Eggplant

“ No one will trample a fallen crumb into the dust, and even the smallest bit dropped or thrown away by a careless child will be picked up and lodged in a crack of a stone or wall so the birds may get it. Tomatoes, squash, cabbage, cauliflower, onions, and eggplant are common vegetables. There is a saying of the eggplant that there are so many different ways of preparing it that if during the eggplant season a woman says to her husband, “I know not what to provide for dinner,” he has sufficient cause for divorcing her.
Grapes not quite ripe are much relished when eaten with salt. ”

“ Eggplants are considered one of the difficult things to grow; personally I have seldom lost a plant except at the hands, or mouth rather, of cutworms, but I have frequently gotten an unsatisfactory setting of fruit. However, one must have certain standards to adhere to in their culture, the first of which is heat in all the early stages of their growth, the second, rich soil, with occasional supplementary dressings of nitrate of soda, and thorough cultivation.
The plants require considerable room when mature and should not be set closer than three feet each way. ”

“ The principal enemy of the eggplant is the potato beetle which is quite as partial to egg150 plants as to potatoes. Spraying with Paris green or arsenate of lead is effectual before the fruit has formed but hand picking is more satisfactory and where only a few plants are grown for family use, quite as practical. It is not the mature beetle that eats the leaves but the young beetles that hatch from the mass of yellow eggs laid on the under side of the leaves, so at the first appearance of the old bugs search should be made for the mass of eggs and these as well as the parent beetle destroyed ”

“ Eggplant contains a high per cent of water,—90 per cent. The principal nutrients are starch and sugar, which make up about half the weight of the dry matter. It does not itself supply a large amount of nutrients, but the way in which it is prepared, by combination with butter, bread crumbs, and eggs, makes it a nutritious and palatable dish, the food value being derived mainly from the materials with which it is combined, the eggplant giving the flavor and palatability. ”

“ Grown without regular sprinkler irrigation, eggplant seems to get larger and yield sooner and more abundantly. I suspect this delicate and fairly drought-resistant tropical species does not like having its soil temperature lowered by frequent watering. ”

“ At convenient distances a row may be skipped to make a road to gather the crop. After the crop has been planted there is little or no use for a hoe; the plow can and ought to do the work. No weeds should be allowed to show more than the seed leaves, and the ground should be kept mellow enough to let a person sink nearly to the ankles in dry times. When the fertilizer has been applied properly the roots will seek the deeper soil, and the ordinary horse cultivator will not reach them at all. Eggplant raising pays best under high cultivation. ”

“ Like the eggplant require much heat in starting and should be given the warmest position in the hotbed—about the central sash, towards the front—so that they may not be overtopped by other, taller growing plants, for the pepper grows but slowly for the first few weeks of its existence. ”

“ Crops Grown in Frames.—The crops most commonly grown in frames are lettuce, radishes, cucumbers, garden beets, parsley, eggplant, peppers, and snap beans. The crops grown in the sash-covered frames do not differ materially from those grown under cloth. In the spring, however, many growers devote their beds almost entirely to cucumbers and eggplant instead of to lettuce and radishes. ”

“ EGGPLANT belongs to the class of fruit vegetables, and is closely related to the tomato in structure and composition. It grows rather large in size, is covered with a smooth brownish-purple skin, and is made up of material that is close and firm in texture and creamy white in color. ”

“ Hard, indigestible seeds traverse the alimentary canal without alteration and are deposited many miles from the parent that bore them. Nature's methods for widely distributing plants cannot but stir the dullest imagination.
The purple pendent flowers of this nightshade secrete no nectar, therefore many insects let them alone; but it is now believed that no part of the plant is poisonous. Certainly one that claims the potato, tomato, and eggplant among its kin has no right to be dangerous. ”

