CHAPTER X. 



EGG-PLANT, PEPPER, AND TOMATO. 



EGG-PLANT. 



Solanum melongena. 



THE Egg-plant is a tender annual, with an erect, 

 branching stem, and oblong, bluish-green, powdered 

 leaves. The fruit is often somewhat oblong, but exceed- 

 ingly variable in form, size, and color ; the seeds are small, 

 yellowish, reniform, flattened, and retain their germinative 

 properties seven years. 



Sowing and Culture. The seed should be sown in a 

 hot-bed in March, at the time and in the manner of sowing 

 tomato-seed. The seedlings should not be transplanted into 

 the open ground until the commencement of summer weather, 

 when they may be set out in rows two feet apart, and two 

 feet asunder in the rows. The fruit will be fit for use the 

 last of August, or beginning of September. 



If no hot-bed is at hand, sufficient plants for a small gar- 

 den may be easily raised by sowing a few seeds in March 

 in common flower-pots, and placing them in the sunny win- 

 dow of the sitting-room or kitchen. 



In favorable seasons, a crop may be obtained by sowing 

 the seeds in May in the open ground, and transplanting the 

 seedlings, when two or three inches high, in a warm and 

 sheltered situation. 



Use. " It is used, both boiled and stewed, in sauces, like 

 the Tomato. A favorite method among the French is to 

 scoop out the seeds, fill up the cavity with sweet herbs, and 

 fry the fruit whole." Mclnt. 229 



