480 MANUAL OF GARDENING 
leaves may be improved by blanching them, either by the use of boards 
orearth. One trade packet of seed will supply a sufficient number for 
a family. The whole plant is destroyed when the crop of leaves is 
taken. 
The seed may be selected from the’ best field-grown plants, but it 
is better to buy the French seed of the seedsmen. 
Egg-plant. — The egg-plant or guinea squash has never become 
a popular home-garden product in the North. In the South it is better 
known. 
Unless one has a greenhouse or a very warm hotbed, the growing 
of egg-plants in the North should be left to the professional gardener, 
as the young plants are very tender, and should be grown without a 
check. The seed should be sown in 
the hotbed or the greenhouse about 
April 10, keeping a temperature of 65° 
to 70°. When the seedlings have made 
three rough leaves, they may be pricked 
out into shallow boxes, or, still better, 
into 3-inch pots. The pots or boxes 
should be plunged to the rim in soil in 
a hotbed or coldframe so situated that 
protection may be given on chilly 
nights. The 10th of June is early 
enough to plant them out in central 
New York. 
The soil in which egg-plants are to grow-cannot well be made too 
“quick,”’? as they have only a short season in which to develop 
their fruits. The plants are usually set 3 feet apart each way. A 
dozen plants are sufficient for the needs of a large family, as each 
plant should yield from two to six large fruits. The fruits are fit 
to eat at all stages of growth, from those the size of a large egg to 
their largest development. One ounce of seed will furnish 600 to 800 
plants. 
The New York Improved Purple is the standard variety. Black 
Pekin (Fig. 307) is good. For early, or for a short-season climate, 
the Early Dwarf Purple is excellent. 
307. Black Pekin egg-plant. 
