186 



GARDENING FOR THE SOUTH. 



Capsicum Ann7mm — Pepper. 



Of this plant tliere are several species in cultivation, 

 most of which are natives of tropical regions. It has 

 been cultivated in England about a century. All of them 

 are very pungent. The best varieties are : — 



Bell Pepper. — Brought from India in 1750. Of low 

 growth with large, bell-shaped fruit. Its thick and pulpy 

 skin renders it the best for pickles. More mild than most 

 of the varieties. 



Tomato Pepper. — Named from its resemblance to the 

 tomato in shape. More pungent than the preceding. 



Large Sweet is another variety much used for pickling, 

 which I have not yet cultivated. It is said to be a good, 

 mild variety. 



Cayenne or Long, with small, round, tapering fruit, an 

 extremely pungent. Excellent for pepper sauce. 



Capsicum likes a rich, moist loam, rather light than 

 otherwise. Guano and fowl manure are excellent fer- 

 tilizers for peppers. 



For early plants, sow the seed in drills, one inch deep 

 and six inches apart, under glass, in February, and trans- 

 plant after the frosts are entirely over, when three or four 

 inches high in good soil, in rows fifteen or eighteen inches 

 apart each way. Sow also in the open ground as soon as 

 the settled warm weather comes on, say the last of March 

 or first of April, and thin them out to the proper distance. 

 An ounce of seed will give two or three thousand plants. 

 They should be transplanted in moist weather only, and 

 must be watered until well-established. Shading a few 

 dayo, at mid-day after transplanting, is very beneficial. 

 Oultirate and earth up their stems a little. 



Seed. — A plant bearing the earliest and finest fruit 

 chould. be selected. The varieties should be grown as fat 



