328 THE KITCHEN GARDEN. [April. 
SOW them on a slight hot-bed the beginning of this month, and with 
due care they will be fit to transplant, where they are to remain, 
towards the middle of May. In the eastern states, the tenth of 
May will be soon enough to sow them in the open ground, but in 
the southern states they may be sown any time this month. 
Tomatoes or Love-apples. 
The Solarium lycopersicum, tomato, or love-apple, is much cul- 
tivated for its fruit, in soups and sauces, to which it imparts an 
agreeable acid flavour; and is also stewed and dressed in various 
ways and very much admired. 
The seeds may, towards the latter end of this month, be sown 
on a warm border, pretty thick, and about the end of May will be 
fit to plant out; or they may be sown where intended to remain for 
fruiting. They will require such support as directed for nastur- 
tiums, in page 326, and must be planted in rows five feet asunder, 
and a foot or fourteen inches distant, plant from plant, as they run 
greatly. Some lay various kinds of old branches in their way for 
them to run upon; however, the better they are supported, the 
more numerous will their fruit be. 
This fruit may be had much earlier by sowing the seeds in the 
first week of this month, if not done in March, on a slight hot-bed, 
and forwarding them in that way; they bear transplanting well, 
and may be set out finally about the middle of May. 
Hgg-Plant. 
The Solanum onelongena, or egg-plant. There are two varieties 
of this plant, the white fruited and the purple, cultivated for culi- 
nary purposes; the latter kind is preferable, and when sliced and 
nicely fried, approaches, both in taste and flavour, nearer to that 
of a very nice fried oyster than perhaps any other plant. 
This delicious vegetable may be propagated by sowing the seed 
on a slight hot-bed the beginning of this month, or in March; and 
towards the middle or latter part of May, they should be planted 
in a rich warm piece of ground, at the distance of two feet and a 
half asunder every way for the purple, or two feet for the white 
kind; and if kept clean, and a little earth drawn up to their stems, 
when about a foot high, they will produce plenty of fruit. Or, the 
seed may be sown about the end of this month on a warm border, 
and planted out finally in the beginning of June; but these will be 
rather late, and not produce fruit so abundantly in the middle or 
eastern states, as by the former method. If any were sown last 
month, let them be pricked out into a fresh hot-bed the middle of 
this, at the distance of four or five inches, to gather strength, and 
prepare them for planting out about the fifteenth or twentieth of 
May. 
Sowing Cucumbers, Squashes, Musk and Water Melons. 
In the middle states where the ground is light, dry, and warm, 
