VEGETABLES DESCRIPTION AND CULTURE. 395 



and six inches apart, under glass, in February, and trans- 

 plant after the frosts are entirely over, when three or 

 four inches high, into good soil, in rows eighteen inches 

 apart each way. Sow also in the open ground as soou as 

 the settled warm weather comes on, say the last of March 

 or first of April, and thin them out to the proper distance. 

 An ounce of seed will give two or three thousand plants. 

 They should be transplanted in moist weather only, and 

 must be watered until well established. Shading a few 

 days at midday, after transplanting, is very beneficial. 

 Cultivate and earth up their stems a little. 



Seed. — A plant bearing the earliest and finest fruit 

 should be selected. The varieties should be grown as far 

 apart as possible. When ripe, the pods are hung up to 

 dry, and kept until the seed is wanted for sowing. 



Use. — These plants are very much used in all hot 

 climates, where they enter as a seasoning into almost 

 every dish. The large kinds for pickling should be gath- 

 ered when full grown, and just before turning red. They 

 are also dried when ripe, and used for seasoning. Cayenne 

 and the other small kinds are ground lor table use, or 

 made into pepper sauce by the addition of strong vinegar. 

 Peppers are often rubbed upon meat to drive away in- 

 sects. The daily use of this plant in hot climates is 

 decidedly a preventive of bowel complaints, for which 

 reason it is so universally cultivated in tropical regions. 



Marketing.— Cut the peppers with short stems, so they 

 will not dry out too soon and ship in vegetable crates. 



POTATO (IRISH.)— (Sola ii inn tuberosum.) 



The Irish potato is a perennial plant, with a tuberous, 

 subterranean stem, of the same genus with the eggplant, 

 and nearly allied to the tomato. It is reported to have 

 been brought into England from Virginia by Raleigh in 

 15S6, but as he never visited Virginia, he probably ob- 



