180 CULTIVATED VEGETABLES. 



In England, the egg plant is principally 

 cultivated for its singular and curious appear- 

 ance, few families even knowing that they 

 are proper for aliment, excepting those who 

 have resided on the Continent, or who have 

 studied the natural history of plants. They 

 are rarely brought into the London markets, 

 and then so eagerly secured by foreign cooks, 

 that they are seldom seen exposed for sale. 



The manner of propagating them, in this 

 country, is to sow the seeds in March, upon 

 a moderately hot bed ; and when the plants 

 are come up, they are to be thinned by 

 planting them in another hot-bed, at four 

 inches asunder, watering, and shading them 

 till they have taken root. They must after- 

 wards have as much air as the season will 

 allow, and in May they should be trans- 

 planted into a warm border, at about two 

 feet from each other. About the middle of 

 July the fruit will appear, when they require 

 watering to enlarge the eggs, which ripen 

 about the end of August.* 



It is not exactly known at what period 

 this plant was first cultivated in England, 

 but certainly it was previous to 1596, as 



* Miller. 



