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wings, which are purple in the latter species, which is considered 
the best eating kind. 
D. pentaphylla , L., with 3 or 5 foliolate leaves, wild in Johore, 
Pahang, etc., is used for food by the Sakais. D . sativa, L., which 
bears round brown warty bulbils in the axils of the leaves, is 
sometimes eaten by natives but is not considered good. It is 
common in waste ground, hedges, etc. 
\ Brinjal. 
Egg-plant ( Solanum Melongena ). — Much cultivated by the 
Chinese, and one of the commonest vegetables in use here. It is 
raised from seed readily, and pricked out in beds some distance 
apart, as it is a very wide spreading shrub. 
The varieties most popular are the long purple, and white 
China, both long fruited kinds, but we have also here the round 
purple, and round white kinds. There are a considerable 
number of other cultivated varieties in Europe and America, 
including one from the latter country wMh fruits as large as 
melons. 
Several other kinds of Solanum are cultivated by natives 
for their fruits, but they are generally of an unpleasant flavour, 
and not at all suited for Europeans. 
Okra. 
Hibiscus esculentus, Kachang Bendi or Kachang Lundi, La- 
dies’ fingers. — Is a well known vegetable here. It is supposed 
to be a native of South America, and is a very handsome annual, 
attaining a height of about three feet, with large yellow flowers 
with a maroon eye. It is raised from seeds which can be sown 
directly in beds, or raised in boxes and pricked out when suffi- 
ciently tall. The unripe pods are eaten boiled or the young 
seeds served separately 011 toast. The pods are apt to be very 
mucilaginous especially if cut too young, but the amount of mu 
cilage which exudes when the fruit is cooked seems lathei to de- 
pend on the method of cooking. Theie are but few cultivated 
varieties, differing chiefly in the size and thickness of the pods. 
Maize, Jagon. 
It is strange that maize is not more generally grown foi table 
use than it is. This is perhaps largely owing to the fact that few 
Europeans know that there are varieties, specially selected for 
eating, vastly superior to the field kinds. These varieties have 
mostly been produced in America, where there are moie than a 
dozen named kinds cultivated. 
No special care is required to grow this plant, but deep digging 
and plenty of manure are necessary. Seeds should be planted in 
rows three feet apart and about one foot between the plants. It 
is best to plant two seeds in each hole, and then pull out one plant 
if both germinate. Cattle manure, bone dust, fish manure and 
burnt earth are all good for this crop, and in dry weather, liquid 
manure twice a week. 
