EXPERIMENT STATIOX KEPOKT. 487 



2. "Bhtrk Snake.'' The plants aie uiiusuall.v sleudpr and tall, with the leaves 

 narrow and purple. It is early, but live fruits are so long and slender as to he 

 of little value for the table. The plants lontinue to bloom and bear fruit until 

 frost kills them. The fruits turn yellow at maturity. It is a spineless variety 

 and on this account is of much value in breeding. Froni»it. in combination with 

 the "New York Improved," has been secured a long, large-fruited cross that 

 is of much market value and has thus far shown no spines. 



o. "Bla<^k Fekin."' This is a distinct variety, as shown by its purple stems 

 and foliage, tall habit of growth and large, nearly spherical fruits, showing the 

 absence of the dark purple color beneath the large calyx lobe.s. This last i)ecu- 

 liarity is shared by the "Black Snake," "Dwarf Purple" and "Early Dwarf 

 Oval." The plants are not very prolific and the fruits are quite inclined to 

 crack before they are large enough for the table. The leaves are much less 

 injured by the potato beetle than those of the green sorts. 



4. "BUick Beauty.'' This is so close to the "Baltimore" that the same remarks 

 apply to both. 



5. "Duarf Purple." The dwarf habit (one to one and a half feet high) is 

 so marked that this is a well-defined variety. In the purple color of the stems, 

 foliage and fruit it resembles the "Pekin," but its foliage is long and narrow, 

 more like the "Black Snake," and the fruits are almost pear-shaped and quite 

 small as compared with those of standard sorts and much less rapid in decay. 

 The calyx is purple and the flesh of the fruit beneath its lobes is green. The 

 chief merit of the small plants is in their earliness, producing fruits before any 

 other sort, and continue to bear until late iu the season. Old plants sometimes 

 show several straw-yellow, pear-shaped, mature fruits, which, upon cutting with 

 a knife, exhibit much frrmness, especially near the surface, while the seed cavities 

 are much better defined than in such fruits as those of the "Pekin" or "New 

 York Improved" type. In other words these dwarfs show a characteristic 

 solidity in the fruit that is quite resistant to the ordinary form of decay in 

 (ggplants. It is not spineless. 



G. "Early Dicarf Oval." This was grown alongside of No. .") and no difference 

 could be detected between the two. 



7. "Excelsior Tree." This is a tall, broad, green-leaved, late, somewhat spiny 

 sort, with medium-sized, oval, purple fruits. 



8. "FUrrida High Bush." This was grown next to No. 7, and not easily 

 distinguished from it. 



!). "Giant iSi. Y. Spineless." This was represented by only four plants, due to 

 a poor stand in the seed box. The plants were only medium tall, with green 

 stem and leaves and medium-sized, oval, purple fruits. It was not spineless, but 

 fairly early in bearing. 



10. "Jersey Belle." A large block of plants of this Station sort of eggplant 

 was grown the present season. The record-book states that the 190 plants 

 were noted for their vigor and early blooms. Two types of plants were dis- 

 tinguishable in the latter part of the season, the one being tall with purplish 

 stems and leaves and inclining in these respects to the "Long Purjjle" ])arent. 

 and the other medium tall with less purple iu the stems and foliage and thus 

 favoring the other parent, the "New Y'ork Improved." The first fruits were 

 picked for the table July 10th, and the first picking of fifty mature specimens 

 for seeding was made early in August. All the plants bear the same long, bell- 

 shaped fruits of a rich purple color. All the plants are somewhat spiny. 



11. "Long White." This is a tall, broad, green-leaved sort, the fruits of 

 which are medium long, early and fairly productive of greeni.sh-white fruits that 

 are as palatable as the purple sorts, but less attractive in the market. 



