This delicious vegetable is not so much cultivated in our gardens as
it should be. This has arisen largely from the difficulty of getting
the plants from seed in the open ground. If you have no greenhouse,
hotbed, nor frame, it will be best to buy the plants at setting-time
from some one who grows them early in pots. Plants pulled from a bed
are seldom worth planting, as the egg plant is slow to recover from a
serious check.
_Kind of Soil._--A sandy loam will be found excellent soil; this should
be well drained and have a moist subsoil. Land that has been drained,
if all other conditions are proper, will make an excellent field. This
plant is a deep feeder, so that the land should be plowed as deeply as
possible. A new field should not be taken, while one might succeed, the
chances are not so good as on an old and well-tried piece of land. Be
sure that all rubbish and matter that could interfere with cultivation
has been removed. Fertilize the field broadcast; there is little or no
danger of the plants failing to get the food if it is in the soil. The
best way is to apply the fertilizer just before plowing the field, and
then apply a smaller amount where the plants are to stand; work the
fertilizer in well a week or two before setting out. Lay the land off
into rows four feet apart, and set the plants three or four feet apart
in the row. 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.
By replenishing the fertilizer, plants may be kept in bearing until
frost kills them in the fall, but it will be found more profitable to
renew the field, if a summer or fall crop is desired.--(U. Id. E. S.
10; N. C. E. S. 132; Fla. E. S. 31; F. B. 255; Iowa E. S. 47.)