VEGETABLE EGGS.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXXVI, Issue 22, 2 June 1906, Page 15

VEGETABLE EGGS.

Some discussion has arisen as to supplies of West Indian so-called vegetable eggs. Trial shipments are being sent from Jamaica to the London markets. The egg-plant —brinjal or aubergine—is Salanuni Melongena. an annual supposed to have had its origin in India or Arabia, but now cultivated in all tropical countries. where the fruits are highly esteemed. They are eaten either raw or cooked in the time way as tomatoes, to which they are nearly related. There are many varieties, ranging in colour from white to black-purple, and in shape from that of a hen’s egg to that of a German sausage. The largest we have seen were Sin long and 3in in diameter. They have not hitherto found much favour in this country. I»ut here ami there one hears of them being grown for table use. In continental countries, however, especially France and Italy, they are in genera! use. The plants thrive in the open air in England during the summer, but we have not. as a rule, sufficient warmth to make their cultivation profitable in this country. The success of the tomato ami banana in the English market should encourage those who hope to make vegetable eggs grown in the West Indies as popular as those two kinds of fruit have become.