CHAPTER XX. 
SOLANACEOUS CROPS. 
HIS is a big word, but it means only that 
these plants belong to the nightshade 
family. 
This division takes in tomatoes, eggplant, 
peppers and husk tomatoes. These require 
all, or nearly all, the season to mature, and they 
keep on making growth, particularly in the 
North, until killed by frost. They are all seed- 
bed crops requiring a great deal of quick-acting 
fertilizer, especially when they are young, and 
to secure a heavy crop you must give them an 
early start. 
They are really of the same family as the 
potato, yet they are not grouped with that crop, 
because the parts eaten are the fruits which grow 
on their stems and branches, rather than the 
thickened stem or ‘‘tuber.”” They are hot-season 
plants and are usually grown in hills. 
TOMATOES. 
In almost all parts of the United States the 
tomato is easily grown; yet it requires a long, 
warm season, and soil in excellent tilth for best 
results. The seed is sown in a seed- or hot-bed, 
and the plants are allowed to grow from four to 
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