7fi 



MAINE STATE COLLEGE 



III. Notes of Egg Plants. 



The egg plant is one of the important vegetables which has as 

 3'et received little attention in this State, and the poor withered 

 specimens sent in from other states give consumers little idea of 

 the delicious character of this plant when fresh and well served. 

 No doubt also, the fact that it is not common, and that cooks are 

 not accustomed to serving it, may account to a large extent for 

 its neglect. 



The egg plant is a native of tropical America, and reaches per- 

 fection only in a warm climate and near the coast. By careful 

 treatment, however, and by a process of acclimatization, it may be 

 successfully grown far inland and much farther north than com- 

 monly attempted, as the successful plantings in the college gardens 

 for the past two 3'ears abundantly prove. 



Fig. 3. Black Pekin. 



The following notes embrace the more important results of our 

 experiences with this plant during the past four years : 



1. Culture: As a long season is required for the egg plant to 

 mature, it is highly important that the plants be started early. It 

 is our practice to sow the seeds in "flats" — shallow boxes about 

 three inches deep — in a warm forcing house about the middle of 

 March or the first of April. . After about a month, or when the 

 first true leaves are nicely started, the young plants are pricked 

 off into other boxes, two inches apart each way, or, better, into 

 2-inch pots. About three weeks later, when the pots are well 



