In 1883, a Tariff Act was placed to protect domestic vegetable growers by taxing imported vegetables. The farmers and growers at that time insisted that tomatoes were more of a vegetable than a fruit, and therefore needs to be taxed. Against Hedden, there was an argument stating that tomatoes were botanically a fruit (as they have seeds), and thus should not have a vegetable tax on them.
Supreme Court ruled that consumers believed tomatoes were a vegetable more than a fruit, so the case was closed.