“ Let stand over night. Make into balls. Mix cornstarch and flour, and put on board. Roll balls out thin. Put into pan and cover with melted butter, chopped nuts, and sugar or honey. Add another layer of dough, then one of nuts—pistachio, walnuts, or pinto, etc. Cut in pieces, diamond shaped. Bake. Serve with syrup.
Patlijan-Boereg (Armenian)
1 medium eggplant 4 sprigs parsley 1 lemon 3 eggs 1⁄2 pound hard white grated cheese Salt to taste 1 cup olive oil Slice the eggplant round or lengthwise, one-quarter inch thick. ”

“ These plants, started in a warm place, must be kept there until the soil to which [Pg 103] they are to be transplanted is well warmed by the advance of spring. After the warm weather has fully set in, transplant them to rich soil, setting them three feet apart each way. This plant needs much manure. If large, perfect fruit is expected, the ground can hardly be made too rich.
Eggplants are subject to the same bacterial blight that is so destructive to tomatoes. The only way to prevent this disease is to plant in ground not lately used for tomatoes or potatoes. ”

“ The advisability of growing egg plants in farm gardening operations is a question of location. On a suitable soil, near a good market, the operation will be a profitable one, if rightly managed. The egg plant is a tender vegetable, botanically allied to both the tomato and the potato, but less [Pg 89] hardy than either, especially when young. For this reason it is best to delay sowing the seed, even in hot-beds, until cold weather is past, for the tender seedlings never fully recover from a chill or set-back. ”

“ It is another of those which has been improved by crossing, usually with peppers and tomatoes. But as we are not Burbanks yet, I shall not talk of that side of egg plant culture. Some varieties of egg plant grow to a large size but the smaller fruits, on the whole, have the better flavour. A good, well-worked, rich garden loam is the soil for this vegetable. The seed may be planted out in the open in little drills six inches apart. The seed should be scattered along as lettuce seed is. When the plants are about six inches high, transplant them to their permanent place. ”

“ Egg-plant is a tropical plant which will not mature its fruits in the Northern states unless its season of growth is lengthened by starting the plants in a greenhouse or hotbed. It is very susceptible to cold and it is scarcely safe to set the young plants outdoors until June in the latitude of New York. Egg-plant requires a sunny position and a warm, light, fertile soil. It can be planted in rows two and a half to three feet apart, two feet being allowed between the plants in the rows. Black Beauty is a standard variety. Early Long Purple is a quick-maturing kind. ”

“ The Egg-plant, also known as bringal, aubergine, egg-apple and mad-apple, is an herbaceous plant belonging to the Nightshade family (Solananæ) , therefore kin to the potato and tomato. It is a tender annual, readily killed by the early frosts. It has rather large, simple, somewhat incised leaves. The fruits are large, egg-shaped, tomato-like in structure, hence berries.
It is quite extensively cultivated in gardens. The seeds are sown in hot beds early in April but transplanting is not done until about the first of June, when all danger of frost is past. ”

“ I purchase strong potted plants between the twentieth of May and the first of June, and set them out in a rich, warm soil. A dozen well-grown plants will supply a large family with egg-fruit. Of course one can start the young plants themselves, as in the case of tomatoes; but it should be remembered that they are much more tender and difficult to raise than is the tomato. Plants from seed sown in the open ground would not mature in our latitude, as a rule. The best plan is to have the number you need grown for you by those who make it their business. ”

“ Unless one has a greenhouse or a very warm hotbed, the growing of egg-plants in the North should be left to the professional gardener, as the young plants are very tender, and should be grown without a check. The seed should be sown in the hotbed or the greenhouse about April 10, keeping a temperature of 65° to 70°. When the seedlings have made three rough leaves, they may be pricked out into shallow boxes, or, still better, into 3-inch pots. The pots or boxes should be plunged to the rim in soil in a hotbed or coldframe so situated that protection may be given on chilly nights. ”

“ Egg Plant.—The fruits of Egg Plants play a more important part in the cookery of the French and Italians than with us, and they make a delicious dish when properly cooked. Seed may be raised in heat, but when summer comes the plants thrive in rich soil at the foot of a wall facing south. The white and purple varieties are grown for ornament as well as for cooking. Sow now or in March in heat, and in June the plants should be ready for transferring to rich soil in a sheltered spot, allowing each one a space of two feet. ”

