QUERIES AND ANSWERS. 153 



merchants of the United States, as well also as those recommended by 

 foreign seed merchants and growers as adapted to the American climate. 

 Ofttimes the same vegetable appears under half a dozen distinct names 

 and as distinct descriptions, only to be recognized as an old acquaintance, 

 sometimes of merit, at other times a sort long turned down. It is to in- 

 form ourselves upon the subject of relative merit and upon the subject 

 of name that we conduct so large an experimental ground as nine acres, 

 a very expensive little farm in itself, but worth ten times its cost. 



901. Q. Give some information about the egg plant. Egg Plant. 



A. This seed is generally sown under glass and transplanted to the field 

 two or three weeks after corn-planting season. The plants are set in 

 rows of five feet and at three feet in the row. The land cannot be too 

 highly fertilized for this crop — very short, thoroughly rotted stable 

 manure or similar preparation is best ; strong manure or hot, rank manure 

 is unsuitable. 



Sow in hotbeds or other protected place early in the Spring ; when up 

 two or three inches transplant into small pots (which plunge in earth) so 

 as to get stocky well-rooted plants, and late in the Spring, or not till the 

 commencement of Summer, unless the weather be warm, transplant into 

 thoroughly worked, rich and recently well-manured ground. A good 

 plan is to open a deep, wide trench, filling it nearly with manure ; restore 

 the earth and plant therein, placing the plants three feet apart each way. 

 The seed does not vegetate freely ; repeated sowings are sometimes neces- 

 sary. It is almost useless to attempt the culture of egg plant unless the 

 proper attention be given. In growing the egg plant in the Summer and 

 Autumn months in Florida, great trouble is sometimes experienced in 

 getting a stand of plants owing to the excessive heat and beating rains. 

 This difficulty can be largely overcome by shading the ground where the 

 seed is sown. If sown in beds, the shading may be accomplished by 

 means of frames covered with seed-bed cloth, or by blinds of slats or 

 common boards prop'erly supported over the beds to cut off the direct rays 

 of the sun. If the seed is sown where the plants are to remain (a bad 

 practice) the shading may be done by using Palmetto fans or leaves, 

 placing them one each on the north and south sides of the hill, the tops 

 meeting over the seed. This plan is used by some of the most successful 

 growers in the Gulf States. 



About 3000 plants are required to plant an acre. These plants should 

 produce an average of three to four fruits, weighing two to three pounds 

 each. Our selected seeds are always taken from fruit weighing eight to 

 ten pounds each ; we have had them of thirteen pounds in weight. Com- 

 mission merchants in Philadelphia pay the market gardener about, on an 

 average, one-and-a-half cents per fruit. The highest prices are eight and 

 ten cents per fruit. 



Florida fruit arrives in Philadelphia the latter part of November, and 

 commands $6 to $8 per barrel crate. Earlier in the Autumn the market 

 is supplied by fruit from Jersey. Towards Christmas the price of Florida 



