AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
185 
EGG PLANT. 
This delicious vegetable, after it comes 
out of the hot bed, and is well established, is 
as easily cutlivated as the potato. It is a 
tropical plant and needs forcing in the spring 
in order to mature in latitudes north of this 
city. But the plants may be procured the 
last of May, from the nurserymen and vege¬ 
table gardeners for a trifle, and every man 
can then raise his own vegetable eggs. They 
are gross feeders, and want a southern as¬ 
pect and plenty of room, say three feet be¬ 
tween the plants. 
The taste for the plant is, perhaps, as arti¬ 
ficial, as that for the tomato, but once formed 
it is highly relished. To prepare the fruit 
for cooking it should be cut in slices about 
a fourth of an inch in thickness, salted a lit¬ 
tle, and be allowed to remain over night. 
Fry them with thin slices of pork till they 
are nicely browned. Two dozen plants well 
cared for will supply a family.—E d. 
GOOD RADISHES AT LITTLE COST OR TROUBLE. 
Every body loves radishes, though some 
persons of sedentary habits, or with weak 
digestive organs, are unable to use them. 
The chief difficulty with such persons is, 
that they do not masticate them sufficiently. 
If care be taken to let no particle go into the 
stomach not mashed as fine as mustard 
seed, they will digest very easily, and give 
no trouble. 
We have had an abundance of radishes at 
all seasons, without devoting a foot ofground 
to their special cultivation. Our plan has 
been simply this. As soon as the garden has 
been plowed or spaded, we have sown over 
it a small quantity of radish seed, broadcast. 
The subsequent working and planting of the 
soil buries these seeds, and as they come up, 
we destroy them as we would weeds where 
there is not room for them to grow. But 
there is always some space between rows or 
hills of other vegetables, where several plants 
may be allowed to remain till large enough to 
pull up for the table. Wherever theie is 
any spare room, we scatter a few seeds 
when hoeing over the ground to kill weeds. 
This practice we follow up all through the 
summer, and a single shilling’s worth of seed, 
thus sown in small quantities, every time 
we have gone into the garden to work, has 
furnished us an abundance of young and 
tender radishes at all times. When early 
peas come to maturity, we have young beets 
or radishes growing up on the ground occu¬ 
pied by them, from seeds which were sown 
during the last hoeing they received. 
It is well known that on some soils radish¬ 
es do not grow well, but by our plan of scat¬ 
tering them in every part of the garden, we 
have always hit upon some spots just suited 
to produce the nicest roots. Where they 
happen to be in the way of other vegetables, 
or where they produce tough, strong bulbs, 
we cut them down with the hoe and cover 
them with earth, and they aid to enrich the 
ground. Thus used, a comparatively small 
amount of seed will yield a more satisfac¬ 
tory and economical supply, than if a spec¬ 
ial plot were devoted to their cultiva¬ 
tion.—E d. 
RHODODENDRONS—EVERYBODY MAY AND 
SHOULD HAVE THEM. 
Directions for Culture, &c. 
During this and the early part of the next 
month, the Rhododendrons, the finest of all 
hardy flowering plants, will put on their 
gorgeous robes and be arrayed in all their 
glory. Those not acquainted with them can 
have but a faint conception of the surpassing 
beauty of both their foliage and flowers. A 
description would be next to useless—to be 
fully appreciated they must be seen. (The 
best description is perhaps found in the 
etymology of the word. Rhododendron is 
derived from two Greek words, Rhodon, a 
rose, and Dendron, a tree, and signifies a 
tree of roses.) We propose now to speak 
of it only in general terms, and refer to the 
method of cultivation. 
First, we may say, that unlike most of 
the more beautiful and showy flowering 
plants, the Rhododendron is so hardy, so 
patient of transplanting, and so vigorous 
even upon a poor soil, that it can be success¬ 
fully grown, and with little care, every 
farmer and every owner of a village lot or 
plot, however small, may have one or more. 
Anybody who has room, time, and skill 
enough to grow a rose, may also have a 
Rhododendron. 
The Rhododendron is usually propagated 
from the seed, and grows to the highth of 
five or six feet, though to attain this size re¬ 
quires ten or twelve years from the seed. 
