June 12, 1891.J 



SCIENCE. 



329 



only, without the necessity of retouching or masking, could not 

 be sustained. 



One of the cheapest processes of chromo-photography is that of 

 printing from half-tone relief blocks. Several examples by this 

 method were shown in the exhibition. The blocks may be made 

 from different negatives, representing the different colors, as in 

 other processes ; or they can all be made from a single negative, 

 afterwards cutting away certain portions corresponding to the 

 colors not required in that particular block. 



THE EGG-PLANT. 



The egg-plant seems to have received little systematic attention, 

 either from gardeners or students. Yet it is an important and in- 

 teresting plant, and there are indications that it can be considera- 

 bly modified by treatment. This is clearly shown by the results 

 of studies and experiments made at the Cornell University Agri- 

 cultural Experiment Station, by L H. Bailey and W. H. Munson, 

 and given in detail in Bulletin No. 26 of that station. Their 

 studies of the egg-plant began five or six years ago, but three 

 years were consumed in learning how to grow it. During the last 

 two years they have grown all the varieties procurable in this 

 country, in France, and in Japan. 



The chief difficulty in growing the egg-plant in the North is the 

 shortness of the seasons. It is only by starting plants early and 

 maintaining a vigorous growth that the large sorts can be fruited 

 satisfactorily. The plants should be started under glass from the 

 middle of March to the middle of April in a warm house. The 

 chief cause of failure during the early experiments was the lack 

 of a good forcing house. In the cold and small house at the dis- 

 posal of the experimenters the plants grew slowly, and when set 

 out of doors they were not of sufficient size and vigor to begin 

 bearing at once. The seed is sown in " flats " or boxes, and when 

 the first true leaves are about half an inch in diameter — which is 

 about a month after the seed is sown — the plants are pricked off 

 into two-inch pots. As soon as the pots are filled with roots, the 

 plants are shifted into four-inch pots. Indifferent success was 

 met with in transplanting into other flats, as the plant is most 

 severely checked when placed in the field, from the greater in- 

 jury to the roots. It is imperative that the plants should not be- 

 come " drawn." The plants are transferred from the four-inch 

 pots to the garden from the first to the middle of June. The early 

 sorts are not so seriously injured by a check in growth as the 

 large and late sorts, and they can therefore he handled with less 

 care. These sorts can be started two weeks later than the others 

 and receive but one transplanting. The effects of early and late 

 setting are shown in the following experiment. 



Seeds of several varieties were sown March 37 and May 15. On 

 the 7th of September they presented the following differences: 

 long purple, giant round purple, and long white from early sowing 

 were productive, but few or no fruits had formed on the plants 

 from late sowing. Early long purple and round white from the 

 late sowing were fully as productive as those from the early sow- 

 ing. Early dwarf purple gave best results from plants started 

 April 15. This shows that there is little or no gain in productive- 

 ness in the small early sorts from very early sowing, while the 

 large sorts profit by it. The black Pekin, which is one of the 

 large varieties, proved an apparent exception, however. Plants 

 started May 1 gave better results than those started earlier, but 

 neither lot was satisfactory. The unsatisfactory results from the 

 early sowing may have been due to the loss of the first flowers 

 because of the transplanting. Transplanting usually has the ef- 

 fect of keeping plants growing, to the detriment of the flowers; 

 and egg-plants which are in bloom when removed to the field are 

 apt to drop the flowers. It is important in the large sorts to in- 

 duce the first flowers to set. 



The best soil for egg-plants is a heavily manured rich sandy 

 loam, — not too light, — which contains an abundance of humus 

 and retains moisture. The large kinds were set three feet apart 

 each way, although they can be set somewhat closer if land is 

 very valuable. The ground should be thoroughly cultivated 

 throughout the season. The patches were run through lightly 

 with the cultivator at least twice a week. 



The worst enemy of the egg-plant is the potato beetle, which 

 prefers egg-plants to potatoes. The egg-plant grows slowly, and 

 any injury to the young plant is overcome with difficulty, if at 

 all. If the plants are seriously injured when flrst set out there 

 will be little use in attempting to fruit them, especially the large 

 kinds. Paris green, one pound to 100 gallons of water, is used 

 for spraying. 



