Quality Crops 
PEPPERS, EGG PLANTS 
AND TOMATOES FOR 
THE HOME GARDEN 
BY D. R. Edson 
P EPPERS and egg-plants are frequently omitted from the 
home garden. One reason for this is that they are compara¬ 
tively difficult to start early, as they require more care and much 
more heat than the other vegetable plants—even tomatoes. An¬ 
other reason is that when one buys these plants already started, 
he is pretty sure to get some old variety. As a result the newer 
varieties of peppers and “eggs” have not become known as rap¬ 
idly as those of other vegetables. Most people do not know 
what a modern mild pepper is; they think of peppers as red-hot 
fruits which have their use in the pickle factories, and are appre¬ 
ciated only by people who have lived in Mexico or Central Amer¬ 
ica. The large, mild, thick-fleshed peppers which may actually 
be eaten raw, like an apple, and are delicious as a sliced salad 
with dressing, used as are tomatoes, they do not know. The same 
is true of egg-plants, although the development of new varieties 
has not been so diverse or so striking. In buying plants of pep¬ 
pers, eggs and tomatoes, insist on knowing the variety, even if 
you can’t get what you want. 
Both peppers and egg-plants are extreme heat-lovers. They 
must have conditions approaching the tropical, or they will do 
practically nothing. It is useless to set them out before the 
weather is thoroughly settled and warm, usually a week, or even 
two, after early tomatoes are set out. 
If your garden is large enough so that there is any choice in 
soil or location, select a spot that is sheltered or soil that is warm 
or “quick,” as gardeners call it—a well-drained sandy loam. Re¬ 
member also that egg-plants especially require plenty of moisture 
when they are maturing, and keep them within reach of the hose 
if you can. 
As a dozen each of peppers or egg-plants and two dozen toma¬ 
toes will give an ample supply for the average-sized family, do 
not begrudge a few cents apiece extra for fine plants. They are 
usually put up in flats, but if you can get potted ones by all means 
do so. If you are growing them yourself, use paper pots or dirt- 
bands—they hold much more soil than the clay ones in the same 
amount of space and are much easier to keep watered. With a 
crop having such a short time in which to mature, and, in the case 
of egg-plants, so apt to be injured by insects, the selection of 
extra strong plants is of the greatest importance. 
The matter of varieties is also very important. Peppers, as a 
general rule, may be classed as large and mild, and small and hot. 
In a garden where there is room for but one sort, one of the large 
mild varieties should be given preference. It is an easy matter 
to buy a few conts’ worth of the hot ones if they are required for 
flavoring or use in preserves or pickles, in the fall. The old Bull- 
nose, and Sweet Mountain, which is very much like it, are prob¬ 
ably still more often found in the home garden than any others, 
although Ruby King, a splendid newer sort which has become a 
standard, has gradually replaced them. The Bull-nose, or Bell, 
■and Sweet Mountain, have fruits some three inches deep and 
two inches or so in diameter. The Ruby King is larger and much 
milder, but not quite so early. For a mild extra early sort, the 
newer Neapolitan Early is the largest and sweetest that I have 
ever tried. The fruits are not so symmetrical in form as those 
of the foregoing, being more elongated. But they are of good 
size and the flesh is extra thick, mild and sweet. Sweet Upright 
is a new variety as early in season as the Bull-nose or Sweet 
Mountain, with larger, more blocky fruits, of the very finest flavor 
and very thick flesh. The peppers are formed at the forks of the 
branches, and grow upright instead of hanging down as do those 
of most other varieties. It is an ideal sort for the home garden, 
and will, without doubt, supplant many of the older sorts as it 
becomes better known. Chinese Giant is a really huge pepper 
of most excellent flavor; it is a little later in ripening than the 
foregoing sorts, but when well-grown plants may be secured they 
come on in plenty of time. It is a comparatively new sort, but 
has already become a great favorite, especially for home use. 
Giant Crimson is a fine new sort, very large and very early. Of 
the sweet yellow sorts, Golden Queen is the largest, and similar 
in size and season to Ruby King. 
The small hot peppers are entirely distinct from all the fore¬ 
going. Tabasco is one of the best known, but it requires a long 
season of growth, and is more particular about climatic condi¬ 
tions, so that, except as a curiosity, it is not to be recommended 
for home use. Creole or Bird’s Eye is a very small, berry-like, 
very hot red pepper ; it is very good for flavoring sauces or pickles, 
but, like Tabasco, it requires a long hot season. Coral Gem 
Bouquet ripens quite early, and its numerous small coral-colored 
fruits, about an inch long, are excellent for general use where 
a hot pepper is desired. Red Cluster is a popular sort of medium 
pungency, bearing its long, pointed fruits, about three inches 
long, in clusters. Where two varieties of the sweet peppers may 
be grown in the family garden, I would recommend Neapolitan 
Early and Chinese Giant. If there is room for but one sort, 
Ruby King, Sweet Upright, or Crimson Giant. For a hot pepper, 
Coral Gem or Red Cluster. 
The varieties of egg-plant are few. Early Long Purple, New 
York Improved Spineless, Black Pekin, and Black Beauty com¬ 
prising the whole list of the sorts best known. Black Beauty is 
by far the best; but if there is room, a few plants of Early Long 
Purple will give some extra early fruits to use before the others 
are ready. 
Besides having the soil in as good condition as possible for 
planting, a special “starter” under each plant will be very effective 
in increasing both earliness and yield. The row in which the 
plants are set should have at least a foot of space on either side 
of it; the peppers set fifteen to eighteen inches apart, and the eggs 
eighteen inches to two feet, depending both upon varieties and 
soil. Mark out the row or rows, and then with a hoe or fork 
spade out a good-sized hill where each plant is to go and dig into 
it, mixing thoroughly with the soil a forkful of fine rotted manure 
or compost, or a handful of bone-dust, cotton-seed meal and 
wood ashes, in the proportion of one part each of the bone and 
meal, and one or two parts wood ashes. 
A few hours before setting the plants out, give them a thorough 
(Continued on page 6) 
33 
