236 MISCELLANEOUS WARM PLANTS. 



as the others, and had open blossoms before those in 

 the shaded house showed any buds. When some of 

 the latter were removed into the same favored position, 

 they very soon showed a benefit from the change. In 

 this way the plants themselves emphasized the neces- 

 sity of plenty of sunshine for their development in win- 

 ter quarters ; and a certain amount of bottom heat, from 

 4 to 6 degrees, is also very beneficial, the air tempera- 

 ture at the same time being that of a warm house. 



Eggplants designed for forcing should never be 

 stunted. An important aid to prevent this condition is 

 a soil which is open and still rich in available nitrogen. 

 A rich, sandy loam, in which all the ingredients are 

 well rotted, is preferable to one having the manure in 

 an undecayed condition. The latter is too open, and 

 is more difficult to maintain in a proper supply of 

 moisture. The soil should be sufficiently open to afford 

 good drainage, but not so coarse that it dries out very 

 rapidly. The bench mentioned at the beginning of the 

 article as containing manure from a spent mushroom 

 bed did not prove so satisfactory as the one containing 

 the sandy loam, largely because it was more difficult to 

 manage. 



Another point which should not be overlooked in 

 forcing eggplants is the pollination of the flowers. This 

 is most satisfactorily done by hand, the small number 

 of insects found in greenhouses during the colder 

 months being of very little use in this respect. The 

 work can be done rapidly by means of a small, flat 

 piece of metal, such as can be made by flattening the 

 point of a pin with a hammer, and then inserting the 

 other end into a small stick, which will serve as a han- 

 dle. Such a spatula is also very convenient in nearly all 

 kinds of pollination made by hand, as it is so readily 

 kept clean of foreign pollen. In the center of the flower 

 will be seen the stigma, which projects beyond the tips 

 of the ring of anthers or pollen-bearing organs which 



