EXPERIMENTS WITH EGGPLANTS. 231 
set 2 feet apart each way. The soil was about 6 inches 
deep, and different in character in each of the two 
benches used. One bench had been filled with a mix- 
ture of equal parts of potting soil and manure from a 
spent mushroom bed. This formed a very open and 
rich soil, which appeared to be capable of producing a 
strong growth. The second bench received a rich, 
sandy loam, which had previously been composted with 
about one-fourth its bulk of stable manure. The tem- 
perature of the house was that usually maintained in 
growing plants requiring a considerable amount of heat ; 
during the night the mercury fell to 65° or 60°, and in 
the day time it stood at 70°-75°. In bright weather the 
house was still warmer. 
Considerable care was. exercised in watering the 
plants, the soil being kept somewhat dry: when grown 
out of doors, eggplants withstand drought so well that 
such a course seemed advisable when growing them 
under glass. As the plants increased in size the leaves 
shaded the soil, and an occasional thorough watering 
maintained an excellent condition of moisture in the bed 
filled with the loam. In addition, the soil was stirred 
with a hand weeder when necessary. 
For some time all the varieties in each bench ap- 
peared to be doing uniformly well, but the plants set in 
the sandy loam made a stronger growth and appeared 
to be more vigorous. This was especially noticeable in 
Early Dwarf Purple and New York Improved. The first 
bloom appeared on the former during the last week in 
December, and on the 3d of January, 1894, several plants 
showed flowers that were well opened. These were 
hand pollinated, and they set fruit freely. On February 
15 some of these fruits were 2% inches long, the plants 
still growing well and producing many blossoms. It 
was at this time that the first flowers of Black Pekin 
appeared, but New York Improved had not yet pro- 
duced any, although it was making a strong growth. 