It forms a complete evergreen shrub, with 
somewhat glossy leaves, of a thick texture, 
and bears large clusters of white, lilac and 
crimson flowers, each one of which is large 
enough for a lady’s boquet. Owing to the 
peculiarity of our climate there have been 
but few Rhododendrons started from the 
seed in this country. Messrs. Parsons & 
Co., of Flushing, have some thirty or forty 
thousand seedlings, in pots, but they are not 
an inch in hight, as yet, and it remains to be 
seen whether the experiment will be suc¬ 
cessful. They are grown on an extensive 
scale in England, and the plants, when six¬ 
teen or eighteen inches high, are imported 
by the proprietors of our larger nurseries. 
The usual hight, when retailed from the nur¬ 
sery, is about one foot. The price of plants 
of this size has heretofore been about $1 
each. They are now sold by the hundred 
for 50 cents, and even retailed at 50 to 60 
cents each. • 
They can be set out at any season, though 
April and May are by far the best months 
for transplanting. They can be moved from 
place to place every year, if desired, with¬ 
out materially checking their growth or 
flowering. The foot-high plants, from the 
nursery, sometimes furnish flowers the first 
season. 
Two species do not require Winter pro¬ 
tection, but can be left in the open ground 
through the coldest weather without injury. 
This has been abundantly proved during the 
past Winter. Notwithstanding the long and 
severe freezing, which has injured many 
evergreens, always before considered hardy, 
we have, during the past month, seen thou¬ 
sands of Rhododendrons in vigorous health, 
and to all appearances uuharmed. 
Best Varieties for General Cultiva¬ 
tion. —There are some 25 or 30 species of 
Rhododendrons, embracing hundreds of va¬ 
rieties. There are, however, but two spe¬ 
cies which can be relied upon in this lati¬ 
tude, as having been proved perfectly hardy. 
These are the Rhododendron Catawbiense 
and the Rhododendron Maximum. The R. 
Ponticum is one of the finest in England, 
but is not sufficiently hardy for out-door 
cultivation here. 
The Rhododendron Catawbiense, though 
not more hardy, excels the Maximum in the 
brilliancy of its flowers, and in the color and 
compactness of its foliage. Everything con¬ 
sidered, we advise a choice of the Cataw¬ 
biense in preference to all others. The 
plants, as purchased in the nurseries, 
are seedlings, and the chances are, 
that no two in a hundred or a hundred 
thousand will produce blossoms precisely 
alike, in coloring and shade. This sporting 
character is one of the beauties of this plant. 
Soil.—T he Rhododendron will grow well 
in any garden soil, but will be benefit- 
ted by adding, one-half of a sandy peat, 
light muck, and especially decayed leaves 
and rotten wood are very good for this pur¬ 
pose. 
Transplanting. —As above stated, this 
can best be done at this season. The roots 
are very fibrous, and, if not too violently 
handled, they retain considerable soil when 
lifted from the ground. If not to be trans¬ 
ported far they can be taken up and moved 
from place to place at any time, about as 
easy as the furniture in a room. English 
gentlemen frequently remodel the appear¬ 
ance of a whole lawn, by shifting this and a 
few other plants around from year to year. 
When to be sent far' they are packed in boxes 
with some of the soil upon their roots, and 
in this way may be carried safely to any dis¬ 
tance, by land or sea. When received, they 
are to be set out just like any tree or shrub. 
Unless the soil be light and peaty it is bet¬ 
ter to dig out a space, say two feet in diam¬ 
eter, and one foot or more deep, and fill in 
with a mixture of any good surface soil, 
peat, decaying leaves, &c. No manure 
should be used at the time of planting, 
though a soil well manured a year or two 
previous is desirable. 
Pruning is not required, and the knife 
should be used very sparingly, if used at all. 
A Suggestion. —A friend at our elbow 
suggests that any one having a number of 
Rhododendrons in bloom, may lift a number 
of plants, place them in pots or upon dishes, 
carry them into a room during an evening 
when a party of friends chance to be gath¬ 
ered, and the next morning return the plants 
to their place in the lawn, yard, or garden, 
without any injury to them whatever. 
We have thus endeavored to set forth 
some of the excellences of this plant, and 
to give all needed information in regard to 
its cultivation. If we have overlooked any 
point we shall be glad to be reminded of it 
if any one needs further particulars.— Ed. 
A good conscience is good company. 
