EGG PLANT 



THE Aubergine or Egg Plant (Solatium melongena) is 

 an annual half hardy plant, a native of South America 

 and the tropical parts of Asia and Africa. It is widely 

 distributed, and it has been known in this country for 

 over three hundred years ; but we have not made 

 much headway as regards its culture or its cooking. 

 There are a goodly number of varieties, but very few 

 are grown in this country. The Messrs Vilmorin, Paris, 

 catalogue nearly a dozen. All are not egg shaped, some 

 more resemble a Cucumber or miniature long Marrow. 

 Others are round and really very handsome when grown 

 as decorative plants ; and their varied colours, white, 

 cream, and purple, and other shades, are very telling 

 when grown in pots. The American kinds are larger 

 than others. One, the New York Giant or Purple, is a 

 very fine fruit, round and purplish in colour. This 

 variety grows freely, and the quality is very fine. This 

 is a standard dish in the country named, and given frame 

 culture is one of the largest. It is well worth growing 

 in this country. The Chinese Brinjal, or as it is better 

 known the Aubergine blanche longue de la Chine of 

 the French, is a very distinct fruit, a long white, and of 

 more substance than some others. There is the ronde 

 de Chine or Noire de Pekin, a nice-shaped fruit of a dark 

 violet colour. This sets readily, and is a very good 

 fruiter. The de Madras also is a variety well worth 

 attention. This is an oblong fruit, violet coloured and 

 of excellent table quality. The long Violet and the 

 Black Pekin, a very dark purple fruit, are well-known 



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