The Field and Garden Vegetables of America Part 110

Southern White.

Stalk twelve feet or more in height, with large, luxuriant foliage; ears single, often in pairs, short and very thick, sixteen to twenty-two rowed; kernel remarkably large, milk-white, wedge-formed, indented at the outer end; cob red.

YELLOW HORSE-TOOTH.

Southern Yellow.

Plant similar to that of the White Horse-tooth; kernel very large, bright-yellow, indented; cob red.

Extensively cultivated throughout the Southern States, but not adapted to the climate of the Middle or Northern.

EGG-PLANT.

Solanum melongena.

The Egg-plant is a native of Africa, and is also indigenous to Tropical America. It is a tender annual, with an erect, branching stem, and oblong, bluish-green, powdered leaves. The flowers are one-petaled, purple, and produced on short stems in the axils of the branches; the fruit is often somewhat oblong, but exceedingly variable in form, size, and color; the seeds are small, yellowish, reniform, flattened, and retain their germinative properties seven years.

_Soil._--The Egg-plant will thrive well in any good garden soil, but should have the benefit of a sheltered situation.

_Sowing and Culture._--The seed should be sown in a hot-bed in March, at the time and in the manner of sowing tomato seed. The young plants are, however, more tender; and should not be allowed to get chilled, as they recover from its effects very slowly. The plant being decidedly tropical in character, the seedlings should not be transplanted into the open ground until the commencement of summer weather; when they may be set out in rows two feet apart, and two feet asunder in the rows. Keep the ground free from weeds, earth up the plants a little in the process of cultivation, and by the last of August, or beginning of September, abundance of fruit will be produced for the table.

If no hot-bed is at hand, sufficient seedling plants for a small garden may be easily raised by sowing a few seeds in March in common flower-pots, and placing them in the sunny window of the sitting-room or kitchen.

In favorable seasons, a crop may be obtained by sowing the seeds in May in the open ground, and transplanting the seedlings, when two or three inches high, in a warm and sheltered situation.

_Use._--"It is used both boiled and stewed in sauces like the Tomato. A favorite method among the French is to scoop out the seeds, fill up the cavity with sweet herbs, and fry the fruit whole."--_M'Int._

A common method of cooking and serving is as follows: Cut the fruit in slices half an inch thick; press out as much of the juice as possible, and parboil; after which, fry the slices in batter, or in fresh b.u.t.ter in which grated bread has been mixed; season with pepper, salt, and sweet herbs, to suit; or, if preferred, the slices may be broiled as steaks or chops.

_Varieties._--

AMERICAN LARGE PURPLE.

[Ill.u.s.tration: American Large Purple Egg-plant.]

Fruit remarkably large,--often measuring eight inches in depth, seven inches in diameter, and weighing four or five pounds; skin deep-purple, with occasional stripes of green about the stem; plant hardy and stocky.

The American Large Purple is more generally cultivated in this country than any other variety. The plants produce two (and rarely three) fruits; but the first formed are invariably the best developed.

It is similar to, if not identical with, the Round Purple of English and French authors.

CHINESE LONG WHITE. _Vil._

Quite distinct from the Common White or the Purple. Plant of low growth, with comparatively pale foliage; fruit white, eight or nine inches long, two inches and a half in diameter, and often more or less curved, particularly when the end is in contact with the ground.

It is later than the White or Purple varieties, and nearly of the season of the Scarlet-fruited. To obtain the fruit in full perfection, the plants must be started in a hot-bed.

GUADALOUPE STRIPED. _Vil._

Fruit nearly ovoid, smaller than the Round or Long Purple; skin white, streaked and variegated with red.

LONG PURPLE. _Trans._

The plants of this variety are of the height of the Round Purple, but are subject to some variation in the color of the branches and in the production of spines; flowers large, purple, with a spiny calyx; the fruit is oblong, somewhat club-shaped, six or eight inches in length, sometimes straight, but often slightly bent; at maturity, the skin is generally deep-purple, but the color varies much more than the Large Round; it is sometimes pale-purple, slightly striped, sometimes variegated with longitudinal, yellowish stripes, and always more deeply colored on the exposed side.

It is early, of easy culture, hardy and productive, excellent for the table, thrives well in almost any section of the Northern States, and, if started in a hot-bed, would perfect its fruit in the Canadas.

NEW-YORK IMPROVED.

A sub-variety of the Large Round, producing the same number of fruits, which are generally of a deeper color, and average of larger size. The leaves are often spiny; and, if the variety is genuine, the plants will be readily distinguished from those of the last named by their more dense or compact habit of growth.

It is, however, comparatively late, and better suited to the climate of the Middle States than to that of New England; though it is successfully cultivated in the vicinity of Boston, Ma.s.s., by starting the plants in a hot-bed, and setting them in a warm and sheltered situation.

ROUND PURPLE. _Trans._

Large Round Purple.

Plant from two to three feet high, branching, generally tinged with purple, producing two and sometimes three fruits; the leaves are large, downy, oblong, lobed on the borders, with scattered spines on the midribs; flowers large, pale-purple,--the flower-stem and calyx invested with purple spines; the fruit is obovate, four or five inches in diameter, six or seven inches deep, slightly indented at the apex, and of a fine deep-purple when well matured,--specimens sometimes occur slightly striped or rayed with yellowish-green.

The American Large Purple, if not the same, is but an improved form of this variety.

SCARLET-FRUITED EGG-PLANT. _Hov. Mag._

A highly ornamental variety, introduced from Portugal. The plant attains the height of three feet, with leaves about six inches long. In general appearance, it resembles the Common Egg-plant; but the fruit, which is about the size of a hen's egg, is of a beautiful scarlet.

It is rarely if ever used for food, but is princ.i.p.ally cultivated for its peculiar, richly colored, and ornamental fruit, which makes a fine garnish.

The variety is late, and comparatively tender. The seeds should be started early in a hot-bed, and the plants grown in a warm and sheltered situation.

WHITE EGG-PLANT.

Fruit milk-white, egg-shaped, varying from three to five inches in length, and from two inches and a half to three inches and a half in diameter.

It is the earliest, hardiest, and most productive of all varieties. The plants frequently produce five or six fruits each; but the first formed are generally the largest.

If sown in the open ground early in May, the plants will often perfect a portion of their fruit; but they are most productive when started in a hot-bed.