the supply of pickle-warehouses."

_Species and Varieties._--

BELL-PEPPER.

Large Bell. Bull-nose.

[Illustration: 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 pronounced 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 glass.

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