The Field and Garden Vegetables of America Part 112

BELL-PEPPER.

Large Bell. Bull-nose.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Bell-pepper.]

Plant two feet and upwards in height, stocky and branching, the stem and branches often stained or clouded with purple; leaves large, on long stems, smaller, smoother, and less sharply pointed, than those of the Squash-pepper; flowers white, sometimes measuring nearly an inch and a half in diameter.

The pods, which are remarkably large, and often measure nearly four inches deep and three inches in diameter, are pendent, broadest at the stem, slightly tapering, and generally terminate in four obtuse, cone-like points. At maturity, the fruit changes to brilliant, glossy, coral red.

The Bell-pepper is early, sweet and pleasant to the taste, and much less acrid or pungent than most of the other sorts. In many places, it is preferred to the Squash-pepper for pickling, not only because of its mildness, but for its thick, fleshy, and tender rind.

In open culture, sow in May, in drills sixteen inches apart, and thin the plants to twelve inches in the drills.

In England, they are pickled as follows: The pods are plucked while green, slit down on one side, and, after the seeds are taken out, immersed in salt and water for twenty-four hours; changing the water at the end of the first twelve. After soaking the full time, they are laid to drain an hour or two; put into bottles or jars; and boiled vinegar, after being allowed to cool, poured over them till they are entirely covered. The jars are then closely stopped for a few weeks, when the pods will be fit for use. In this form, they have been p.r.o.nounced the best and most wholesome of all pickles.

BIRD-PEPPER. _Vil._

Stem fifteen to eighteen inches high; leaves very small; flowers white, about two-thirds of an inch in diameter; pods erect, sharply conical, an inch and three-quarters long, about half an inch in diameter, and of a brilliant coral-red when ripe.

The variety is late. If sown in the open ground, some of the pods, if the season be favorable, will be fit for use before the plants are destroyed by frost; but few will be fully perfected unless the plants are started under gla.s.s.

The Bird-pepper is one of the most piquant of all varieties, and is less valuable as a green pickle than many milder and thicker-fleshed sorts.

It is cultivated in rows fourteen inches apart, and ten or twelve inches asunder in the rows. If sown in the open ground, make the rows the same distance apart, and thin the young plants to the same s.p.a.ce in the rows.

The "Cayenne Pepper-pot" of commerce is prepared from Bird-pepper in the following manner: "Dry ripe peppers well in the sun, pack them in earthen or stone pots, mixing common flour between every layer of pods, and put all into an oven after the baking of bread, that they may be thoroughly dried; after which, they must be well cleansed from the flour, and reduced to a fine powder. To every ounce of this, add a pound of wheat-flour, and as much leaven as is sufficient for the quant.i.ty intended. After this has been properly mixed and wrought, it should be made into small cakes, and baked in the same manner as common cakes of the same size; then cut them into small parts, and bake them again, that they may be as dry and hard as biscuit, which, being powdered and sifted, is to be kept for use."

CAYENNE PEPPER.

C. frutescens.

The pods of this variety are quite small, cone-shaped, coral-red when ripe, intensely acrid, and furnish the Cayenne Pepper of commerce. Like the other species of the family, it is of tropical origin; and being a perennial, and of a shrubby character, will not succeed in open culture at the North.

Both the green and ripe pods are used as pickles, and also for making Chili vinegar or pepper-sauce; which is done by simply putting a handful of the pods in a bottle, afterwards filled with the best vinegar, and stopping it closely. In a few weeks, it will be fit for use.

The process of preparing Cayenne Pepper is as follows. The pods are gathered when fully ripe. "In India, they are dried in the sun; but in cooler climates they should be dried on a slow hot-plate, or in a moderately heated oven: they are then pulverized, and sifted through a fine sieve, mixed with salt, and, when dried, put into close, corked bottles, for the purpose of excluding the air. This article is subject to great adulteration, flour being often mixed with it; and, still worse, red lead, which is much of the same color, and greatly increases the weight.

