THE EGG-PLANT. 177 



healthy growth, than any other crop, and should, there- 

 fore, be sown by themselves under glass in cold frames. 

 After sowing, the bed should be well watered and the 

 glass placed on, and not removed until the seed is up. 

 In case of hot sunshine before germination, the sash 

 should be partially shaded. If ifc is contemplated to 

 prick out the plants into other frames, the sowing may 

 be as early as the middle of January; otherwise ten or 

 fifteen days later. The management while under glass 

 is about the same as with other tender plants, with the 

 exception that they require more careful exclusion of 

 cold air, and have more frequent protection from slight 

 variations of temperature by the glass, than the tomato, 

 pepper, etc. , and they will bear a greater degree of heat 

 without being drawn. No vegetable with which I am 

 acquainted, can withstand drouth better than the egg- 

 plant, which bears and matures its fruit under a degree of 

 heat and dryness that would be fatal to other crops. If 

 there be a sufficiency of decayed vegetable matter in the 

 soil, this crop may be allotted to the sandiest part of the 

 farm. If planted in low, although thoroughly drained, 

 land, the plants are apt to die off about the time they 

 commence to bloom or bear, a peculiarity more or less 

 common to all the Solanum family. To mature early 

 fruit of the size and quality required by the trade, a 

 shovelful or two of fermented stable manure, or compost, 

 should be mixed in each hill. The hills should be two and 

 a half by four feet apart. The cultivation is about the 

 same as that of any other hill crop. The earth should be 

 slightly drawn to the stems during the hoeing, not suf- 

 ficiently, however, to touch any of the lower branches. 

 The plow and horse-hoe, once each, run between the rows, 

 and two hoeings should be sufficient for the crop in light 

 unbaked land. 



To cut through the tough stems, without disturbing 

 the plants, a thin-bladed, sharp knife, or a pair of nippers 



