242 EGG-PLANT, PEPPER, AND TOMATO. 



4* 



The figure on the preceding page illustrates this method 

 of training. It secures abundance of light, free access of 

 air, and, in skilful hands, may be made quite orna- 

 mental. 



Or a trellis may be cheaply formed by setting common 

 stakes, four feet in length, four feet apart, on a line with the 

 plants, and nailing laths, or narrow strips of deal, from stake 

 to stake, nine inches apart on the stakes ; afterwards attach- 

 ing the plants by means of bass, or other soft, fibrous mate- 

 rial, to the trellis, in the manner of grape-vines or other 

 climbing plants. By either of these methods, the plants not 

 only present a neater appearance, but the ripening of the 

 fruit is facilitated, and the crop much more conveniently 

 gathered when required for use. 



Varieties. These are quite numerous. Some are merely 

 nominal, many are variable or quite obscure, and a few ap- 

 pear to be distinct, and, in a degree, permanent. The prin- 

 cipal are as follow : 



Apple-tomato. Fruit somewhat flattened, inclining to 



APPLE-SHAPED. globular, depressed about the stem, but 

 smooth and regular in its general out- 

 line. The size is quite variable ; but, 

 if well grown, the average diameter is 

 two inches and a half, and the depth 

 two inches. Skin deep, rich crimson ; 

 flesh bright pink, or rose-color, the 

 rind being thick and hard, and not 

 readily reduced to a pulp when cooked. 

 The Apple-tomato is early, hardy, productive, keeps 



well, and, for salad and certain forms of cookery, is much 



esteemed ; but it is more liable to be hollow-hearted than 



any other of the large varieties. 



In form, as well as in the thick, tough character of its 



rind, it resembles the Bermuda. 



