Dobbies & Co tomatoes

[Kymmy99]

I was just wondering does anyone think or know if these tomato varieties (there are more not included in the screenshot) still exist, they are listed from the 50's so I'm not holding my breath.

Living in Scotland I'd love to try some of the Dobbies of Edinburgh varieties if I can

Screenshot_20240807-174632~2.png

[FatBeeFarm]

I've never seen or heard of any of these sorry (but I'm in the US)

[karstopography]

https://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/Ailsa_Craig

Tatiana’s lists a Ailsa Craig originating in Scotland.

https://victoryseeds.com/products/ailsa ... r5TtNlE2h4

Victory seeds evidently stocks the seeds.

I didn’t search out any of the other names.

[rossomendblot]

Ailsa Craig is a very common variety, easy to find seeds for the UK.

Essex Wonder was a popular market garden tomato back in the day (1930s or so). I've never grown it. Doesn't look like it's available for sale anymore, but I might have some seed somewhere, I will have to check.

I can't find any information about any of the other varieties. They will be hard to acquire unless there is a keen collector of Scottish varieties somewhere.

[Kymmy99]

Ailsa Craig is a very common variety, easy to find seeds for the UK.

Essex Wonder was a popular market garden tomato back in the day (1930s or so). I've never grown it. Doesn't look like it's available for sale anymore, but I might have some seed somewhere, I will have to check.

I can't find any information about any of the other varieties. They will be hard to acquire unless there is a keen collector of Scottish varieties somewhere.

Thanks for the update, yes I have ailsa Craig coming out of my ears... Every freebie is ailsa Craig or gardeners delight

If you happened to have a few Essex Wonder laying about id love to try growing them out.. Maybe that keen collector will lurk here somewhere, you never know what random things people accumulated over the years.

[Shule]

I've heard of an Alisa Craig tomato and a Champion F1 tomato, but I don't know if they're the same as Dobbie's Alisa Craig and Dobbie's Champion. Based on the history on Tatiana's it does look likely that Alisa Craig might be the same tomato as Dobbie's Alisa Craig, though (but I don't see any definitive proof).

I think nowadays, they probably only have Champion II F1 and Bush Champion II F1, though instead of the original Champion F1.

[Shule]

I was just wondering does anyone think or know if these tomato varieties (there are more not included in the screenshot) still exist, they are listed from the 50's so I'm not holding my breath.

Living in Scotland I'd love to try some of the Dobbies of Edinburgh varieties if I can

Screenshot_20240807-174632~2.png

Are you sure they were tomatoes? I see evidence of the existence of a Dobbie's Champion leek. Some companies do give the same names to different species that they sell, though. So, it wouldn't be that surprising to see both.

[Kymmy99]

I was just wondering does anyone think or know if these tomato varieties (there are more not included in the screenshot) still exist, they are listed from the 50's so I'm not holding my breath.

Living in Scotland I'd love to try some of the Dobbies of Edinburgh varieties if I can

Screenshot_20240807-174632~2.png

Are you sure they were tomatoes? I see evidence of the existence of a Dobbie's Champion leek. Some companies do give the same names to different species that they sell, though. So, it wouldn't be that surprising to see both.

They were all listed as tomato varieties in the Dobbies of Edinburgh catalogue back in the day.

[Shule]

I know there is an Alisa Craig tomato, but I wanted to point out that in researching it, I notice the Alisa Craig onion in a review of it has '(Dobbie's Geniune) next to its name in a review in Gardener's Chronicle of America, volumes 11-12, 1910, page 216. So, maybe Dobbie & Co. made both. Or maybe they had their own strain of Alisa Craig; I noticed mention of another strain of it.

[Shule]

You might look at the history for Primrose Gage, which is a tomato that you can still get:

https://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/Primrose_Gage

Also see this quote:

Inventory: Foreign Seeds and Plants Imported, United States. Agricultural Research Service. Plant Science Research Division. 1931. Page 28.

"Seeds presented by Dobbie & Co. (Ltd.). Received February 3, 1931.

Primrose Gage. Collected in the village of a seminomadic tribe in the jungle of southern India, between 5,000 and 8,000 feet altitude. The foliage is more glaucous green than that of the ordinary tomato, and the primrose-yellow fruit, about the size of a golf ball, has a bloom like that of a grape. It has a sharp sweet flavor which is quite distinct from that of all other tomatoes."

@Tormato
Did you know this was a high altitude tomato? I'm really curious if anyone's actually grown it in high altitude.

Apparently, Tatiana said (AKA Tania) it was more tolerant of late blight than certain other varieties. Another TV user said the squirrels and other garden pests thought it was like candy.

It was on my to-grow list once. I don't remember if I planted it, or not, but if I did, it didn't get beyond the seedling stage. If I didn't plant it, that means I still have some old seeds.

People describe it as maybe being woolly/fuzzy.