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Show ! (Ess $lant EGG PLANT is a difficult vegetable for tbe amateur gardener to handle. A bulletin of the National Emergency Emer-gency Food Garden Commission contains the following information: Egg plant is a hot weather plant, thorcfore it should not be grown wbcro the summer season is short Nor should it be nttemptod In poor soil, nor by any one "who is not willinc to givo it plenty of attention, t n requires one or more' transplanting, and if its growth suffers any chock the crop is likely to be a failure. Inasmuch as it is not safe to set out egg plant in the pardon much befon tbe middle of June and beeatiso the plant requires a Ions crowing season the seeds phould be sown Indoors or in an outdoor botbtvl One-third of nn ounce of seed will produce enough plants to make a row 100 fpct Ion?. These seeds nre usually sown thickly in rows in the .seed bos.es und when tho plants nre large Xpi enough to handle they are transplanted f to flower pots filled with rich soil. Some gardeners, however, prefer to sow the teed directly in flower pots and to thin out the seedlings Inter. unless tnc seedlings arc transplanted to largo pots directly from the seed box as the plants grow they should be sot in larger pots- Some gardeners make three transfers before putting the plants into tho garden, which should not be done nntil warm weather is settled and the plnnts aro six to ten inches high. Grcnt care should be used not to disturb the roots in any transplanting. Injury can be avoided by using old berry boxes instead in-stead of flower pots for growing the seedlings, the bottoms of the boxes being torn off and then the rest of the box Eet into the gnrden with the plants. Plants should bo set eighteen inches apart, and the fruit may be eaten when' they are three inches or moro in diameter. |