THE VEGETABLE AND SMALL-FUUIT GARDEN". 391 



cellar. The temperature should be kept low, and for late 

 use it should be left out as late as possible. The plants 

 are not injured by ordinary autumn frosts, and with some 

 straw covering they can usually be left out until the last 

 of November in the prairie States. 



396. Egg-plant. This is supposed to be a native of 

 South America, but its origin seems uncertain. It is used 

 as a vegetable in all the tropical and subtropical regions 

 of the world, and is grown in all climates where dent corn 

 will ripen, and the New York Purple is grown in the 

 North where the eight-rowed early corns do not always 

 mature. But to reach proper size of fruit at the North it 

 must be started early in hot-bed, and by potting the plants 

 should nearly reach the stage of blossoming prior to 



FIG. 106. New York improved FIG. 107. Black Pekin egg- 

 egg-plant, plant. 



setting out the first of June, when the ground becomes 

 warm. The writer has set out plants in six-inch pots on 

 which fruit had already set. In private gardens for home 

 use it may be set in a warm corner in beds rather than 

 rows at the North. 



The plants in rich soil may be planted two feet each 



