejee?

[stevenkh1]

Yeah...I already read that thread (among others) and did a google books search. Once source says Feejee was large, red, oblate... another said it was pink... a 3rd source said it was shaped like an egg. Yet another source says Maupey used Feejee as one of the parents for his Superior variety...

I figured if anyone knew off the top of their head the real deal of Feejee and who introduced it before the Civil War, it would be you.

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by stevenkh1

Yeah...I already read that thread (among others) and did a google books search. Once source says Feejee was large, red, oblate... another said it was pink... a 3rd source said it was shaped like an egg. Yet another source says Maupey used Feejee as one of the parents for his Superior variety...

I figured if anyone knew off the top of their head the real deal of Feejee and who introduced it before the Civil War, it would be you.

I appreciate your high praise for my brain, but fact is I don't know it all, which may surprise you.

I hadn't read that thread in a long time and thought there was more info about Fegee there which has been spelled in many ways. And I have to doubt that Figi, Fiji, Feegee, Fegee was used as a parent for any variety knowing, as I thought I knew, that it was almost a pre-1800 variety/

One more place to look and that's Andy Smith's book about the development of the tomato, history, etc., b'c in the appendix he lists many of the older ones and history and whether extinct or not.

With my walker I have no way to get to that book right now, and besides, I'm sure you saw that Mischka bought idig and I'm now there as a Moderator as well as here. So busy beyond belief, way behind on answering PM's, e-mails, making progress on my to do list here at home. etc.

Carolyn

[stevenkh1]

I gotta admit, I am surprised - you're one of the leading experts on tomato varieties.

I just previewed Andy Smith's book and there's no mention of Feejee/Fiji (or any other alternate spelling).

I did see tho in a book authored in 1911 that the Feejee tomato was still around as there was a recipe using that specific tomato.

And I just discovered an old book from 1844 entitled "United States Exploring Expedition - Volume 3, Page 327 where it appears the Feejee is found on Tavea (one of the islands comprising the Fiji Islands):

https://books.google.com/books?id=MH...IVDEmSCh0oTwWC

[stevenkh1]

And yes, the Feejee was introduced in 1859 and here's the specifics on this tomato:
source: Genessee Farmer: A Monthly Journal Devoted to Agriculture and Horticulture, Volumes 20-21 pg 125 (https://books.google.com/books?id=zp...feejee&f=false)

[stevenkh1]

Last record of Feejee I can find is in a 1911 cook book where the recipe specifically calls for Feejee tomatoes, so Feejee - like Livingston's Acme - just disappeared after 50+ years of popularity. Hmmm...

[stevenkh1]

The recipe I mentioned above is from The New Home Cookbook by J. Fred Waggoner, 1911, pg 177.
source: https://books.google.com/books?id=bV...recipe&f=false

[Gerardo]

Originally Posted by stevenkh1

And yes, the Feejee was introduced in 1859 and here's the specifics on this tomato:
source: Genessee Farmer: A Monthly Journal Devoted to Agriculture and Horticulture, Volumes 20-21 pg 125 (https://books.google.com/books?id=zp...feejee&f=false)

I really like the "a most sovereign remedy" part. Is the other variety mentioned still around?