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THE TOMATO, THE EGG-PLANT, 



SuBSECT. VI.— The Tomato, the Egg-plant, and the Capsicum. 



1342. The tomato, or love-apple, Lycop6rsicum esculentum, Dunal, (To- 

 mato, Fr. ; Liebes Apfel, Ger. ; Appeltjes der liefde, Dutch ; Porno d'ovo, 

 Ital. ; and Tomates, Span.), is a trailing annual, a native of South America, 

 which, when raised in a hot-bed, and afterwards planted against a wall in the 

 open air, will ripen its fruit in England. The fruit, which is an irregular 

 red or yellow berry from one inch to four inches in diameter, is never eaten 

 raw, but when ripe is used in soups and sauces, and for other purposes in con- 

 fectionery and cookery ; and in a green state it is pickled. The juice is 

 made into a sauce, which is considered excellent both for meat and fish. 

 Various recipes for making this sauce will be found in G. M. vol. i. p. 853 ; 

 and vol. vii. p. 698. The best variety is the large red-fruited. The seeds 

 may be sown in a hotbed in March, and transplanted once or twice into pots, 

 so as to be ready to transfer to the base of a south wall, or any other situa- 

 tion where it will enjoy the full influence of reflected sun heat, about the 

 middle or end of May, according to the situation and the season. The 

 vacant space between fruit-trees will answer for this purpose : or a tempo- 

 rary w^all of boards, five feet high, may be erected ; or, in warm situations, 

 they may be trained on a steep bank, raised artificially to an angle of 45°, 

 and covered with flat tiles. The plants have a very beautiful effect on an 

 espalier ; but they only ripen their fruit there in the warmest summers. 

 The fruit will be increased in size, and its maturity accelerated, by stopping 

 every shoot after it has produced one cluster of fruit, and by judiciously 

 thinning the leaves. The fruit ripens between August and October, and if 

 hung up in a dry airy part of the summer fruit-room, it will continue fit for 

 use till the end of November. One ripe fruit reserved for seed will contain 

 enough for any garden whatever : cleanse the seeds from the pulp, dry them 

 thoroughly, and preserve them in paper till next spring. 



1343. The Egg plant, Mad Apple, or Jew's Apple, Solanum Melongena 

 L. (Melongene, Fr. ; Tollapfel, Ger. and Dutch ; and Melanzana, Ital.)., 

 is an erect branchy annual, a native of Africa, and cultivated in British 

 gardens for its fruit, partly as an ornament, and partly for its uses in cookery. 

 The plant grows about two feet high ; the fruit is oval, and about the size of 

 a hen's egg, or larger when cultivated with extraordinary care. There are 

 two varieties, S. m. ovigerum, Poule pondeuse, ou Plante aux oeufs, Fr. in 

 which the leaves are without thorns ; and S. m. esculentum, in which there 

 are prickles on the stem leaves and calyx. The fruit of the first variety is 

 white and shining, and, though used in Spain and Italy, is not considered so 

 wholesome as that of the other. Of it there are varieties with the fruit, 

 large, small, round, oval, all of a dirty violet colour, which are used in great 

 quantities in Paris. It is divided lengthways, and fried in oil with pepper, 

 salt, and the crumbs of toasted bread, and in various other ways which are 

 detailed at length in French cookery books. In the garden the plant re- 

 ceives the same treatment as the tomato, though it requires a greater degree 

 of heat to ripen it, and should therefore always be trained against a south 

 wall. The fruit hung up will keep through the winter, and therefore the 

 seed need not be taken cut till wanted for sowing. 



1344. The Capsicum, or Bird Pepper, Capsicum L> (Piment, Fr. ; 

 Spanischer PfefFer, Ger.; Spaanshe peper, Dutch; and Peberone, Ital.) 



