The Family Kitchen Gardener (1856)/Egg Plant
EGG-PLANT.
Solànum Melongèna.—Melongene, Fr.—Tollapfel, Ger.
The Egg-Plant was introduced from Africa, and is called by some the Guinea Squash. It is generally cultivated, and becoming more so every year. They are cut into thin slices and fried, and have a taste very similar to oysters. Others use them in stews and soups. They are fit for the kitchen when they attain the size of a goose egg, and are in use till they become nearly ripe, which is easily known by the seeds changing to a brown color. Many individuals are exceedingly fond of them, while others will not taste them in any form. The following varieties are cultivated:
Large Prickly-Stemmed Purple grows larger than any of the varieties, and is frequently seen two feet in circumference; shape, oval; color, dark purple.
Smooth-Stemmed, so called because it has no prickles on the stem, does not grow so large as the former. Shape, long oval; color, dark shining purple; a few days earlier than the Prickly.
Long Purple is considered by some superior in flavor to either of the former; it is eight to ten days earlier, a very prolific variety, and the best for family use.
White Egg-Plant.—The name Egg Plant is taken from this variety, which is, when in a half-grown state, very like a hen's egg in shape, color, and size.
Culture.—There is a great ambition among growers to havo this vegetable in curly use. I delight to encourage this emu- lation whenever it is manifested. Competition promotes in dustry, and industry promotes health. Man possessing these ingredients is very rarely unhappy. Sow the seeds on a gentle hot-bed about the first of March, on a rich, light soil; give a good watering, and keep the frame close for a few days till the seed comes up. Be careful to give the soil a sprinkling of water whenever it appears to be dry. As soon as the plants grow, give air freely, covering the glass in cold nights. When they attain the height of two inches, thin them out to three inches apart, or transplant them into another bed. Where there is plenty of room, the latter is the best method. They can be transplanted out from the 1st to the 15th of May, into a warm border of rich ground, from whence the early Lettuce or Radishes have been taken. Give a good watering after being removed; hoe well; keep clean; as they grow draw earth to their stems. They will cut about the end of June or 1st of July. For a late crop, sow in April, on a warm border where they are to remain, or transplant in June during moist weather. Plant in rows two feet apart, and two feet from plant to plant. The seed will keep three or four years. Sow Valentine Beans between the rows.