156 VEGETABLE GKOWING. 



arrived. They should not be allowed to remain on 

 the plant, however, until the seed coat begins to har- 

 den. In case of Black Pekin or Improved New York 

 Purple the fruits are about seven inches long. Cut 

 the fruit with a stem about three fourths of an inch 

 long. 



MARKETING. 



This vegetable is usually marketed in barrels, but 

 the variation in the size of barrels, and the fact that 

 much of the fruit is not open to inspection makes this 

 less desirable than crates would be. As the demand 

 for this crop increases it will be necessary to abandon 

 this primitive way of marketing the crop. A crate of 

 uniform size is very desirable, but it should be made 

 large enough to hold about as much as a barrel. Un- 

 der such conditions we could still continue to quote 

 egg plant by the barrel, and at the same time know 

 very definitely how much there was in one of the crates. 

 Under the present conditions the honest vegetable 

 grower is imposed upon by the sharp commission mer- 

 chant, as all barrels are quoted at the same price. A 

 lot of small barrels will be quoted much lower, and 

 the vegetable grower will interpret that as a fall in the 

 price of egg plants. 



SEED SAVING. 



Considerable time elapses between the marketing 

 time and the ripening of the seed. Usually the fruit 

 intended for seed may be left on the plants until 

 they decay, but this is not necessary, as the seed can 

 be gathered and saved for planting as soon as it be- 

 comes meaty. Gather the fruit as for shipping, and 

 take them to the packing house. Here they may be 

 left for several days or for a week if the pile is not 

 too large. When a considerable lot is on hand a time 

 may be set aside for taking the seed out. By examin- 



