372 
THE EGG PLANT. 
the plant may be dug up and the root parted 
into as many as you require, or as many as it 
will make, according to your wants, and the 
capacity of the root to meet such wants ; for 
instance, if you greatly want increase, make 
as many pieces as you can so as you have a 
heart to each piece. These will take two or 
three seasons to get to any size ; but if the 
object be merely to increase a little, it is better 
to part the root into only two or three pieces, 
and so preserve them large enough to bloom 
directly. In this case they may be planted 
at once where they are to bloom. In case of 
propagating them as much as possible, and 
parting them into small pieces, a bed should 
be made of good rich kitchen garden soil, and 
the pieces should be planted six inches apart 
in the rows, and the rows a foot from each 
other. Here as they grow or spring the weeds 
should be cleared away and the bed be kept 
clean; and they may remain on this bed one. 
two, or three seasons, according to the size you 
wish them to attain before you plant them out 
for ornament. In dry parching weather they 
will require watering while young, and they 
should be looked to all the while they are 
making their growth, for a check for want of 
moisture would make about a season difference 
in the growth. The planting out where they 
should bloom should be done just as the leaves 
die off to a yellow colour, when they may be 
placed in the regular borders or blooming 
beds, and labels should be placed by them 
with their names. 
THE EGG PLANT. 
The fruit of the Egg plant (Solanum Melon- 
gcna esculentum) is extensively grow n in tropical 
climates for kitchen use, and is also much used 
in France and in various other parts of Europe 
for similar purposes. About Montpelier it is 
extensively grown, being used by rich and 
poor — from the middle of summer till the end 
of October. The varieties are known in 
France under the appellation of Aubergine, and 
in the East Indies as Bringalls. Although 
long known on the continent, it is doubtful if 
they were introduced to this country before 
1815, and then, perhaps, only as curiosities. 
Although numerous varieties exist in the 
East and West Indies, the two best known in 
this country are the Round Purple, and the 
Long Purple Egg plants. These must not be 
confounded with the White Egg plant, (Sola- 
num Melongena), frequently grown as an 
ornamental tender annual, and unfit for culi- 
nary purposes. The esculent egg plants attain 
a height of about three feet, with large downy 
leaves, and large pale purple flowers. The 
branches, leaves, and calyx are al>o slightly 
spiny. The fruit of the round variety is of 
an obovate shape, about four inches long and 
three inches through, of a deep purple colour 
when ripe. The long variety produces fruit 
from five to eight inches in length, a little 
club-shaped, and generally slightly bent, and 
assuming a deep purple colour as it ripens. 
Both sorts vary in the colouring of the fruit, 
the last more so than the round. 
The culture of these plants is similar to 
that of other tender annuals, but where the 
fruit are wanted in the greatest perfection, it 
is better to devote a pit or frame purposely to 
them. For this purpose a good hot-bed should 
be prepared in February, and the seeds sown 
in pots, and when two or three inches high 
potted off into five-inch pots, one plant in a 
pot, and kept in a good heat, and well attended 
to for water. When the pots become full of 
roots they should be turned out into a pit 
or frame, in which a foot of very rich, light 
compost has been prepared, three feet below 
the glass. The plants should be placed at a 
foot apart, well watered, and the frames kept 
close and shaded for a day or two until the 
roots begin to take hold of the new soil. 
Afterwards, a high temperature, and plenty of 
air to prevent drawing the plants up weakly, 
should be given them ; and they should also 
be abundantly watered, sprinkling them at 
night, when shutting up, as a preventive of 
the red spider, to the attacks of which they 
are very liable. As the plants advance they 
should be gradually inured to the open air ; 
and when they reach the glass the lights may 
be entirely removed. Copious waterings must 
still be continued, and the plants will advance 
rapidly to perfection. Under this management 
each plant will produce from six to ten fine 
fruit. 
Where this plan is considered too much 
trouble, they may be raised in heat and potted 
off as recommended, and afterwards turned 
out against a south or west wall, in light rich 
soil, and attended too well with water, being 
kept neatly nailed to the wall. In such a 
situation they will do very well. 
In the East Indies, especially at Bombay, 
they are extensively used in curries and made 
dishes, but the best and most usual method of 
dressing them is, first, to parboil them, then 
divide them lengthways, score them across 
and across with a knife, dress them with 
butter, pepper, and salt, and broil them on a 
gridiron. Another method is to split the fruit 
lengthways into three pieces, score them, and 
well rub them with salt, and set them to drain 
for two or three hours, in order to get rid of 
a bitter taste which, otherwise, would render 
them unpalatable ; then pepper, and fry in 
butter with bread crumbs. Cooked in either of 
these ways, they make a very palatable dish. 
In Turkey they are very extensively used in 
soups and other dishes ; several varieties, if 
not distinct species, being cultivated for these 
purposes. 
