March, 1909 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



S3 



garden, a space of two feet being allowed 

 for each plant. Before setting, a hole one 

 foot deep and one foot across is dug for each 

 plant, with six inches of well-rotted manure 

 or rich compost placed in the bottom. The 

 potted plants are then carried out to the 

 rows, each plant carefully removed from the 

 pot and set directly on the compost or on a 

 thin covering of fine soil, disturbing the roots 

 as little as possible. Fill in around the plants 

 with fine soil, packing it firmly around the 

 stem so as to hold the plant in an erect posi- 

 tion. If the ground is dry at time of planting, 

 pour one or two quarts of water on the com- 

 post in each hole before setting the plant, 

 and then draw the dry soil in around the 

 plant; this is a much better plan than to 

 water after the plants have been set. I 

 have seen well-hardened young plants with- 



The early varieties, smaller than the later ones, 

 are best for the Northern States. Early Round 

 Purple and Early Long Purple 



stand a severe frost after they had been 

 planted out on well-drained ground, and 

 although the lower leaves turned yellow and 

 dropped off the plants recovered and made 

 a good growth and a large crop of fine fruits. 



CULTIVATION 



As soon as the plants have taken root 

 in the soil, or about a week after they have 

 been planted out, make the surrounding 

 soil as fine and loose as possible with a hoe 

 or small rake, repeating the treatment once 

 or twice a week until the bushes are of good 

 size and the fruits starting to form. In ad- 

 dition to the hand hoeing directly around the 

 plants the soil between the rows is worked 

 and made fine with the horse cultivator at 

 least once a week. 



When there is danger of frost in the fall 

 the plants may be covered with carpet or 

 other material and the fruiting season pro- 

 longed until severe cold weather sets in, but 

 my plan is to go over the plants when I 

 expect a hard freeze and cut off all the fruits 

 of two inches or more in diameter, putting 



them in slatted crates in the cellar. Treated 

 in this way, many of the fruits can be kept 

 in good condition for several weeks. 



The only insect which bothers the egg-plant 

 is the striped potato beetle, and this is easily 

 kept in check by hand picking or by light 

 applications of Paris green during the earlier 

 stages of growth, before the fruits develop. 



FINAL PREPARATION 



A great deal of the ultimate quality on the 

 table depends upon the freshness and crisp- 

 ness of the fruit. To have it at the best, go 

 into the garden early in the morning and 

 select one or more half-grown fruits, having 

 a glossy lustrous skin, and in which the 

 seeds have not started to develop. Sever 

 them from the plant with a sharp knife — do 

 not pull them, as that might bruise the flesh 

 or skin — take them at once to the kitchen 

 where they are sliced into half-inch layers, 

 and at once fried in hot fat deep enough to 

 float them, the skin-being first removed in a 

 thin paring. All cook-book receipts call for a 

 dipping in beaten egg and then cracker or 

 bread crumbs, but to my mind this only 

 serves to hold additional grease, and greatly 

 detracts from the natural delicacy and rich- 

 ness of flavor. Another old-time way of 

 preparing them was to slice and pare the 

 fruit in the evening, salt slightly, and then 

 put a weight on them to draw out as much 

 of the juice as possible; but this is quite as 

 unreasonable as the German way of slicing 

 cucumbers and soaking them in salt water 

 all day to take out the cucumber taste. 



MAIN CROP VARIETIES 



The type most generally grown is the New 

 York Improved, which makes a large, thick 

 fruit, having a purple skin of satin-like lustre. 

 In the original type the stem and thick green 

 calyx were set with short sharp spines or 

 prickles, which also appeared to some ex- 

 tent on the stalks and under side of the leaves. 

 These spines or prickles have, by continued 

 selection of seed parents, been entirely elimi- 

 nated and the spineless type is now most gen- 

 erally offered. 



White Pearl is identical with the New 

 York Improved in growth, size, and form 

 of fruit and flavor, but the skin is unattrac- 

 tive, being a pale greenish-yellow. 



Black Beauty is a development of the New 

 York Improved, nearly two weeks earlier in 

 fruiting, and having a very dark or rich pur- 

 plish-black skin. On account of its rich 

 coloring, early fruiting, and productiveness 

 it is probably the best all-round variety. 



Florida High Bush. This is a tall, strong- 

 growing plant from three to four feet in 

 height. Very popular in the extreme South, 

 where it is very productive, but the summer 

 in the North is not long enough for it to 

 develop fruit. 



SOME OF THE EARLY KINDS 



Early Round Purple is the earliest of all 

 and chiefly desirable for growing in the 

 short, cool summers of the Northern States, 

 as it takes quite a number of these small 

 fruits to equal one of the larger New York 

 Improved type. It makes branching, purple- 



The largest, heaviest fruits are of the New "York 

 type; modern selections are spineless, too 



stemmed bushes about eighteen inches high, 

 and bearing a large number of black-skinned 

 fruits, about three inches long and two 

 inches in diameter, and of very fine flavor. 



Early Long Purple is similar in growth and 

 fruiting to the Early Round, but possibly 

 not quite as early, and differing otherwise 

 only in having larger and more elongated 

 fruits. There are also several Japanese 

 varieties of this type having fruits from eight 

 to twelve inches in length, and in diameter 

 from one to one and a half inches. These 

 are grown only as curiosities. 



Jersey Belle is a new variety which orig- 

 inated at the New Jersey Experiment 

 Station grounds, a cross between the New 

 York Improved type and the Early Long 

 Purple, and bears a large fruit which is 

 longer than the ordinary market fruits. 

 It is claimed that the flavor is distinctly 

 finer than that of the large oval fruited sorts. 



Black Pekin is one of the old varieties, 

 having a nearly round, very dark-skinned 

 fruit of only fair size. It is chiefly esteemed 

 for earliness. 



By continued selection an absolutely spineless 

 type of eggplant has been developed and is most 

 generally offered 



