226 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTUEIST. 



sured separately on the 22nd of August, 

 with the following result : The six hun- 

 dred headed-off plants yielded Jive plump 

 quarts, while the six hundred unpruned 

 ones in the adjoining row, yielded/owr 

 scant quarts." 



The practical value of thisshortening- 

 in of pea- vines, as appears from this sin- 

 gle experiment, consists, therefore, not 

 only in an increased productiveness of 

 twenty-five per cent., but also in the 

 prolonging of the period of picking from 

 a single planting. By pruning a part 

 of the vines, the harvest of these becomes 

 delayed a week, and thus all the advan- 

 tages may be secured that would other- 

 wise require two plantings. — The Ame- 

 rican Garden. 



EGG-PLANTS— HOW TO KEEP THEM. 



Those who have a good stock of egg 

 plants on hand, most certainly have an 

 excellent and very conveinent article. 

 They can easily be kept till Christmas 

 by storing away in a cool cellar, not 

 too dry, on shelves. Though they may 

 wilt and shrivel away, this does not in- 

 jure them in the least. They form a 

 most agreeable and excellent dish at 

 dinner. 



The usual way of cooking by cutting 

 in slices, sprinkling on salt an hour be- 

 fore frying, and allowing the vegetable 

 juice to dmin out, when they are rolled 

 in batter, or dry bread or cracker 

 crumbs and fried, is of course well 

 known. But a much better way is to 

 cut the egg plant in half, longitudi- 

 nally, like a water melon, scrape out the 

 interior contents as close to the rind as 

 possible, mixing the pulped mass with 

 stale bread or cracker crumbs, a beaten 

 egg, and seasoned with salt and pepper, 

 then returning the whole into the shell 

 and baking, makes a most savory dish 

 that would be very popular if it were 

 better known. — Prairie Farmer. 



FRUIT ON THE TABLE. 



"Quite a large number of farmers 

 have come to feel that they were not do- 

 ing their family justice without placing 

 upon their table, a bountiful dish of 

 fruits, such as the various seasons of the 

 year afibrd, beginning with Straw- 

 berries, and following with Cherries, 

 Currants, Raspberries, Blackberries, 

 Grapes, Apples, Peaches, Plums, and 

 Pears. Farmers of this class are not so 

 numerous as they should be, nor as they 

 will be in our opinion, ten or twenty 

 years hence." — American Rural Home. 



" While there has been a marked im- 

 provement at the tables of many of our 

 farmers within the last few years there is 

 yet much to learn. One of the greatest 

 faults in this direction, and one of which 

 is the cause of very much illness, is the 

 comparatively small quantity of fruit 

 they use. It is a mistake to consider 

 that fruit, like confectionery, is to be 

 taken only between meals, and not to be 

 connected in the work of sustaining life." 

 — Farmers Advocate. 



Such are some of the profound utter- 

 ances of the late Agricultural Press vipon 

 the subject of fruit, as food upon the 

 tables of our farmers. It is unquestion- 

 ably a subject of great importance and 

 influence in the economy and hygiene of 

 our people. Fruit on the table is not 

 merely a question of fruit for show, not 

 merely to beautify or decorate, or to 

 please our fancy, but more substantially 

 for food, for the sustenance and support 

 of our exhausted physical forces, for 

 medication and health, for pure animal 

 enjoyments, as well as to defend us 

 against the many dangerous and hurtful 

 influences to which " flesh is heir." 

 Fruit in this connection is one of those 

 many merciful provisions of nature, de- 

 signed for the highest and purest enjoy- 

 ments of the needy creature man, one of 

 those safeguards that the Creator of all 

 has thrown around frail human life. In 



