PEPPERS.
The red peppers, cultivated in this country, are used for pickling, for pepper-sauce, as a condiment for food, and as a domestic medicine.
Varieties—are named principally from their shape. The large squash-pepper is best for green pickles, on account of its size and tenderness. The Cayenne, a small, long variety, much resembling the original from which it is named, is very pungent, used mostly for pepper-sauce. Grind, not very fine, any of the varieties, and they are useful on any food of a cold nature and not easily digestible. They are all good for medicinal purposes. The capsicum needs a dry, warm soil, with exposure to the sun. Plants should stand two feet apart each way; as they are slow growers, they should be started in an early hotbed. Many will ripen during summer, and may be gathered. In the fall, when frost comes, the vines will be covered with blossoms and with peppers of all sizes. Fall-grown green ones, strung on a thread, and hung in a warm, dry room, will ripen finely. They are very hardy, and may be transplanted without injury. Hen-manure is best for them.