It is rare that all the plants in a large plantation of the com- 

 mon or late varieties mature fruit, and such kinds as black Pekin. 

 New York, and giant round purple rarely mature more than two 

 large fruits to the plant in the latitude of the station, and often 

 only one. The early dwarf purple, early long purple, and other 

 early and medium varieties, mature from four to eight fruits 

 without difficulty. The value of any of the late varieties depends 

 very largely upon the uniformity with which all the plants in any 

 lot set and mature fruit. The value of continuous and careful 

 selection to this end was illustrated in the behavior of a large 

 plantation of crosses last year, in which a large percentage of 

 the plants were entirely unfruitful, showing that a promiscuous 

 lot of seedlings is likely to be unproductive; and in this case these 

 were crosses between productive parents. Breeding plants of uni- 

 form productiveness is the most important field in egg-plant ex- 

 perimentation at present. 



The results of the experiments may be summed up as follows: 

 (1) Egg-plants are adapted to cultivation in the North. The 

 requisites of success in growing them are these: early starting; 

 warm quarters ; vigorous plants ; rather late transplanting to the 

 field; warm, rich, and rather moist soil; constant attention to po- 

 tato beetles; frequent cultivation. (2) The best varieties for pri- 

 vate use are early dwarf purple, early long purple, white Chinese, 

 with perhaps black Pekin for late. (3) The best market varieties 

 are New York improved and black Pekin, with perhaps early long 

 purple for the first demands. (4) In crossing different races of 

 egg-plants, the purple-fruited types appear to be stronger in their 

 power to transmit color to offspring than do the white-fruited 

 types ; and this appears to hold whether the purple type is used 

 as the staminate or the pistillate parent. (5) The white-fruited 

 types appear stronger in the power to transmit form and produc- 

 tiveness. (6) Fewer seeds are produced by flowers artificially 

 pollinated than by those left to matm-e, even though an excess of 

 pollen is used. (7) It is probable that the egg-plant may be in- 

 cluded among those plants which are capable of producing fruit 

 without the aid of pollen. 



As some of the neglect of the egg-plant is doubtless due to the 

 fact that cooks are not familiar with it, the following recipes for 

 cooking the fruits are recommended by the experimenters at Cor- 

 nell as reliable. (1) Cut in slices crosswise, not over a half inch 

 thick, and parboil in salt water about fifteen minutes ; then re- 

 move, and fry in a hot spider in butter and lard. (2) Cut into 

 slices a quarter or a half inch thick and lay in strong brine for 

 two hours; then wash very thoroughly; sprinkle with brown su- 

 gar, pepper, and salt, and fry slowly to a dark brown (3) Cut in 

 two lengthwise, remove the seeds and pulp, and All with dressing 

 made of half a teacupful of bread crumbs, one teaspoonf ul of but- 

 ter, and salt and pepper to taste ; lay the halves side to side in a 

 dripping pan, add a little water, and bake nearly an hour. (4) 

 Pare, cut in thin slices crosswise, and soak in salt water for eight 

 or ten hours; dry on a towel, dip in beaten egg, and roll in bread 

 crumbs, then fry slowly in hot butter until the pieces become a 

 rich brown; serve hot. 



THE LOCUST PLAGUE IN ALGERIA.' 



On the 13th of May last I was travelling with my husband 

 through eastern Algeria. At six o'clock on a lovely summer's 

 morning we had taken the train from Algiers, making our way 

 along the shores of one of the most beautiful bays in the world, 

 its blue waters shining in the early sunlight beneath the wooded 

 heights of Mustapha, studded with its white Arab villas. We had 

 left behind us the Maison Carree, where Cardinal Lavigerie's 

 Peres Blancs make the best of both worlds in manufacturing ex- 

 cellent wines, and in preparing for their life of self-denial in the Sa- 

 ' Evelyn Frances Bodley in the Contemporary Review tor June, 1891. 