"A better method is to dry the pods in a slow oven, split them open, extract the seeds, and then pulverize them (the pods) to a fine powder, sifting the powder through a thin muslin sieve, and pulverizing the parts that do not pa.s.s through, and sifting again, until the whole is reduced to the finest possible state. Place the powder in air-tight gla.s.s bottles; but add no salt or other ingredient whatever."--_M'Int._

The pods of either of the long-fruited sorts, or those of the Cherry-pepper, prepared as above, will furnish a quality of "Cayenne"

Pepper greatly superior to that ordinarily sold by grocers, or even by apothecaries and druggists.

The larger and milder kinds, powdered in the same manner, make a wholesome and pleasant grade of pepper of sufficient pungency for a majority of palates.

CHERRY-PEPPER.

Capsic.u.m cerasiforme.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Cherry-pepper.]

Stem twelve to fifteen inches high, strong and branching; leaves comparatively small, long, narrow, and sharply pointed; flowers white, three-fourths of an inch in diameter; pod, or fruit, erect, nearly globular or cherry-form, and, at maturity, of a deep, rich, glossy, scarlet color. It is remarkable for its intense piquancy; exceeding in this respect nearly all the annual varieties.

It is not so early as some of the larger sorts; but in favorable seasons will perfect a sufficient portion of its crop in the open ground, both for seed and pickling. For the latter purpose, the peppers should be plucked while still green, put into a common jar or wide-mouthed bottle, and vinegar added to fill the vessel. In a few weeks, they will be fit for use.

When in perfection, the plants are very ornamental; the glossy, coral-red of the numerous pods presenting a fine contrast with the deep-green foliage by which they are surrounded.

A variety occurs with larger, more conical, and pendent pods. The plant is also much larger, and quite distinct in its general character.

CHERRY-PEPPER.

Yellow-fruited.

This is a variety of the Red Cherry. The plants have the same general habit, require the same treatment, and perfect their fruit at the same season. There is little real difference between the sorts, with the exception of the color of the fruit; this being clear yellow.

To preserve either of these varieties for use in the dry state, all that is necessary is to cut off the plants close to the roots when the fruit is ripe, and hang them, with the fruit attached, in any warm and dry situation. They will retain their piquancy for years.

CHILI PEPPER. _Vil._

Pods pendent, sharply conical, nearly two inches in length, half an inch in diameter, of a brilliant scarlet when ripe, and exceedingly piquant; plant about eighteen inches high; leaves numerous, of small size, and sharply pointed; flowers white, nearly three-fourths of an inch in diameter.

Sow in a hot-bed in April, and transplant to the open ground in May, about fourteen inches apart in each direction. Requires a long, warm season.

LONG RED PEPPER.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Long Red Pepper.]

Fruit brilliant, coral-red, generally pendulous, sometimes erect, conical, often curved towards the end, nearly four inches in length, and from an inch to an inch and a half in diameter; skin, or flesh, quite thin, and exceedingly piquant.

Stalk about two feet high; foliage of medium size, blistered and wrinkled; flowers an inch in diameter, white.

The variety yields abundantly, but attains its greatest perfection when started in a hot-bed. The ripe pods, dried and pulverized as directed for Cayenne Pepper, make an excellent subst.i.tute for that article.

The plants, with ripe fruit, are very ornamental.

LONG YELLOW. _Vil._

Pods pendent, long, and tapering, three to four inches in length, and about an inch in their greatest diameter. At maturity, they a.s.sume a lively, rich, glossy yellow; and the plants are then showy and ornamental.

Stem two feet and upwards in height, slightly colored with purple at the intersection of the branches and insertion of the leaf-stems; leaves of medium size, smaller and paler than those of the Long Red; flowers white, nearly an inch in diameter. Like the last named, it is very piquant. It is also late; and, to obtain the variety in perfection, the seed should be started in a hot-bed in April.

PURPLE OR BLUE PODDED.