CROPS GROWN FOR FRUIT OR SEED PARTS 111 



as nutritious as the closely related garden forms. In this 



connection, Davenport says: "Man has a strange aversion 



to consuming the same grain he feeds his stock, and he 



positively refuses to eat it if it be a recent importation. The 



first question asked of a new food plant 



is this: 'Is it for man or animal? 7 



without thinking it may be good for 



both; but the question once answered, 



the future of the thing is settled. This 



is why all efforts to introduce Indian 



corn into Europe to replace rye as 



human food have failed in the past and 



are likely to continue to fail in the 



future. Even the pauper resists what 



he considers to be putting him on a 



level with the animals." 



181. The eggplant (Fig. 81) belongs 



to another group, known as solanaceous FlG ' 80 -- The s y bean - 



plants, which includes also the pepper and tomato. It 



requires a semi-tropical climate, thriving well in the 



southern part of the United 

 States. It does not flourish 

 with certainty where the 

 nights are cool or the sum- 

 mers short. When grown in 

 the North, it is started in 

 the greenhouse and repotted 

 several times before being 

 transplanted out-of-doors 



FIG. 81.-Ettplant. rf^ ^ warm seagon ig 



well under way. The eggplant requires a rich soil. 

 When once established, it can withstand rather severe 

 drought. Its worst insect enemy is the Colorado potato 

 beetle. Paris green applied as a spray is the common 

 remedy. 