“ In the spring, when the fruit buds are unfolding, the beetles begin to emerge from their winter quarters and feed to some extent on the blossoms and tender leaves of the fruit trees. Mating soon begins, and by the time the fruit is well set the beetles make this fruit the chief object of their attention. The circular punctures in the skin are feeding punctures, while the crescent-shaped ones are egg-laying punctures. A single egg is deposited in a puncture, although several may be placed in a single fruit. ”

“ Of the three cells of the “egg apparatus” the lower (o) one is the egg cell; the others are called “synergidæ.” The structure of the embryo sac and ovules is quite constant among the angiosperms, the differences being mainly in the shape of the ovules, and the degree to which its coverings or integuments are developed.
The pollen spores of many angiosperms will germinate very easily in a solution of common sugar in water: about fifteen per cent of sugar is the best. A very good plant for this purpose is the sweet pea, whose pollen germinates very rapidly, especially in warm weather. ”

“ But are wild grass seeds good to eat?"
"Yes, of course. All ordinary grass seeds are composed of substantially the same materials, and they are all nutritious. I have gathered about a quart, meaning to mash them up and make a sort of bread out of them; but there isn't time for that now, so I mean to boil them for dinner. The important thing is to have some kind of grain food to eat, and in that way we'll get it somewhat as if we had rice."
"That's a capital idea, Ned," said Jack. "Is there plenty of seed to be had?" ”

“ The cultivation recommended for Capsicum will suit the Egg Plant, but little atmospheric moisture is needed or the seedlings may damp off. They are not well adapted for planting out, although in a warm season they will fruit freely under a sunny wall, and will grow in a gravel walk if helped at first with a little good soil round the roots. If required in quantity for the table, the purple variety may be grown in a frame from plants raised on a hot-bed. Generally speaking, a few plants in pots are all that are required where the fruit is not valued as an esculent. ”

“ In less than twenty four hours an amber spot will appear on the surface of the olive where the egg was deposited, which will turn darker after a little time. The spots can be seen only when the berry is green, as it grows ripe they are hardly discernible. Each female deposits about one hundred eggs. In ten or fifteen days these eggs hatch. The larva, with the hooks of borer, attacks the pulp of the fruit, and then makes its way into the seed, boring a winding tunnel. The pulp of the berry above the tunnel will become reddish wrinkled and transparent, thus showing the presence of the enemy. ”

“ As the moth, except under stress of circumstances, places her eggs on the foliage of trees and bushes in selected positions, the business of egg laying takes about six nights to perform. Even when she is unable to fly she will crawl from twig to twig and glue an egg here and there on the leaves, but rarely more than two on a leaf. On a small sallow bush in my garden, I once counted eighty-four eggs on the lower leaves and the main stem. Green, inclining to yellowish or greyish, is the colour of the full-grown caterpillar. ”

“ It is so loosely fastened, in some flowers, that you can blow it off. That yellow dust is pollen. Pollen is one of the things the plant needs to make seed. The other thing is an egg.
Do you remember the little balls and whip lashes in liver-worts, and the way in which the whip thrashed about in its bath cup and jumped to the ball? By the time plants grew into pines and palms and grasses, the whip lash turned to pollen grains, but the little ball remained much the same. It became an egg, packed away with others in a seed-case.
The egg always lies quietly in its case. ”

“ I have even known the eggs carelessly dropped on the bare ground in a corner of a potato-field, and have found the female sitting on her eggs in all the bright glare of a noonday sun in June, and to all appearance undisturbed by its brilliance. A more common situation for the eggs is a slight hollow of a bare rock, the dark weather-beaten shades of which, with its brown and slate-colored mosses and lichens, resembling both the parent and the egg in their coloring, are well adapted to screen them from observation or detection. ”