IN THE EVERGLADES 67 



possibility of their bruising by contact. They should, of course, be 

 picked when they are dry or have no dew upon the vines, great 

 care being exercised to remove any sand that might stick to the 

 fruit on account of heavy rains, as the slightest scratch upon the 

 surface of their tender purple skins is apt to show when they 

 arrive in market. 



Great care must also be taken to see that the fertilizer at all 

 times contains the requisite amount of potash or they will lack 

 keeping quality. They are packed in assorted sizes; the sizes 

 most preferable are known among commission men as 36*5 or 

 38*3. The packages should be branded with the exact number 

 contained in them, and those shipped as fancy should be free of 

 all blemishes, spots or uneven surfaces. They should be picked 

 before the seed in them become hard. Great care should be 

 exercised at all times to have applications of fertilizer given at 

 regular intervals so as to insure uniform steady growth throughout 

 the entire season. 



The demand in the North has been such that shipping can 

 begin by October 15 and be continued at remunerative prices 

 throughout the season until the middle of the following June. 

 Great quantities of egg plants are consumed throughout the 

 United States, shipments being made as far west as Denver and 

 as far north as Canada, the southern limit beginning directly at our 

 own door. 



The larger and more uniform varieties generally bring the 

 highest prices in our more Northern markets, New Orleans Con- 

 suming a great many of the packages containing the small sizes. 

 As many as 1,200 crates per acre are frequently produced of this 

 vegetable. 



No vegetable grown in this section responds to the advantage 

 of irrigation better than the egg plant. It thrives well by both 

 the overhead and sub-irrigation systems. If the ground is thor- 

 oughly drained and properly sweetened by applications of fer- 

 tilizer, by tillage and aeration, egg plants will thrive best with 

 copious amounts of water. Our largest crops are made late in 

 the Spring, when our torrential rains of the tropics begin falling, 



