96 FAEM-GA.KDENIJTG AND SEED-GKOWIXG. 







are difficult to transplant, and great care must be taken 

 to press the earth against the root, and to properly attend 

 to the shading. Water can only be used sparingly, for 

 until the plants again become established there is clanger 

 of damping off. They now require regular airing, and by 

 good attention, with the fresh heat under them, they soon 

 outgrow those in the seed-bed, and at the season of trans- 

 planting, from the twentieth of May to the first of June, 

 we have large, strong plants to set out. As the plants 

 advance in growth, the frames must be raised and blocked 

 up, so that the leaves do not touch the glass an advantage 

 in movable frames and before setting out, the sashes 

 must be removed to harden the plants. Weeds will grow 

 freely among the plants, and must be regularly pulled 

 out, and the surface occasionally stirred by the finger. 



Soil, Planting, and Cultivation. Egg-plants require a 

 deep, light, warm soil, and it can hardly be made too 

 rich. The land may be prepared about the middle of 

 May in readiness for planting, which is usually done 

 about the twenty-fifth, a rainy day or just after a rain 

 being the most suitable time. 



Apply a liberal quantity of stable-manure or bone-dust, 

 plow deep, and harrow thoroughly; mark out furrows 

 four feet apart, in. which place a shovelful of well-rotted 

 manure or compost every three feet, and thoroughly mix 

 it into the soil with a hoe, forming a slight hill with a 

 concave center six or eight inches in depth. 



When the weather is suitable for transplanting, water 

 the bed copiously, thoroughly saturating the soil ; lift the 

 plants by means of a trowel, securing large balls of earth 

 to the roots, and remove them in wheelbarrows to the 

 place of planting. Set the plants in the holes, drawing 

 the earth to them, and firmly pressing it about the root 

 with the hands. Those grown in the seed-bed, if properly 

 thinned, may be removed the same way, which is far 

 preferable to lifting without tho earth attached. 



